WW1 Military Motors - 1916 set x 50 cards

[Rockdoc]

From the Royal New Zealand Artillery Association.

"Not to be outdone, the Royal Artillery at first put their 18-pr Mk 1 (3.3-in) field gun on high-angle mounting on a truck chassis. However, its performance left much to be desired so they relined the gun down to 13-pr (3-in) but retained the 18-pr cartridge. This combination proved much more efficient. It was superseded in 1914 by the QF 3-in 20-cwt gun which survived until 1946. Not another makeshift, the 3-in was a piece especially designed for the AA role, but like its predecessors it first made use of an ordinary truck body as a platform."

Thanks for this but it t seems to be very confused to me. As far as I know, there had been no trials of guns for AA work for the Army before WW1. If there had been then it's highly unlikely that the lashed-together Mark I HA mount would have been used on the first guns that did not arrive in France until early 1915. It had limited elevation - not exactly helpful for an AA gun! - and the recuperator wasn't modified so an additional spring-case was added. The Mark II mount addressed these concerns and was a vast improvement, allowing the earlier versions to be shipped off to places like Salonika as the improved ones arrived in France.

This is one of 98th AAS' guns of the early type:

The 9cwt gun wasn't put into development until 1915 and only limited numbers delivered in the Spring of 1916. Given its superiority to the 6cwt gun, why would the latter have been produced at all if this had been a proven design before 1914?

The 20cwt gun was a pre-war Navy development and was first used on ships. They used it on shore, too, with the mount fastened to the ground. It was also used by the Army on lorries but proved to be very unstable and its weight prohibited movement except on perfect roads. It was a much more complex build than the converted field guns and was a LOT heavier so, given that a 6cwt gun-lorry was easy to get stuck on poor roads, it's no surprise that the 9cwt remained in front-line service for the rest of the war.

On balance, I'd say that the author you're quoting has mixed up his time-lines quite badly.

Keith

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Will's WW1 Military Motors - Card No.31 - French Ambulance, Disguised.

" These cars have been painted to represent the surrounding scenery - the French first used the ambulances with the Red Cross painted on the side, but owing to the frequency in which they were shelled by the enemy - protective colouration had to be adopted "

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Will's WW1 Military Motors - Card No.32 - French Motor Auto-Gun.

" This invention is a marvel of skill and ingenuity. The motor car carries the gun, gun crew, driver and ammunition.

The gun has a rapid automatic action, and fires a continuous stream of small shells. Before the gun is fired, the car is lifted well off the ground by four jacks with cup like feet and two strong supports, one each side of the car, are lowered to the ground; thses take all the strain of the gun's recoil from the wheels of the car "

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Will's WW1 Military Motors - Card No.33 - Motor Balloon Lorry.

" Captive Balloons are employed by our Allies for range-finding, and for observing the effects of their 75-mm gun fire.

The balloon is attached to a rope, which is wound round a drum, and can rapidly be reeled in or played out. A telephone is carried by the balloonist - a great advantage; he can give much fuller and quicker information to those stationed below - The balloon when deflated is carried on the motor lorry "

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Will's WW1 Military Motors - Card No.34 - French Motor Bus.

" Our brave allies are using some of their Parisian Motor Buses for a most novel and useful purpose. Live sheep are closely packed in the buses and carried as near to the firing line as possible, to provide fresh meat for their Army "

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Will's WW1 Military Motors - Card No.35 - French Motor Cycle Ambulance.

" The Red Cross organisation of the French Army has been carried to a high state of perfection. Motor vehicles of all descriptions are adapted - in the mountainous Vosges, where in many places the roads are so narrow and steep, that ordinary Red Cross Ambulances cannot be used, these small side cars have proved most useful "

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Canadian Motor Machine Gun Battery as shown in Cigarette Card No.22

[Moonraker]

Good picture, Fusilier, though it demonstrates how vulnerable the crew were to attack from aircraft. George V was impressed at first, thinking they would prove useful, but Kitchener contradicted him. When the First Canadian Division left for France in February 1915 the cars were left behind on home defence duties for several months. I believe that when they finally went to France they were used mostly to transport troops.

Moonraker

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Talbot Armoured Car.

