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Britain's biggest gun aims for Netherlands

my72jeep

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The UK's largest artillery piece, 1 of 12 surviving wartime railway howitzers in the world, is being moved for exhibition in the Netherlands.




The barrel of the UK's last surviving railway howitzer is loaded onto a lorry for transport to Holland




The 190 ton breech loading 18-inch howitzer, is being sent to the Netherlands to form the centerpiece of an exhibition at the Het Spoorwegmuseum    (Dutch Railway Museum) in Utrecht.

The gun, originally designed for the battlefields of the First World War




https://www.gov.uk/government/news/britains-biggest-gun-aims-for-holland
 
I could see the gun commander as a typical joke coming up to the new gunners and measuring them and saying: "right this one will fit up the barrel, get a scrub brush" that's a bloody great gun!
 
All you need is that newbie to see a clown run by at that same moment as they are lifting him up to the breach. :clown:
 
Wow! This is really cool, I had no idea it had survived! I remember reading about this gun in a military encylopedia when i was a kid! Odd choice to send to the Netherlands though.
 
There was an old military legend to the effect that after Dunkirk two British officers were recceing positions for the railway guns in SE England. They came across a curving spur line which appeared ideal for the purpose. Following it, they found it led to a large storage shed. On entering it, to they astonishment, they found a railway gun in spotless condition. An elderly gentleman appeared and said "I wondered when you were going to show up." Upon being questioned, he revealed he had been hired in 1919 to look after the gun, so that it would be available in the event of war.

Now that is legend, but in 1975 at the St Barbara's Day function in Gagetown, I mentioned it to retired Brigadier AFB Knight. He responded that in 1940 he was posted to HQ RCA of the 1st Canadian Division and had been tasked with arranging transport to deliver ammunition to several railway guns in the area.
 
There is a thread on the railway gns at Tanknet. The USN also supplied a number of 8" railway guns for the defense of Prince Rupert, 2 at Fairview and 2 on Ridely Island.
 
Old Sweat said:
There was an old military legend to the effect that after Dunkirk two British officers were recceing positions for the railway guns in SE England. They came across a curving spur line which appeared ideal for the purpose. Following it, they found it led to a large storage shed. On entering it, to they astonishment, they found a railway gun in spotless condition. An elderly gentleman appeared and said "I wondered when you were going to show up." Upon being questioned, he revealed he had been hired in 1919 to look after the gun, so that it would be available in the event of war.

Now that is legend, but in 1975 at the St Barbara's Day function in Gagetown, I mentioned it to retired Brigadier AFB Knight. He responded that in 1940 he was posted to HQ RCA of the 1st Canadian Division and had been tasked with arranging transport to deliver ammunition to several railway guns in the area.

I believe that this is also quoted in Mr. Blackburns book, "Where the Hell are the Guns?"
 
On The coastal defenses, including railguns
http://www.northamericanforts.com/Canada/bc-north.html

Tanknet thread on Coastal defenses
http://208.84.116.223/forums/index.php?showtopic=29535
 
And then there is the Canadian Armoured Train .... Not so much a railway gun as guns on a railway.

 
jeffb said:
I believe that this is also quoted in Mr. Blackburns book, "Where the Hell are the Guns?"
It also quoted in Ian Hoggs Book " The Guns 1939 - 1945 "
 
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