5.5" gun

[Rod Bellars (RIP)]

These are an impressive gun and it amazes me to see the barrel pivot and elevate with such ease on the cradle by one man it also amazes me what a pain they are to move around lol :-( .
during the war they fired a standard 100lb shot and due to a defect of worn barrles and rattle causing prematures, a change to 82lb rounds came in . Australia did not follow this trend until in the 60s after a local gun crew experienced a premature and 100lb rounds were fazed out . although doubtful if any went overseas these guns served in Australia from 1943 until mid 80s when final three were sold off from Moorbank NSW actually to me .
I bought them and they all had parts missing as I suspect they were sent to be used for canabizeation for parts at end of the guns service life .From the three I got one very nice complete one and traded off the other two .

Before moving I had them stored outside and it was upsetting to check the tarps all the time now it is in its own shed and protected its future is guaranteed to stay in good condition few are preserved indoors . another that used to be indoors at Melbourne tank museum was recently sold to an RSL club that put it outside and sadly that is the end of leather and related parts and the onset of water damage few are indoors now
when I purchased these guns from the army it was on the understanding they would store them until I moved, sadly shortly after we had our spayte of shootings and like all else we had knee jerk reactions even on these large guns and I was summoned to Broadmedows where they ended up after loosing parts in transit for store untill i moved properties as agreed . With the shootings they wanted to render the guns inoperable a thing i had requested not be done and agreed on buying them other than what was already done to spare barrels also in the deal .The engineers at the base knew the guns belonged to me and refused to render them before they consulted with me and after a tense discussion with the army junior officer sent to inspect them with me I was given 24 hours to remove them from the base if I would not agree to render them I had lined up three trucks and they came in on my signal and removed them . A final indignity to the officer a ltnt who had jousted with me over their condition ,was the day before they had pushed the guns outside and it had rained heavily he opened the breach on one and a mix of water and preservac went all over his uniform to the amusement of all although we did not laugh:-) I thought it was the guns having a say lol and he demanded to be shown where he could change and shower and I left with my guns intact . I am sure the Army was just reacting to political pressure at the time but it was not pleasant for me and I did manage to save the guns although had to store them under tarps before moving for awhile

rounds are stored two per box in slat wood boxes and charges vary in round tins
The gun is made by RGF and dated 1943 I have fitted it with 100lb range plate on sight which were removed in 60s and replaced with 80lb range plates .100lb ones are quite rare here and I was lucky enough to find a small number on a farm .the 80lb round can be seen in shot on box and 100lb in the carry crates as well as driill rounds

I had great pleasure in beimg instructed by Bob an ex 5.5" gunner who was impressed with the gun to tears and ran me through gun drill and brought me up an unopened tin of initiators he had kept from his army days, I believe made in Canada although I have not opened them I have others loose . They are called tubes percussion s.a.cartridges mkiv and go in the lock on back of the breach to fire the gun when in use they are removed from the tin and kept in a leather box held by the gunner i believe during ww2. loading was ramming in round then charge and shutting breach and adding tube to lock and stand back . by the way Bob is coming back with another gunner mate to help figure out how one item works with me :-) i suspect is stuck a trail release pedal maybe enjoy the shots I have enjoyed discussing it and its history

regards
Rod

[ARTY-BOY]

Rod
Enjoyed reading that, and well done for rescuing the 5.5's.
Dad was a bombardier with 10th Med Regt (RF)RA 84th Bty WW2, which had 16, 5.5's issued in May 43.
Your right about the Prematures, the regt had more men killed by them than by enemy action, all regts were visited by the Prematures investgation Committee in 44 to try to help them cut down, also trouble with the TUBES which were u/s if damp.
Have just finished a history of the Regt.
Have a nice pic of an "A" Troop 5.5 with full gun kit laid out for inspection.
Rob

[Rod Bellars (RIP)]

Glad you enjoyed it i am still chasing a few smalls for the gun ie covers and wooden staves but have most the rare stuff along with the post war upgraded no7 dial sight .They are a magnificent item and shame to see most outside rotting and being stripped

Ask your dad if you can I know when they used the 3.7" aa as anti tank gun they used an unfused HE round do they do the same with these in direct fire?

Also my uncle was on 25pdr in North africa and Italy and he said when they fired at Germans in buildings they sometimes used the standard He round but left the safety cap on to allow for shel to enter building before detonating did they do this on 5.5" to get same delayed action on imapct fuses which were the same ?
regards
Rod

[rnixartillery]

Rod,

I have a NOS Breech cover and spare staves,I will e-mail you .



Rob.......................rnixartillery.

[Rod Bellars (RIP)]

thanks rob we have done this on email think we can keep it there now as double typing lol the staves i refer to are the wooden traversing staves that fit in the loops on rear of trails
regards
Rod
ps enjoying your shots and collection looks good