Hi, I have this photo of my dad plus others. I believe it to be with the 58th (Sussex) Field Regt RA in which he enlisted in 1938. It may well be on a training/firing range, but not sure. Can anyone identify the vehicle or the gun, as this may help confirm the regt and possible date. Thanks John58th
The field gun looks like a late-mark 18-pdr – many would have undergone conversion subsequently to pneumatic tyres for vehicle towing and many formed the basis of the 18/25-pdr conversion. Not sure about the vehicle – maybe a Morris Commercial CS8, 15 cwt, 4 x 2, rather than a gun tractor.
So would this probably be a pre war, ie 1939 and pre Dunkirk photo or was this type of gun still used after 1939?
Difficult to say. Not all the British Army's artillery was lost at Dunkirk. Some elements of the BEF evacuating later from other ports brought back some artillery and there would be some that had never left Britain and anything saved from the Fall of France would be kept around until sufficient replacements had been manufactured. Changing over to the 25 pounder didn't happen over night in any case
The vehicle looks to be a Morris-Commercial 15cwt. with a WD serial beginning Z37...'Z' indicates the class of vehicle and the '37' prefix more-or-less the year that the contract was placed. I'm fairly sure that the truck is still in gloss bronze green so definitely pre-war. There is no proof but having seen quite a number of images with the same 'feel' and late-summer look, I'd say that it was a TA camp in the UK during August 1939..but a year earlier wouldn't be impossible.
Thanks everyone for your help - 58th, as am sure you know, was a TA regt, and the pre war dates seem to fit with the timeline I am seeing emerge. Thanks