The Ordnance BLC 15-pounder gun (BLC stood for BL Converted) was a modernised version of the obsolete BL 15-pounder 7 cwt gun, incorporating a recoil and recuperator mechanism above the barrel and a modified quicker-opening breech. It was developed to provide Territorial Force artillery brigades with a reasonably modern field gun without incurring the expense of equipping them with the newer 18-pounder. It is the gun that writers usually mean by "15-pounder gun" in World War I, but can be confused with the earlier Ordnance QF 15-pounderEhrhardt or Ordnance BL 15-pounder, both of which fired the same shell.
Mks I, II & IV barrel designMk II & IV single-motion breech mechanism
Many modifications were made to the old BL 15-pounder barrels to adapt them to a new carriage with a recoil buffer and recuperator above the barrel similar to the modern 13-pounder design. Previously, the barrels had been mounted directly on the carriage by trunnions. Now, the barrel was suspended from a forged-steel inverted U-shaped cradle which had trunnions to attach it to the carriage. The trunnions, sight brackets and elevating gear attachment lugs were removed from the barrel. The radial T-vent hole on top was plugged, holes in the jacket passing through the trunnion centres were sealed with screwed steel plugs, and the holes in the hood for fitting tangent sights were plugged with white metal alloy.
The 3-motion breech was replaced by a single-motion interrupted screw breech, which had an axial T vent running through it into the chamber, designed to take a T friction tube.
The new firing mechanism involved a new "push" type T friction tube, which was inserted into the axial breech vent. The crosspiece of the T was positioned pointing upwards. A long layer's guard was added to the left side of the cradle projecting behind the breech. A spring-loaded firing handle was built into the layer's guard. When cocked by pulling back and then releasing, it sprang forward and struck a firing lever on the breech, which translated the forward motion to a downward motion and propelled a firing plunger into the T of the friction tube which in turn ignited the cordite propellant charge.
In 1915, Territorial batteries guarding the east coast of England adapted their 15-pounders for use against Zeppelins, by simply digging a pit to accommodate the trail of the gun, to allow it to be trained upwards. It is unlikely that this arrangement was ever used operationally.[3] In a more sophisticated adaptation, two 15-pounders were modified for anti-aircraft use by increasing the allowed elevation to more than 60°.[4] These guns were installed at Ford Wynyard in Cape Town.
Combat service
Camel Battery of BLC 15-pounders after capture of Hatum, 5 January 1918
When skillfully utilised in the role that it was intended for – against troops in the open – the gun was still effective despite being obsolete. Where infantry avoided being caught in the open, the guns were of limited use due to their light shell.
After they became redundant, from late 1916 some were retained in fixed positions on the Western Front as anti-tank guns, freeing up modern guns for their usual duties.[6]
Number 1 15-pounder Camel Battery RGA (today's 21 (Air Assault) Battery) served with six guns with the Indian Expeditionary Force in the Aden hinterland from 1915 to 1918 during the South Arabia campaign, to defend the important port at Aden against any Turkish advance. In July 1915, actions were fought in initially losing and then regaining the British advanced post at Sheik Othman controlling the water supply to Aden.[7] Sgt Curtis was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for saving his gun in these actions[8] (presumably the first, in which two guns were lost). The Camel Battery was present when the British captured Hatum in January 1918.
Six guns can be found in South Africa.[4] One gun is located in the South African National Museum of Military History, Johannesburg, two more on open-air display in Kollege Road, Graaff-Reinet and another 3 in various location throughout South Africa, including Kimberley and Cape Town
Notes and references
↑ Clarke 2004, p. 37. 536 were supplied to Territorial Force brigades. Clarke states that 50 were supplied to Italy during WWI, presumably out of the above as they were replaced by 18-pounders.
↑ Farndale 1986, pp. 1, 93, 100-104, 119-120. While Farndale (1986, pp. 94-95) implies that the Royal Canadian Field Artillery used 15-pounders at St Julien during the Second Battle of Ypres, more authoritative sources such as Duguid (1938, pp. 66, 81, 143, 220) and Nicholson (1967, pp. 209, 226-227) are clear that the guns used by the CFA included 13-pounders, 18-pounders, and 4.5-inch howitzers but not 15-pounders. Knight (2016, p. 125) discusses this question and rejects the use of the 15-pounder in action by the CFA.
General Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Western Front 1914–18. London: Royal Artillery Institution, 1986 ISBN1-870114-00-0
General Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Forgotten Fronts and the Home Base 1914–18. London: The Royal Artillery Institution, 1988. ISBN1-870114-05-1
I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914–1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972.
Doug Knight, Guns of the Regiment. Ottawa: Service Publication, 2016.
Colonel G. W. L. Nicholson, The Gunners of Canada: The History of The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, vol. 1. Beauceville, Quebec: Imprimerie l'Éclaireur, 1967.
The Ordnance QF 18-pounder, or simply 18-pounder gun, was the standard British Empire field gun of the First World War-era. It formed the backbone of the Royal Field Artillery during the war, and was produced in large numbers. It was used by British Forces in all the main theatres, and by British troops in Russia in 1919. Its calibre (84 mm) and shell weight were greater than those of the equivalent field guns in French (75 mm) and German (77 mm) service. It was generally horse drawn until mechanisation in the 1930s.
