4.5" howitzer questions

[rob love]

The conversion to rubber tyres (at least on the example we have here in Shilo) was a Martin Perry conversion, and was common on several of the WW1 vintage guns thru the 30s. It allowed much higher speeds and less maintenance, especially as horses were being replaced by vehicles. It should not be hard to convert back since the original axle still exists underneath the hub adapters for the rubber tyres. I can't speak though as to some of the bracketry that supports the adapters. It seems to me these may have been riveted into place along the caisson. In Canada, the 4.5 with rubber tyres were only used for training purposes in WW2, and not for operational needs. Finding original wood wheels will be tough I suspect. However, I see on Wikopedia talk about other conversions, one of which included cutting off portions of the stubs. You might be in for a little more work if that is the case.

Yes, finding the proper limber to go with the gun is significant. The limbers were generally useless in the civilian world, so not many survived. I am pretty sure having the limber adds about another $8K to 10K to the price of the gun in whatever currency is being used.

We recently got in 4 of the 4.5 limbers to the Shilo museum that previously resided on the Petawawa ranges. I figure we should be able to make 2 limbers out of the piles.

Sorry, can't help on the value. As I am sure you are aware, generally British guns do not fetch near as much as US made guns in the USA.

How about some photos of your gun? Always nice to see what else is out there.