The Abbey Wood Field Gun Team - History Page
"Go beyond your limits"
The History of the Field Gun Competition
The Origins of the Competition
The Field Gun Competition is inspired by the exploits of a Naval Brigade during the Boer War in 1899.
In South Africa at the turn of the last century, relations between the Dutch in the Transvaal, the Orange State, the British in the Cape and Natal deteriorated rapidly after a conference held in Bloomfontein, capital of the Orange Free State. This was intended to resolve the problems arising from the massive influx of immigrants as a result of the discovery of gold in the Transvaal and their claims for citizenship rights. The conference ended in stalemate and both sides moved forces to their mutual borders.
The British forces in Natal numbered less than 16,000, whilst the Transvaal Burgher army alone totalled nearly 27,000. In September the decision to despatch more than 10,000 troops to South Africa from home and abroad was made in London. The Transvaal Government responded to this major troop movement with an ultimatum issued on the 9th October, with a time limit of two days, that all British forces were to withdraw from the borders of the Transvaal, all the troops which had landed since the previous June were to be moved from South Africa and those on their way from overseas were not to be landed. Two days later on the 11th October 1899 at 5pm war was declared and the Boers invaded.
The British forces were quickly overwhelmed and forced back to the towns of Mafeking, Kimberley and Ladysmith, which were then besieged. Ladysmith was the most vulnerable of the three towns and should it fall a great moral victory could be claimed by the marauding Boer forces. It was at this point that the Royal Navy was called into action.
At anchor off Capetown were the cruisers, HMS Terrible and HMS Powerful. The British Commander in Natal, General Sir George White VC, signalled the ships for assistance, particularly long range guns. Fortunately for the General, Captain P.Scott RN of HMS Terrible was a gunnery expert and he quickly designed a carriage that could hold 6 inch, and 4.7 inch, 12 pounder naval guns for transit and in action. Following initial tests, all the necessary guns and equipment were transported to Durban by HMS Terrible; the carriages were then speedily manufactured in the Durban Railway workshops. The contingent was soon ready and under the command of Captain H.Lambton RN, the 280 officers and men with two, 4.7 inch guns, four long range 12 pounders and four maxim guns the Naval Brigade as they were now called, left Durban by rail for Ladysmith. Their train was the last to complete the journey to Ladysmith on the 30th October just as the siege and bombardment started.
The Naval Brigade were soon in action against the Boer artillery; their long range guns were so effective in countering the enemy batteries and holding them at bay that it was not long before Captain Scott was being asked to provide another brigade. This was duly done and the new brigade acted in support of General Buller's push towards their besieged comrades. Due to the nature of this operation the railway was of little use, therefore the guns had to be manhandled over difficult terrain to be brought into action in many different engagements, eventually reaching Ladysmith after 120 days of blockade. This is the whole idea of Field Gun: to try and reconstruct as near to the truth as possible what happened a century ago during the relief of Ladysmith. The men not only had to cope with very difficult terrain but they had to construct some sort of way of getting across a bottomless area of land; this is where the present days chasm idea came from.
The news of the relief of Ladysmith was greeted with great jubilation in Britain and Queen Victoria sent a telegram to the Naval Brigades thanking them for their invaluable assistance. Leaving Ladysmith on the 7th March 1900 the sailors of Powerful and Terrible were soon back on board, the Powerful heading for home and arriving in Portsmouth on the 11th April.
The officers and men of Powerful were soon invited to a number of military and civic receptions culminating in a Royal audience with Queen Victoria where she personally thanked the ship's company for their part in the saving of Ladysmith.
The History of the Competition
The Royal Military Tournament of 1900 was held in Islington Agricultural Hall and featured men from HMS Powerful parading one of their 4.7-inch naval guns called 'Joe Chamberlain'. This proved most popular and the Navy's contribution continued as part of the Tournament, which moved to Olympia in 1906.
In 1912 a competition replaced the parade for the first time, the three depots of Portsmouth, Chatham and Devonport providing the gun teams. This was the idea of Commander P.H Hall-Thompson RN, who is regarded as the father of the field gun competition. The 1914-1918 war stopped all such events for its duration but the competition returned with the new Royal Tournament of peacetime.
