[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Thanks Richard, that clears up the mystery nicely. Indeed, coals from Newcastle! I was pretty sure it was not a WW2 import due to the muzzle brake with locking collar and the modified traverse gearbox mounting.

I hope whoever purchased it does a nice restoration, despite the rot - the GMH guns assembled at the Pagewood plant in Sydney are the rarer of the 25-pdrs from the two Australian major co-ordinating contractors.

Mike

Hi Mike,
I can add a little anecdote to the Newcastle auction, the auctioneer clearly stated before bidding started on the 25-pdr that you would need to hold a licence. It was knocked down to a guy holding a beer can, who had probably already consumed several more, for $3000 Aussie dollars. When asked for the licence the guy said he did not have one. So the bidding started all over again and sold for $2300.

Richard