WW1 Military Motors - 1916 set x 50 cards

[Lancashire Fusilier]

This next photograph, again gives us an excellent idea of the massive size of the 2,500 lb 6 foot long 18 inch shell, when seen alongside an IWM worker who is painting the shell in preparation for the opening of the new Imperial War Museum at Crystal Palace on 9th June 1920.

 

LF

 

 

 

 

 

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

 

Edited 31 October , 2016 by Lancashire Fusilier

[Lancashire Fusilier]

This photograph shows one the 18 inch Guns developed during WW1, introduced into service in April 1920 and displayed at the new Imperial War Museum at Crystal Palace.

 

The 85 ton 14 cwt 18 inch Gun's barrel was 648.4 inches ( 54 feet ) long, and the barrel's long length is aptly illustrated by the IWM worked seated atop the barrel's muzzle end.

Examples of the 2.500 lb 18 inch shell were also on display.

 

This photograph, also shows the Crystal Palace's magnificent glass construction which formed the original Imperial War Museum's main gallery.

 

The Imperial War Museum at Crystal Palace, Sydenham Hill, London, was opened by King George V on 9th June 1920.

The Imperial War Museum Act was passed in July 1920, making the museum truly official, with a Board of Trustees and the right to hire staff, own property and acquire objects for it's collections, being recognised in law.

 

Despite Sydenham Hill's distance from central London, by 1924 some four million people had already visited to the Imperial War Museum where 500 tons of exhibits were on display. However, the Crystal Palace's glass structure made climatic conditions too variable to keep the art and many other items in the collection safely, and as the Crystal Palace lease neared its expiry date in March 1924, it became clear that the museum would have to find a new location and dramatically downsize. The new venue offered was the Western Galleries of the Imperial Institute in South Kensington, a space less than a quarter the size of Crystal Palace.

 

As a direct result of the need to downsize, a large proportion of the museum’s exhibits were disposed of and its entire aircraft collection was loaned to the Science Museum and sadly, some of the exhibits were actually destroyed. The new Imperial War Museum at South Kensington, opened on Armistice Day 1924. The museum remained in South Kensington for 11 years until its closure on Armistice Day 1935.

 

The Imperial War Museum reopened at its current home on Lambeth Road, in 1936.

 

LF

 

 

 

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

 

[Mike_H]

LF

 

Re the 18 inch barrel. The item exhibited at the Crystal Palace  was a mock-up, I seem to recall that this is mentioned in the caption of at least one of the photos in the series taken of it as it was being set up.

 

Mike

[Lancashire Fusilier]

1 hour ago, Mike_H said:

Re the 18 inch barrel. The item exhibited at the Crystal Palace  was a mock-up, I seem to recall that this is mentioned in the caption of at least one of the photos in the series taken of it as it was being set up. Mike

 

Mike,

 

Many thanks, and I too had seen those references to the IWM's 18 inch Gun being a ' mock-up ', and I was intrigued as to what that actually meant, so I had been taking a close look at various different 18 inch Gun photographs, and as a result, I have now been able to work out and confirm the answer, which I shall be presenting along with related photographs as part of tomorrow's postings.

 

Regards,

LF

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The next two photographs will address two issues, both relating to the 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I.

 

We know that the 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk I was manufactured by the Elswick Ordnance Company during WW1 and test-fired during WW1, however, it did not officially enter into service until after the end of WW1.

 

We also know that an example of the 18 inch Gun was put on display at the Imperial War Museum in 1920, however, some photographs of that ' IWM ' 18 inch Gun refer to it as being a ' mock-up ', which would generally mean the gun was not original, but was rather a replica.

 

For test-firing, the WW1 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I was mounted on a ' test-firing sleigh ', and the attached photograph shows one of the 85 ton 14 cwt Guns with it's 54 foot barrel being loaded onto a test-firing sleigh, and we can see the enormous crane and tackle that was needed to lift and position the 85+ ton Gun onto the sleigh.

 

Also attached is a second photograph showing the ' Imperial War Museum's ' 18 inch Gun being moved into it's new Crystal Palace location in 1920, and when comparing the equipment needed to lift the 85+ ton Gun onto the test-firing sleigh and the equipment being used to lift the ' IWM ' 18 inch Gun, we can see that the IWM weighed significantly less than the WW1 18 inch Gun being loaded onto the test-firing sleigh, giving every indication that the ' IWM ' Gun was indeed a mock-up replica, probably made of wood or some light weight metal or a combination of both.

 

The first photograph shows the 85+ ton WW1 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I being lifted onto it's test-firing sleigh.