Known as the " Admiralty Talbots ", these armoured cars were among the touring vehicles acquired by the R.N.A.S. at the beginning of WW1.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

French Auto-Gun - Cigarette Card No.32

[Lancashire Fusilier]

WW1 Balloon Parachute -

[centurion]

Good picture, Fusilier, though it demonstrates how vulnerable the crew were to attack from aircraft. George V was impressed at first, thinking they would prove useful, but Kitchener contradicted him. When the First Canadian Division left for France in February 1915 the cars were left behind on home defence duties for several months. I believe that when they finally went to France they were used mostly to transport troops.

Moonraker

No they played a vital defensive role ,especially during the great German offensives of 1918 when a great many of their crews sacrificed themselves acting as a mobile rear guard

[Rockdoc]

The French Auto Gun is based around the 75mm field gun, not some kind of pom-pom, so it did not fire a steady stream of shells - probably more like four to six per minute at a maximum. It differs from the British equivalents in being at the rear of the vehicle, with the gunners working from the ground rather than on a platform. It was much more restricted in its angle of traverse, though.

The British bought a number of these, fitted to De Dion-Bouton chassis, in late 1914 for use around London. They also bought some of the 75mm assemblies and they were fitted to a different chassis by COW. The two types can also be distinguished by the position of the attachment to the mount. The French version was attached near the breech while the COW version was at the centre of balance. These vehicles were intended to supplement the static guns, placed on the roofs of tactically important buildings, being used to add strength to crucial points by their good mobility.

Keith

[centurion]

WW1 Balloon Parachute -

Sorry but not a balloon parachute, These were not worn by the observer but fastened to the balloon basket - see http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=156411&view=findpost&p=1509268

[centurion]

Will's WW1 Military Motors - Card No.35 - French Motor Cycle Ambulance.

" The Red Cross organisation of the French Army has been carried to a high state of perfection. Motor vehicles of all descriptions are adapted - in the mountainous Vosges, where in many places the roads are so narrow and steep, that ordinary Red Cross Ambulances cannot be used, these small side cars have proved most useful "

The two tier version

[centurion]

Will's WW1 Military Motors - Card No.33 - Motor Balloon Lorry.

" Captive Balloons are employed by our Allies for range-finding, and for observing the effects of their 75-mm gun fire.

The balloon is attached to a rope, which is wound round a drum, and can rapidly be reeled in or played out. A telephone is carried by the balloonist - a great advantage; he can give much fuller and quicker information to those stationed below - The balloon when deflated is carried on the motor lorry "

Definitely a very odd one. By the time the French had motorised balloon winches

They were not using spherical balloons but sausage or drachen balloons. Nor were deflated balloons carried on the winch lorry which as you can see on the above photo looked nothing like the one on the card.

[centurion]

The French Auto Gun is based around the 75mm field gun, not some kind of pom-pom, so it did not fire a steady stream of shells - probably more like four to six per minute at a maximum. It differs from the British equivalents in being at the rear of the vehicle, with the gunners working from the ground rather than on a platform. It was much more restricted in its angle of traverse, though.

The British bought a number of these, fitted to De Dion-Bouton chassis, in late 1914 for use around London. They also bought some of the 75mm assemblies and they were fitted to a different chassis by COW. The two types can also be distinguished by the position of the attachment to the mount. The French version was attached near the breech while the COW version was at the centre of balance. These vehicles were intended to supplement the static guns, placed on the roofs of tactically important buildings, being used to add strength to crucial points by their good mobility.

Keith

[centurion]

Another view

[Rockdoc]

That's a nice photo, C! The colour really helps pick out the detail.

Keith

[Lancashire Fusilier]

2 photographs of WW1 Observation Balloon Pilots - apparently very dangerous work!

[Lancashire Fusilier]

WWW1 - Officer in the car of a observation balloon testing the telephone prior to lift off.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Motor Balloon Lorry ( with winch ) as shown in Cigarette Card No.33

[Lancashire Fusilier]

WW1 - Observation Balloon about to lift off.

[centurion]

WWW1 - Officer in the car of a observation balloon testing the telephone prior to lift off.

Note the (Spencer) parachute is attached to the side of the basket

[centurion]

WW1 - Observation Balloon about to lift off.

Complete with a cine camera on a tripod in the basket. The style of parachute harness says late war (or even after) and the intact city buildings in the background suggests that this isn't an observation flight.