Whilst at the Larkhill workshop on Sunday, I took the opportunity to get an update on the restoration work currently underway. At the moment attention is focused on refurbishing one of the Army's gate guardian 25-pounders ('paying the rent' as Keith put it). The gun is currently in several bits, the barrel and recoil mechanism having been removed, together with the wheels, shield and platform. The paintwork is in the process of being rubbed down ready for re-spraying, and various moving parts that had seized (such as platform handles and traveling steady) have been freed-up. The wheel-hubs also need to be stripped down, cleaned and lubricated before the gun can be painted and re-assembled. Once this gun has been finished and returned to the Army, work can recommence on the MKIII, which is currently gathering dust in the shed next door.
The MKIII has had some provisional work done to it, so it's in reasonable nick, but will require a full stripdown, renovation and repaint before it is ready for use at a Garrison event. One of the great advantages we have at Larkhill is the shed space available to us, which means all the guns and vehicles can be kept undercover. As such, once a gun like the MKIII has been cleaned up, it can be left for a few months without fear of it deteriorating in the way as a gun left exposed to the elements would.
The other restoration project currently on the books is a No.27 Ammunition Trailer (or limber as it is more usually called). These went out of service much sooner than the 25-pounder guns, and as such tend to be somewhat rarer. Whilst perhaps not as exciting as the guns, limbers are nonetheless a vital part of a WWII gun-set, and it will be very useful to have another one up and running. The limber currently under the knife at Larkhill has been stripped back to bare metal, and is in the process of having any areas that are too rusted to be repairable removed and replaced. There's a lot of surface area on a limber, so quite a bit of work still to do on this one, but hopefully it will be back in action sometime next year.
Friday, 21 October 2011
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Ultra - 002
Last Sunday (16 October) saw the Garrison take part in the annual commemoration of the Battle of El Alamien that is put on by the village of Enham Alamein
Ably supported by various friends, the Garrison was able to provide two full gun-sets, a Dingo armoured car, a K2 truck, a jeep, anAustin
Ably supported by various friends, the Garrison was able to provide two full gun-sets, a Dingo armoured car, a K2 truck, a jeep, an
Thursday, 6 October 2011
REME - 001
Well, the main reason for starting this blog was to provide up-dates on the various restoration and maintenance projects undertaken by the Garrison Living History Group at its Larkhill workshop, so here goes.
Let’s start with an overview of what the group does. The majority of the Garrison’s efforts are directed towards its 25-pounder field guns. These guns are at the heart of the Garrison's displays, and require a fair bit of attention to keep them in good, safe working order and up the kind of standard of presentation that reflects the pride we feel in them, their history and (especially) the men who served them during times of conflict.
Four of these guns are stored at the group's workshop at Larkhill (courtesy of the Royal Artillery). Three are Ordnance QF 25-Pounder MKIIs on MKI carriages with muzzle-breaks. This was the most common variant of the gun used by British and Commonwealth forces during the latter stages Second World War. However, we have recently acquired a MKII on a rare MKIII carriage, which is currently being renovated. (For a good introduction the various 25-pounder variants, see the Wikipedia entry). The MKIII carriage was narrower than the MKI (for ease of air transportation) and had a pivoting trail allowing the barrel to be elevated to a higher angle and thus increasing the gun's range. Details of the progress of the work on this particular gun will be posted here in the near future.
As well as the seemingly endless line of 25-pounders needing restoration and maintenance (including a number of the Army's gate guardians), time also needs to be found to do work on other pieces of kit, including the searchlight and generator, the gun-tractors and trucks. (For details of the group's vehicles, see the Garrison website). There is also a lot of smaller – but nonetheless vital - items (tents, soyer stoves, tables, benches, paraffin lamps, etc) that need to be stored and looked after. In all, it’s a lot of work to keep a group like the Garrison going.
The core of the team that undertakes the bulk of this restoration and maintenance programme (at least for the Western section of the group) is comprised of:
Well, that’s how things stand at the moment. Coming soon: details of what work’s currently being undertaken at Garrison HQ (Western Section).
Let’s start with an overview of what the group does. The majority of the Garrison’s efforts are directed towards its 25-pounder field guns. These guns are at the heart of the Garrison's displays, and require a fair bit of attention to keep them in good, safe working order and up the kind of standard of presentation that reflects the pride we feel in them, their history and (especially) the men who served them during times of conflict.
Four of these guns are stored at the group's workshop at Larkhill (courtesy of the Royal Artillery). Three are Ordnance QF 25-Pounder MKIIs on MKI carriages with muzzle-breaks. This was the most common variant of the gun used by British and Commonwealth forces during the latter stages Second World War. However, we have recently acquired a MKII on a rare MKIII carriage, which is currently being renovated. (For a good introduction the various 25-pounder variants, see the Wikipedia entry). The MKIII carriage was narrower than the MKI (for ease of air transportation) and had a pivoting trail allowing the barrel to be elevated to a higher angle and thus increasing the gun's range. Details of the progress of the work on this particular gun will be posted here in the near future.
As well as the seemingly endless line of 25-pounders needing restoration and maintenance (including a number of the Army's gate guardians), time also needs to be found to do work on other pieces of kit, including the searchlight and generator, the gun-tractors and trucks. (For details of the group's vehicles, see the Garrison website). There is also a lot of smaller – but nonetheless vital - items (tents, soyer stoves, tables, benches, paraffin lamps, etc) that need to be stored and looked after. In all, it’s a lot of work to keep a group like the Garrison going.
The core of the team that undertakes the bulk of this restoration and maintenance programme (at least for the Western section of the group) is comprised of:
- Keith: ex-Gunner, Garrison organiser par excellence and all-round Mr Fixit (if a large hammer needs wielding then Keith’s your man).
- Barry: ex-REME Gun Fitter who worked on 25-pounders for a living when they were still in regular service with the RA (what he doesn’t know about 25-pounder maintenance isn’t worth knowing).
- Andy: ex-RAF, specializes in electrical wizardry and any paint jobs that might be required (also the man tasked with removing the large hammer from Keith when things aren’t going so well).
- Rodney: ex-RAF current QinetiQ (when he’s not delivering customer-focused solutions for Chinooks, he’s delivering Morris-focused solutions for gun-tractors).
Well, that’s how things stand at the moment. Coming soon: details of what work’s currently being undertaken at Garrison HQ (Western Section).
Sunday, 2 October 2011
SigInt - 001
Whilst idly browsing through YouTube the other night looking for artillery related footage, I struck gold with these two films:
Both have excellent footage of (I think) Irish Defence Forces Reserves live-firing 25-pounders (and the music sounds familiar too). It is great to see high-definition colour film of these old guns in action on the range – with the recoil and smokeless charges it all looks very different from the black-powder blank charges we use. I guess the films must have been taken two or three year's ago, as I am reliably informed (!) that the Irish Artillery has now decommissioned its last few remaining 25-pounders and moved entirely over to 105mm Light Guns.
Both have excellent footage of (I think) Irish Defence Forces Reserves live-firing 25-pounders (and the music sounds familiar too). It is great to see high-definition colour film of these old guns in action on the range – with the recoil and smokeless charges it all looks very different from the black-powder blank charges we use. I guess the films must have been taken two or three year's ago, as I am reliably informed (!) that the Irish Artillery has now decommissioned its last few remaining 25-pounders and moved entirely over to 105mm Light Guns.
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