[Gunner]

Hi Guys:

There would be no need to keep water off the ready ammo in the toast-rack, it got used too quickly. At the end of an engagement, when the gun was out of action, the toast-rack would be emptied and the ammo wiped down and put away.

The intricate mechanism in the autoloader had to be kept clean and dry. Covers were made in tin, canvas web and leather. A friend in the UK has one of the leather covers on his Bofors... heavy and thick and he has to keep it soft with tons of saddle soap!

If you look at the canvas web cover it has a flap on the left side to cover the chute that the ammo clips fall from. With such a light cover the strap would ensure it didn't blow away on the road. Even the tin ones had a leather strap to secure them to the gun so they wouldn't bounce off.

Cheers and Ubique! Mike