E Battery Commemorative Firing

[Willywombat]

On Friday 22nd August I was lucky enough to be at the 100th Anniversary firing of an RHA 13-pounder near Peronnes by E Battery, RHA. (That's the village of Peronnes with the 's', east of Mons, not to be confused with the large French town!).

I thought I'd share a few pictures with members.

The gun was positioned as close as was practicable to the site from which E Battery fired the first British artillery shot of the war on the Western Front. The event was well attended by locals, as well as a group of British and Belgian scouts. The Padre did his bit (very enthusiastically, I might add!) after which the firing itself took place. The gun team then laid a wreath on the trail. After the firing, battlefield guide Chris Nation told the story of the firing of the first shot, after which everyone retired to the village for a few speeches and lots of local beer!

The village took the event very seriously - sixty-eight properties were destroyed during the war and seven local civilians killed, including the Mayor, who was shot on the steps of the mairie. There is a large memorial to that event in the village. They had taken a lot of time to put together an exhibition in the local school.

E Battery RHA, in true British Army fashion, were impeccable with their drill and turnout. The gun was borrowed from King's Troop, RHA.

The first shot in 1914 was a bit of a damp squib - the first round failed to fire, so another gun had a go, but the target (German artillery and infantry advancing over slag heaps and a mineral railway) was out of range. General Gough exhorted the battery to hit the target, but the gun commander told him he couldn't get another inch out of the guns. There were no casualties apart from one horse (later given to a local butcher!).

[johntanner]

Thanks for the excellent photographs - reminded me that it's over 30 years since I was there!

But goodness knows what my avatar would have thought of women in a gun crew.

[ianjonesncl]

A very fitting tribute.

I visited the location this year, though the actual commemoration stone is a little disappointing.

http://northumbriangunner.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/mons-first-british-artilley-round-on.html