The Second World War 'stopped play' for a second time, but the resumption saw two important changes: the venue was Earls Court in1950 and by now the Royal Tournament's Field Gun Competition had been joined by a team from the Fleet Air Arm. Upon their entry the newcomers won the Aggregate Time Challenge Cup as well as the Fastest Time Cup. In 1960 Chatham ran at the tournament for the last time. Throughout the history of the Inter-Port competition as many as eight crews have competed including the Royal Marines in the 1920's. However it is not just this year that records have been set and then broken.
In 1981 Portsmouth produced a record run of 2 minutes 42.4, only to see it snatched away again two years later by Devonport with a run of 2 minutes 41.1. However, the very next year, 1984, Chief Petty Officer PTI Keith Mack trained a Portsmouth crew, which put in a blistering run of 2 minutes 40.6, which was the record that had stood for fifteen years.
It is not all glory and record breaking as was proved in 1982. A.B Allen the Flying Angel (no.7) for Portsmouth was the last man being pulled across the chasm on the run back. He reached the home ramp and released the ten-foot spar he was carrying as his drill required and ran on down the ramp. However, instead of checking on the collapsing sheer legs and passing on the outside of them he went through the middle. The collapsing sheer legs killed him. (The sheer legs weigh 170lbs) Broken bones, pulled muscles and severe cuts were the risks that dedicated gunners accepted and before they signed up they were required to sign a disclaimer stating that they would not sue the Navy for damages. But when they signed the disclaimer they never expected a man would be killed in the toughest team sport in the world.
Sadly, due to 'Government cuts' 1999 was the last year of the Royal Tournament and the final time anyone will 'run the gun' in the format described above. On 20th July 1999 the Government confirmed what many people had been dreading for months, the fact that the field gun competition would come to an end in August 1999. Both at Devonport base, HMS Drake and at Earls Court there was a very subdued atmosphere. On the night of Devonport's last ever run the 'A' Crew stayed in their mess for most of the day and when the moment came they all had tears in their eyes. There was some controversy as all three crews wore black armbands during the run, despite being forbidden to do so by the MOD and being informed that if anyone did it would attact a penalty. They reasoned however if they all wore armbands it would make no difference and, in the end, were not penalised. When Devonport went into the arena to collect their trophies there was not a dry eye in the arena.
The Competition Today
This takes place on HMS Collingwood's famously large parade ground - reputed to have once held as many as 8,000 ratings - and is the perfect setting for the event.
The competition has changed somewhat from the obstacle course it was in 1982 when A. B. Allen was killed and today teams compete over an 85 yard long flat track, a total run of 170 yards.
The details are:
1st Advance, 1st Wheel Change. The limber is lifted, its wheels and drag ropes are shipped and it is run forward. The gun wheels are exchanged with the limber wheels. The gun and wheels are heavy! The gun is brought to the back of the limber and connected, then both are run forward.
2nd Advance, 1st Action. The gun is unhooked and the limber is run to the 70 yard line where it is turned or spun to face the start; its wheels are removed and it is dropped to the ground. The gun is run to the end of the track, turned and stopped. The gun is fired three times, each shell being run to the gun from the limber by the fastest man in the crew.
1st Retire, 2nd Wheel. The limber wheels are shipped and it is run back and hooked to the gun. Both are then run towards the start, stopped and lifted together to exchange wheels. This is the heaviest lift of all and life gets very difficult if the gear is dropped.
2nd Retire, 2nd Action. Gun and limber are run towards the start line, separated and stopped. The gun is fired three times as quickly as possible.
3rd Retire and Finish. The limber is run back and hooked to the gun then every member of the crew strains to accelerate the gear over the finish line. This is not the best time to fall in front of the gear because it is very heavy and cannot be stopped.
Result. Time penalties are added to the running time for each contravention of the rules. There are 34 possible penalties. The track is 85 yards long, which means a total run of 170 yards. The record time was achieved by HMS COLLINGWOOD in 2001 with a time of 1 min 18.8 secs.
