The Field Gun
What do you get if you have a couple of old lampposts, a fair assortment of scrap iron, some wood, and a passion for Field Gunning? The answer is,you are in the Navy Training Corps with a couple of near replica 12 pounder Royal Navy Field Guns.
The origin of Royal Navy Field Gunning dates back to the Boer War, when ship’s guns were put onto carriages and pulled overland by Royal Navy sailors to relieve the town of Ladysmith which was besieged by the Boers. Out of this grew the Field Gun Competition which ran annually at the Royal Tournament in London until 1999 when the event became the victim of Government Cuts. It continued to be performed by the Portsmouth Action Field Gun, and Wellington College CCF. As already mentioned, the Field Gun Competition in the Tournament was scrapped in 1999, but it is now being revived by ABF, The Soldiers’ Charity, to raise money for injured soldiers and their families and as a consequence Wellington College fielded two competing teams in the Field Gun Run at the British Royal Tournament in 2010, see below.
So, what do you do when you have two replica 12 pounder Field Guns? The aim is to have two gun crews running against each other, in a straight forward competition with no obstacles. Once this has been mastered, then walls will be added.
The ultimate aim is to do the full competition with walls and chasm. Only very Senior Cadets will be eligible to run, with the team being made up mainly by young Instructors, as Field Gunning is considered to be the toughest team sport in the world. Many things have to be put in place before this happens, but when the aim is complete, one more Royal Navy Tradition will be kept alive.
View some of our photos of making one of our guns here.
Below is a clip of the Fleet Air Arm Field Gun Display at HMS Daedalus Lee-on-the-Solent
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