6 inch 26 Cwt Howitzer & 8 inch How
Peter, the image(s) appear to be 6 inch 26 cwt BL Howitzers with their original horse-drawn carriage wheels, rather than 60-pdr BL guns. The profile of the canvas cover goes evenly to the end of the barrel, whereas the 60-pdr (not '60 lb') had a buffer and recuperator above the barrel which ended well short of the end of the barrel tube. This would appear as a step-down about 1/2 way along the canvas cover, which is not evident in the image. I doubt that it is a 6 inch 30 cwt Siege Howitzer, as the carriage trail is too long and the type was well out of service by the late 1930s, so am almost certain they are 6 inch 26 cwt BL Howitzers.
Grant: the NZ image purports to show a 60-pdr BL gun, but I doubt that because the buffer and recuperator visible above the short barrel appears to be the same length as the barrel tube, and the heavy wheel construction shows a wide width of wheel with a lattice of crossed spokes - both attributes are typical of the 8 inch BL Howitzer Marks 1 to 5 (not the Mark 6) and not the 60-pdr BL gun. Another case of an institution publishing an image with a dubious caption?
Mike
Last edited by Mike Cecil; 03-04-21 at 01:17.
Reason: nomenclature detail added
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