 

LF

 

 

 

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

 

 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

This photograph shows the Imperial War Museum's ' replica ' 18 inch Gun being moved into it's new Crystal Palace location in 1920, note the difference in the crane being used in the previous post to lift the 85+ ton WW1 18 inch Gun, and the IWM's crane.

 

LF

 

 

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

 

[CROONAERT]

On ‎12‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 01:07, Lancashire Fusilier said:

 

 

There was also the S.S.A. ( Section Sanitaire Anglais ) the British Volunteer Ambulance Section, which incorporated the British Red Cross volunteers and the F.A.S. Friends Ambulance Service volunteers ( Quakers ).

 

 

 

Just a quick word of caution regarding abbreviations (this one has tripped up at least one author/researcher) ... an S.S.A. unit isn't necessarily a British volunteer unit. It also stood for Section Sanitaire Automobile, which , manned by French military personnel, was part of the Service Automobile of the regular French Army. They were numbered identically but ,unlike the Sections Sanitaire Anglais, they were incorporated into the French divisional structure and ,therefore, appear in ORBAT listings.

 

Dave.

Edited 2 November , 2016 by CROONAERT

[Lancashire Fusilier]

1 hour ago, CROONAERT said:

Just a quick word of caution regarding abbreviations (this one has tripped up at least one author/researcher) ... an S.S.A. unit isn't necessarily a British volunteer unit. It also stood for Section Sanitaire Automobile, which , manned by French military personnel, was part of the Service Automobile of the regular French Army. They were numbered identically but ,unlike the Sections Sanitaire Anglais, they were incorporated into the French divisional structure and ,therefore, appear in ORBAT listings.

Dave.

 

Dave,

 

Thank you for the information, and I can certainly see how it could be confusing with two WW1 French military organizations using the same abbreviations.

 

Regards,

LF

[Lancashire Fusilier]

A nice example of the ' SSA ' abbreviation as it related to the Section Sanitaire Anglaise, which was made up of British volunteers, typically ambulance drivers, attached to the French and or Belgian Armies.

This particular British volunteer unit SSA 14, photographed in 1916, was based in the Northern French costal town of Dunkerque just 6 miles from the Belgian border, and consisted mainly of Quakers from the Friends Ambulance Unit ( FAU ) who were usually also Conscientious Objectors.

Their ambulances, were also marked ' SSA 14 '.

 

LF

 

 

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

A detailed side-view of the rarely seen late WW1 railway mounted ' test-firing sleigh ' for the 18 inch Breech Loading Howitzer Mk. I , as also shown in post #5581.

 

LF

 

 

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Two additional photographs of the 85+ ton ' WW1 ' 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I being loaded onto it's ' test-firing sleigh ', these two photographs also give an excellent view of the Gun's ' Vickers ' type breech and it's 54 foot barrel.

 

LF

 

 

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

A nicely detailed rear-view of the 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I's railway mounted ' test-firing sleigh ', as the Gun is lowered into position on the sleigh.

These photographs, were most probably taken at the Elswick Ordnance Factory where the Gun was manufactured.

 

LF

 

 

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

This superb photograph, the only one I have seen, shows a side-view of a complete 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I, manufactured in the latter part of WW1 by the Elswick Ordnance Company, mounted on it's test-firing sleigh.

Two different types of test-firing sleighs appear to have been used, numbered No.12 and No.19.

 

These 18 inch Guns were subsequently fitted on the railway mountings previously used during WW1 for the 14 inch Railway Guns ' Boche Buster ' and ' Scene Shifter ', both of which, following the end of WW1, were returned England, with the 14 inch guns themselves being declared obsolete in 1926 and subsequently scrapped.

 

However, their railway mountings were retained, and in 1920 were brought back into service as the mounts for these massive 18 inch BL Railway Howitzer Mk Is, which although having been designed, constructed and proof-fired towards the end of WW1, was not ready for service until after the end of WW1, and were officially introduced into service in April 1920.

 

The 85 ton 14 cwt 18 inch Railway Howitzer Mk.I complete with it's 164 ton 14 cwt WW1 railway mount, totalled a massive 250 plus tons, making it the heaviest mobile ordnance emplaced in British Land Service.

 

Having been used for training during the 1920s, the 18 inch guns and their railway mounts were retired and placed in storage.

 

Following the outbreak of WW2, in 1940 the railway mounts were once again brought back into service, with one of the original 14 inch Railway Gun mounts named H.M.G. Boche Buster being fitted with one of the 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk Is, and the railway mount named H.M.G. Scene Shifter was fitted with a 13.5 inch Railway Gun.

