[George Moore]

Thanks for the extra insight into the history of the guns.

The split trail was I believe only used by Commonwealth forces, I have as yet only seen the photos of that gun in service in North Africa, though generalised in the other areas of the area, Syria, Palestine etc, where I know the Australians were present.
What photos I do have of abandoned guns in France after Dunkirk, and there are fields full of them, not one appears to be a split trail, and I have based my assumptions on this.

There are some photos of a preserved split trail gun on the site.

As an aside, the recent post on WWII films is amazing.
The films are colourised, as some are a bit suspect as to cammo schemes on vehicles, but the North Africa set, after about 3 minutes, has some great shots of 4.5" howitzers firing, and a great one of a 6" howitzer firing. The kick back is incredible, looks as if it would do as much damage to the crew as it would to the target. Must see!!!

Thanks for the info, as you may be aware, I make model master patterns for a company Resicast. We have brought out the 18pdr and 4.5" howitzer in 1/35th scale, and I am working on the 18/25pdr and 6" howitzer.

George.