18" gun going to Holland

[glevum]

The 18" Railway Howitzer at the Royal School of Artillery Larkhill is going to the Railway Museum in Utrecht for 5 months.

It will be a good chance to see it. It is an impressive beast and normally access is restricted since it is in the Army Camp.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-21923289

 

[Tony Williams]

Marvellous! I had no idea we still had one of those.

Was this the Bochebuster which saw service in WW2, stationed in Kent in case of an attempted invasion? Didn't have the range to reach across the Channel, though, unlike the 14" and 15" naval guns also stationed there.

 

[glevum]

Tony,

Unfortunately it is not Boche Buster. The gun is on a proof mounting and was originally at Shoeburyness.

I was lucky enough to see it a few years ago and it is an impressive beast.

Will.

 

[Bonnex]

When the Howitzer was first moved from Shoeburyness to Woolwich the IWM gifted a projectile to be set alongside the ordnance. I had the dubious pleasure of helping/hindering IWM staff move the projectile from a storeroom at Duxford. Two memories prevail. Firstly, it seemed extraordinary how such a heavy object could find itself in the most inaccessible part of the store necessitating the removal (and replacement) of a large number of equally heavy and sizeable objects (including some massive plaster moulds). The second thought was how lethal this project could be, even empty and FFE it had the potential to crush anybody caught in its path. I hope the shell made it to Larkhill (and perhaps to Holland for a while).

 

[Snufkin]

Some photos taken August 2010.

Does either of the shells look familiar, Norman?





Tom.

 

[Yodamaster]

WAAOOOOW !

"It was used to project 1000 lbs bombs against concrete targets."

I will see the technical data of this bomb !



Yoda

 

[Bonnex]

Some photos taken August 2010.

Does either of the shells look familiar, Norman?
Tom.

Tom,

Not really. The shell was about 5ft 6ins (just shorter than me as I remember it) and nicely painted. I vaguely recollect (but might be confusing it with the 15-inch How projectile) that it would have used a single No 44 Percussion Fuze which hardly offers much functional resilience for such a costly projectile.

 

[TimG]

Yoda',

It was used for testing 1000lb SAP aircraft bombs by firing them against concrete blocks.

TimG

 

[HAZORD]

It looks like someone needs to derust the breech screw threads and grease them!

 

[Chris]

I will have a look at the museum it's only 20 minutes away from our unit.
They also have the projectile of the 80 cm German Dora on display.

 

[Tony Williams]

You mean like this one in the IWM? :tinysmile_classes_t

 

[Chris]

That's the one

 

[kahu1]

The gun used to fire this shell?

The little one is a 12" How.

Bob