 

LF

 

 

 

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

Edited 6 November , 2016 by Lancashire Fusilier

[Lancashire Fusilier]

This photograph taken in the 1920's, shows an 18 inch BL Railway Howitzer Mk. I mounted on one of the WW1 railway mountings, it could be either Boche Buster or Scene Shifter, which was used for training, prior to being retired and placed in storage sometime in the 1920s, where it remained until 1940, when Lieutenant Colonel Stewart Montagu Cleeve, who as a Major, was Boche Buster's original Battery Commander during WW1, discovered the Gun, had reassembled at Dover, and placed back into WW2 service with 11th Battery, 2nd Super Heavy Regiment based in the Bourne Park railway tunnel at Bishopsbourne on Kent's Elham Valley railway line.

 

LF

 

 

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

Edited 5 November , 2016 by Lancashire Fusilier

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Continuing to track the history of the WW1 Railway Gun ' Boche Buster ', the attached photograph shows the WW1 manufactured 18 inch BL Railway Howitzer Mk. I mounted on ' Boche Buster ' along with it's Ammunition Wagon and 25 man crew, stopped at Ashbury Railway Station just 4 miles East of Halwill Junction on the Okehampton to Bude railway line in West Devon ( see post #5565  ) during ' Boche Buster's ' journey from Kent to the Okehampton Artillery Range on Dartmoor, where the 18 inch Railway Howitzer was to undergo testing and evaluation for possible use in Europe following the Normandy Landings.

 

LF

 

 

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

This detailed photograph, which was probably taken from the bridge over the Bourne Park railway tunnel at Bishopsbourne on Kent's Elham Valley railway line connecting Folkestone and Canterbury, shows the 18 inch BL Railway Howitzer's elevated 54 foot barrel.

Also shown, are the winch at the front of Boche Buster's railway mounting, the series of folding metal floor plates on the railway mounting below the barrel, and the barrel's support, on which the barrel rested when the gun was in it's travelling position, as shown in the previous post.

These features of the Gun's railway mount, can only be viewed from this unusual camera angle.

 

LF

 

 

 

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Despite the 18 inch BL Railway Howitzer Mk. I having been used for training during the 1920s and brought back into service during WW2, photographs of the Gun being fired are extremely rare, in fact, so far I have only found one photograph of the Gun being fired, which is the attached photograph taken on 7th May 1941 while the Gun was still at Bishopsbourne on Kent's Elham Valley railway line.

 

LF   

 

 

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

 

[SiegeGunner]

On ‎03‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 13:58, Lancashire Fusilier said:

A detailed side-view of the rarely seen late WW1 railway mounted ' test-firing sleigh ' for the 18 inch Breech Loading Howitzer Mk. I , as also shown in post #5581.

 

LF

 

 

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

 

Is this not the same proofing carriage the 18" Railway Howitzer is now mounted on at Fort Nelson?

[Lancashire Fusilier]

21 hours ago, SiegeGunner said:

Is this not the same proofing carriage the 18" Railway Howitzer is now mounted on at Fort Nelson?

 

SG,

 

Although the test-firing/proofing sleigh at Fort Nelson is very similar to that shown in post #5586, they appear not to be the same, and as we have already seen, more that one type of test-firing/proofing sleigh was manufactured for the 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I.

Attached are 2 photographs of the Fort Nelson sleigh for comparison.

 

Regards,

LF

 

 

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

[SiegeGunner]

Thanks LF.  Yes, clearly different and somehow more 'modern' than the sleigh in your earlier photographs.  The present one perhaps came from Shoeburyness.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

With reference to posts 5595/6, the test-firing/proofing sleigh currently on display at Royal Armouries Museum at Fort Nelson in Hampshire, actually has a very long and interesting history, dating all the way back to 1886, when it was constructed at Woolwich for the War Department's Royal Carriage Department ( R.C.D. ).

Following construction, the sleigh was transported by barge down the River Thames to the School of Gunnery at Shoeburyness in Essex, where it was used as a mount for the test-firing/proofing of large calibre guns.

 

After the 18 inch BL Railway Howitzer Mk. Is were retired in the 1920s, one of the 18 inch guns, was subsequently also moved to the School of Gunnery at Shoeburyness and mounted on the 1886 sleigh, where it was used for the test-firing of the 18 inch shell against various forms of concrete structures ( imitation fortifications ) erected on the Shoeburyness range, and also against different types of armour plating, so as to test the performance of the 18 inch shell against those sample targets.

 

In November 1939, Lt. Col. Cleeve, who had been ' Boche Buster's ' WW1 Battery Commander, was appointed by Winston Churchill to track down any remaining 18 inch Guns and form a new Super Heavy Regiment to be equipped with 18 inch and other large calibre Railway Guns.