The Ordnance BL 60-pounder was a British 5 inch (127 mm) heavy field gun designed in 1903–05 to provide a new capability that had been partially met by the interim QF 4.7 inch Gun. It was designed for both horse draft and mechanical traction and served throughout the First World War in the main theatres. It remained in service with British and Commonwealth forces in the inter-war period and in frontline service with British and South African batteries until 1942 being superseded by the BL 4.5 inch Medium Gun.
This article explains terms used for the British Armed Forces' ordnance (weapons) and ammunition. The terms may have slightly different meanings in the military of other countries.
Ordnance, QF 3.7-inch howitzer is a mountain gun, used by British and Commonwealth armies in the First and Second World Wars, and between the wars.
The BL 8-inch howitzer Marks VI, VII and VIII were a series of British artillery siege howitzers on mobile carriages of a new design introduced in World War I. They were designed by Vickers in Britain and produced by all four British artillery manufacturers but mainly by Armstrong and one American company. They were the equivalents of the German 21 cm Morser 16 and in British service were used similarly to the BL 9.2-inch howitzer but were quicker to manufacture and more mobile. They delivered a 200 lb (91 kg) shell to 12,300 yd. They had limited service in the British Army in World War II before being converted to the new 7.2 in (180 mm) calibre. They also equipped a small number of Australian and Canadian batteries in World War I and by the US Army in that war. They were used in small numbers by other European armies.
The Ordnance BL 6 inch 26cwt howitzer was a British howitzer used during World War I and World War II. The qualifier "26cwt" refers to the weight of the barrel and breech together which weighed 26 long hundredweight (1.3 t).
The Ordnance QF 13-pounder (quick-firing) field gun was the standard equipment of the British and Canadian Royal Horse Artillery at the outbreak of World War I.
The Ordnance QF 4.5-inch howitzer was the standard British Empire field howitzer of the First World War era. It replaced the BL 5-inch howitzer and equipped some 25% of the field artillery. It entered service in 1910 and remained in service through the interwar period and was last used in the field by British forces in early 1942. It was generally horse drawn until mechanisation in the 1930s.
The BL 8-inch howitzer Mark I through to Mark V were a British improvisation developed early in the First World War to provide heavy artillery. It used shortened and bored-out barrels from various redundant naval 6-inch guns.
The BL 6-inch gun Mark VII was a British naval gun dating from 1899, which was mounted on a heavy travelling carriage in 1915 for British Army service to become one of the main heavy field guns in the First World War, and also served as one of the main coast defence guns throughout the British Empire until the 1950s.
The QF 2.95-inch mountain gun was the designation given by the British to a Vickers 75 mm calibre gun. It was originally produced for the Egyptian Army. It was taken into British service in the late 19th century to provide the 'movable armament' at some coaling stations. Also known as "The Millimetre Gun", it was used by the West African Frontier Force in several theatres in Africa during World War I. It was also used by the United States and the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
The Ordnance QF 15-pounder gun, commonly referred to as the Ehrhardt, was a modern German field gun purchased by Britain in 1900 as a stopgap measure to upgrade its field artillery to modern QF standards, while it developed its own alternative. This was precipitated by the experience of the British Army in South Africa during the Second Boer War, where its standard field gun, the BL 15-pounder, was out-performed by modern French and German field guns deployed by the Boers. It bore no relation to the BL 15-pounder or BLC 15-pounder, two other guns in British service at the time, other than a common shell.
The Ordnance BL 9.2-inch howitzer was a heavy siege howitzer that formed the principal counter-battery equipment of British forces in France in World War I. It equipped a substantial number of siege batteries of the Royal Garrison Artillery. It remained in service until about the beginning of World War II.
The Ordnance BL 10 pounder mountain gun was developed as a BL successor to the RML 2.5 inch screw gun which was outclassed in the Second Boer War.
The British Ordnance BL 9.2 inch gun on truck, railway mounted a variety of surplus 9.2 inch naval guns, together with the custom-designed Mk XIII railway gun, on various railway platforms to provide mobile long-range heavy artillery on the Western Front in World War I. Mk XIII remained in service for British home defence in World War II.
The Ordnance BL 15-pounder, otherwise known as the 15-pounder 7 cwt, was the British Army's field gun in the Second Boer War and some remained in limited use in minor theatres of World War I. It fired a shell of 3-inch diameter with a maximum weight of 15 pounds (6.8 kg), hence its name which differentiated it from its predecessor '12-pounder' 3-inch gun which fired shells weighing only 12.5 pounds (5.7 kg).
The Ordnance QF 12-pounder 8 cwt was a Royal Navy "landing gun" intended for navy use ashore. "8 cwt" refers to the weight of the gun and breech, approximately 8 cwt = 8 x 112 lb (51 kg) = 896 lb (406 kg). This was how the British often differentiated between guns of the same calibre or weight of shell. This gun had a short barrel and was of relatively low power compared to the 12 pounders of 12 and 18 long cwt, although it fired the same shells.
The Ordnance RML 2.5-inch mountain gun was a British rifled muzzle-loading mountain gun of the late 19th century designed to be broken down into four loads for carrying by man or mule. It was primarily used by the Indian Army.
The Ordnance BL 12-pounder 6 cwt was a lighter version of the British 12-pounder 7 cwt gun, used by the Royal Horse Artillery in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The QF 6-inch 40 calibre naval gun (Quick-Firing) was used by many United Kingdom-built warships around the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century.
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