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A good photograph of a battery of 2.5-inch R.M.L. Mountain Guns in South Africa.



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Herewith an interesting detail of the B.W. Caney photograph "Farmhouse destroyed by Boers" showing a trooper (some member will recognise the unit he belonged to) handing a shell to a sailor.

This photograph by Horace Nicholls depicts the disembarkation of crated Royal Horse Artillery 12-pdr 6-cwt BL Mk I guns in South Africa. Images usually show guns being craned on or off transports without any protection, indicating that the utilisation of wooden cases was unusual.

It is quite possible that these are the guns that were sent out to replace the 15-pdrs that “J” Battery R.H.A. had borrowed from the 40th Battery R.F.A., and with which they sailed from Bombay for Port Elizabeth on 11 January 1900. At the outbreak of hostilities “J” Battery had still been equipped with outdated 12-pdr 7-cwt guns which were unable to fire 15-pdr ammunition, and this lack of compatibility with R.F.A. guns was considered unacceptable for active service in South Africa (Wyndham Malet, p. 30). The borrowed 15-pdrs were subsequently replaced with compatible 12-pdr 6-cwt guns at Bloemfontein on 14 April 1900. These presumably came from war stores or directly from the manufacturer, and this could explain the crates pictured by Nicholls, each of which is stencilled “12-pdr 6-cwt BL Mark I”.

The mark of gun can also be ascertained from the design of the foresight brackets.























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Silver table lighter in the form of a Royal Horse Artillery 12-pdr 6-cwt BL Mk I gun on Mk I carriage.











Handbook for the 12-pr B.L. 6 cwt. Gun (Mark I) (Royal Horse Artillery) 1898


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Another instance of a Royal Horse Artillery Battery using 15-pdr guns instead of their standard 12-pdrs. This photograph, taken by my great grandfather, Major Gerard Heath, R.E., shows "A" Battery in action near Amersfort on 7 August 1900. Note the length of the barrels (92.35 in, opposed to the 12-pdr's much shorter 66.75 in). Due to the camera angle, this is most noticeable with the gun on the left.

Further research is needed here, but it may be relevant that the two batteries (A & J) that were despatched from India were each equipped with R.F.A. 15-pdrs at the beginning of the war. Were both of the Indian units still furnished with the outdated 7-cwt 12-pdr gun, which was unable to fire 15-pdr ammunition and therefore deemed unsuitable for warfare in South Africa? Unfortunately, there are very few published photographs of R.H.A. guns in S. Africa. It would be useful to see what artillery pieces the other eight, "non-Indian", batteries were equipped with.








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Hi-res photograph of a Transvaal Staatsartillerie 75 mm Creusot QF gun at Ladysmith, showing the breech mechanism and sights. By van Hoepen, Pretoria.

From the album of Lieutenant Aubrey Davies-Cooke, 10th Hussars.

SEE ALSO: 75 mm Creusot QF Gun (I)
AND: 75 mm Creusot QF Gun (II)
AND: 75 mm Creusot QF Gun (III)















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