TOPIC:

A small section of a belt from a1pr Maxim pom pom gun.






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What an amazing survivor. Is this in your collection?

Below is a figure from the "Maxim 1½ Inch Automatic Gun" 1893 handbook, showing the belt with the turned up fabric towards the fore-end. The photograph of the Staatsartillerist at Mafeking appears to show a belt without this feature.









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Gspragge, welcome to the forum - hope you will stay!
Can I ask whether Delfos reloaded fired brass pom-pom cartridge cases, and whether they were filled with Ballistite?
They had extensive experience reloading Martini Henry ammunition, as you'll know, but hadn't made a lot of Mauser ammunition before Pretoria fell..
Rob

Rob,

I have corresponded with MC about this in the past and his belief is that no brass shell cases were manufactured in the ZAR, only fired shells refilled. So, they would have been reloading Pom-pom cartridges. I don't know about the Ballistite.

Neville

Rob D wrote: A request from MC Heunis in Bloemfontein: Can any ABW enthusiast in Rochester/Kent perhaps visit Upnor Castle and confirm the serial numbers of the 37mm QF gun there?
Thanks
Rob

I have at last managed to get to Upnor Castle to inspect the 37mm Krupp Gruson QF gun they have on display there. As can be seen from the photographs, the right-side carriage plate and breech carry the gun number, “Fried. Krupp Grusonwerk No. 66”; whilst the left-hand plate is engraved with the carriage number, “Fabr. No. 11561”. The breech also has factory markings for “FRIED. KRUPP ......” (remainder difficult to read due to thick black paint).

These numbers do not match any of those recorded by the War Office (for 3 of the 5 captured guns). However, given that it is known that one of the Boer Grusons was allotted to the Town Clerk of Rochester, there can be little doubt that this is that gun. MC Heunis is of the opinion that it is probably the single cannon that belonged to the OVS Artillerie. The first gun imported by the Transvaal pre-dated the purchase of Gruson by Krupp (i.e. was not made by "Fried. Krupp Grusonwerk"), and their other three were marked Nos 1 to 3. Therefore, gun No. 66 could only have been the one that once belonged to the Free State.




























The Transvaal imported its first 37mm single-loading QF gun from Hermann Gruson of Magdeburg-Buckau in 1891. This after Commdt-Gen. Piet Joubert attended a firing demonstration at Tangerhülle in 1890 and was dually impressed by the little gun’s “armoured carriage” (i.e. its shield). In 1893 Gruson was bought out by Krupp and became known as Krupp Grusonwerke, from whom the Transvaal ordered three more guns (numbered 1 to 3) in November 1895 through the Johannesburg-based agency of “Fried. Krupp Grusonwerke South African Agency”.

As indicated these were single-loading guns. The barrel was equipped with a vertical wedge breech block with an internal striking bolt. The breech action was worked by a lever on the right hand side of the gun. The barrel was mounted on a light cylinder trailed carriage with a spade-shaped end and was sometimes equipped with a shield. Elevation and depression (15º to either side) was achieved by a small two-part telescopic screw turned by a horizontal hand wheel situated on the left of the breech, while some sources also states that the barrel could also be traversed between 2º and 7.5º to either side. The assembly’s light weight enabled it to be towed by a single horse, or if necessary, hitched behind a wagon. Ammunition consisted of cast iron common shell and case shot fitted to brass casings filled with smokeless powder. As on most other QF equipment a copper driving band was fitted to the base of the shells. Due to the similarities between this gun’s ammunition and those of the better known 37mm Maxim-Nordenfelt/Vickers-Maxim “Pom-pom”, historical works often incorrectly referred to these guns as Pom-poms.

The Free State imported one gun of this calibre, but according to one sources it was a field gun version. The only notable differences between the field and mountain guns is said to have been the weight of the ammunition (?). Another possible difference could be that the mountain version was manufactured for towing and transport on the back of mules, while the field gun version was only intended to be towed. It is not certain when the Free State gun was ordered, which makes it difficult to say whether it was bought from Gruson or Krupp. The Free State ordered three more guns from Krupp before the war broke out in 1899, but these could not be delivered due to the British blockades.

Before the Boer War the Transvaal’s 37mm Gruson gun saw action during the 1894 Malaboch and the 1895 Magoeba expeditions. Together with the four 60mm mountain guns, the four 37mm QF guns were grouped together as the Afdeling: Berg Artillerie (Mountain Artillery) and were placed under the command of 1st Lt. Carlblom in 1897. In 1898 the Transvaal 37mm guns were also employed during the Swazi and Magato/M’pefu campaigns. One photo taken during the Swazi campaign shows two of the little QF guns, complete with shields, mounted in one of the sandbag parapets of the Bremmersdorp fort.

At the outbreak of the Boer War two of the Transvaal guns were sent to the Natal border and two to the North-Western (Mafeking) Front. The Free State gun saw action in the battles of the Western (Kimberley) Front and later in the Free State during Gen. Christiaan De Wet’s early guerrilla battles.

During the 1899-1902 war British forces found one of the three Transvaal Krupp guns, complete with its shield, at Pretoria on 5 June 1900, while the single Gruson gun was discovered buried at Piet Retief in February 1901. A third “37mm Q.F. single-loading” gun was accounted for near Lydenburg on 26 April 1901. Some War Office lists (WO32/8111) refers to it as a Hotchkiss, but since the Boers possessed no Hotchkiss guns, this must have been a Krupp. The Free State “3cm” gun was captured at Bothaville on 6 November 1900.

After its capture the gun taken from Pretoria was sent “Home” (England) aboard the Templemore, while three more guns, No.12963, 41001 and 41002 left South Africa on 10 October 1903 aboard the SS Inyati. The number “12963” is a Grusonwerk factory number that appeared on the carriage of gun No.2, while 41001 and 41002 are typical Gruson “D.R.P.” numbers and not gun serial numbers. This indicates that two of the Boer guns might have been manufactured before Gruson was bought out by Krupp. One certainly belonged to the Transvaal; did the second belong to the Free State?

In Britain one of the captured guns was kept at “R.I.S.I. Whitehall” for some time, while a second was issued to the “U.S. Institution”. In 1904 No.41001 was shipped to Canada, another, No.2 (on carriage No.12963) went to Tasmania in 1905 and a third was allotted to the Town Clerk of Rochester in the UK (no number given).

One trophy gun, believed to have been the Transvaal Gruson, was discovered in Brimfield, Massachusetts in the USA. The present owner bought the gun from an iron monger, but it is said to have originated from Canada. The breech carries the number 41001, while the trunnions are marked 49kg and 1889.
This date and DRP number corresponds with the Transvaal’s “Piet Retief” gun imported in 1891 and issued to Canada in 1904. It is currently mounted on a 60mm Krupp BL mountain gun’s carriage.

In South Africa a single Transvaal 37mm Krupp QF survived. Inscriptions on the barrel identify it as gun No.3, manufactured at Krupp’s Essen Works. The carriage, No.12964, is original and was manufactured at Krupp’s Grusonwerk.

It is not known whether gun No.1 (mounted on carriage No.12962) was ever captured by British forces.



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From a photograph album some nice snapshots of the 4.7 inch Naval Gun.


Naval Gun ready for the front mounted on wheels made in Simon's Town dockyard.


Gun leaving for the front, Simon's Town.