Bracebridge Field Gun

[Chris Suslowicz]

Originally Posted by Lynn Eades

Thanks Dave, So what do you think happened?
I guess we need to know if this gun was loaded with a complete one piece shell charge projectile assy., or if they were separate components. I'd like to understand what happened.

The other thing to remember is that this is apparently a WW1 gun. Fuse technology was nowhere near as advanced as WW2 and the ammunition was probably not 'bore safe' as (with a few notable exceptions) it is now. It might be a premature detonation (fuse failure or badly-filled shell), an obstructed barrel, or deliberate destruction to deny it to the enemy.

Deliberate destruction would probably be done at the breech end, to ensure maximum damage, especially if you have the WW1 time delay fuses that relied on ignition by flame getting past the shell on firing. (Put a shell into the breech backwards, add some delay fuse, light and run away.)

The damage looks like a detonation in the barrel, and I would not like to have been present when it happened. (I have been present when various firework mortars have prematured[1]; that is quite bad enough, thank you, and I have no wish to repeat the experience.)

Chris.
[1] Cardboard or HDPE tubes, papier-mache (or plastic) shells; the two memorable ones were a 6" mine (built as a spherical shell with no time delay) which removed the top 18" of the tube we fired it from, and a 4" Maltese cylinder maroon that went off in the tube, producing an 'interesting' crater and probably some permanent hearing damage. It was certainly the loudest noise I'd ever experienced (being about 12 feet away from the bang).