 

Lt. Col. Cleeve tracked down the former WW1 railway mountings Boche Buster and Scene Shifter, which were in store at the R.A.O.C. ( Royal Army Ordnance Corp ) Depot at Chilwell near Nottingham.

In October 1940, those WW1 railway mountings were sent to the Darlington Railway Works for refurbishment, and one of the WW1 railway mounts, ' Boche Buster ', was then fitted with the 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I from Shoeburyness, and assigned to the 11th Battery, 2nd Super Heavy Regiment, based in the Bourne Park railway tunnel at Bishopsbourne on Kent's Elham Valley railway line, and remained in service for the duration of WW2.

After WW2, the railway mountings were placed in storage, where they remained until 1946, when they were scrapped.

The one remaining 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I which had been fitted to ' Boche Buster ', was returned to Shoeburyness after WW2.

 

In June 1991, the surviving 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I was fitted back onto the 1886 sleigh and moved to the Royal Artillery Museum at Woolwich where it was displayed in the Museum's Rotunda, and following the closure of the Rotunda it was removed to The Royal Artillery Depot at Larkhill where it remained for several years.

 

In September 2013, following a complete refurbishment, the WW1 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I and the 1886 sleigh were once again reunited and moved to their current home at the Royal Armouries Museum at Fort Nelson, Portsdown Hill, Hampshire, where they are now on display.

 

Quite a history and journey for both the 1886 sleigh, and the sole surviving WW1 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I.

 

 

The first photograph, shows the 1886 test-firing/proofing sleigh seen in posts 5595/6, mounted with a large calibre gun, arriving at the School of Gunnery at Shoeburyness in Essex after having been transported down the River Thames by barge from Woolwich.

 

LF

 

 

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

 

Edited 10 November , 2016 by Lancashire Fusilier

[SiegeGunner]

Very many thanks, LF, for that magisterial exposition.  I am surprised that the sleigh on which the 18" railway howitzer is currently mounted at Fort Nelson dates to 1886, as it looks decidedly more modern than the sleigh shown in post #5586.  I first saw the 18" railway howitzer in the company of our late and greatly-missed pal TonyE, soon after it arrived at Fort Nelson.  Although already gravely ill, he was arranging to examine and classify/certify the museum's collection of ammunition, and we were introduced to a gentleman who was 'tidying up' one of the two (I think) 18" shells that had come with the gun.  They were accompanied by a letter of some vintage from a senior ordnance officer at Larkhill, who said that it was 'believed' that whilst the shells were the correct weight for shells filled with the specified explosive charge, they had at some time in the distant past been emptied and refilled with ballast to the correct specified weight. 

 

I would just query one thing in your 'history' of the 18" railway howitzer at Shoeburyness.  You say that it 'was used for the test-firing of the 18 inch shell against various forms of fortification'.  Given that Shoeburyness is on the Essex coast and that the gun had a range of many thousands of yards, where were these 'various forms of fortification' targets located?

 

This quibble aside, I must salute you for this most magnificent and diverse thread.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

16 hours ago, SiegeGunner said:

I would just query one thing in your 'history' of the 18" railway howitzer at Shoeburyness.  You say that it 'was used for the test-firing of the 18 inch shell against various forms of fortification'.  Given that Shoeburyness is on the Essex coast and that the gun had a range of many thousands of yards, where were these 'various forms of fortification' targets located?

 

SG,

 

I should have explained better, as my understanding is that the 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I mounted on the 1886 sleigh, was used to fire 18 inch

shells at various concrete structures ( imitation fortifications ) and into different types of armour plate erected at Shoeburyness, so as to test the effect of the 18 inch shell on those sample targets.

I have now edited post #5598 accordingly.

 

Also, here is a photograph of the identification plate attached to the 1886 sleigh on display at Fort Nelson, which reads :-

 

12 In B.L. GUN OF 43 TONS TO 16.25 In B.L. GUN OF 110 TONS ( specification/capacity )

                             W ^ D       R.C.D. ( Royal Carriage Department )

                                      1886 ( year of manufacture )

                    Reg No. S. 464     W ( weight ) 95 TONS

 

I am also pleased to hear, that you are finding this thread interesting.

 

Regards,

LF

 

 

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised

 

 

 

Edited 11 November , 2016 by Lancashire Fusilier

[Lancashire Fusilier]

A contemporary Victorian illustration, depicting the 1886 proofing/test-firing sleigh in use.

 

LF

 

 

 

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised