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Ordnance QF 18-Pounder

1904 WORLD WAR 1 WORLD WAR 2

History

During the Second Boer War, the British government realised that their field artillery was being replaced by the more modern "rapid-firing" artillery of the other major powers and therefore sought to replace their existing field artillery BL 15 pounder 7 cwt In 1900, General Henry Brackenbury, then commander-in-chief of artillery, sent officers to visit European arms manufacturers. At the Rheinische Metallwaren- und Maschinenfabrik in Dusseldorf, they found a rapid-fire gun designed by Heinrich Ehrhardt with a recoil system that completely absorbed the recoil of all bullets, 108 guns plus spare parts, which were secretly purchased and As the Ordnance QF 15 - pounder of June 1901.

Meanwhile, the British Cabinet ordered the Commander-in-Chief in South Africa, Field Marshal Lord Roberts, to send commanders of artillery brigades and batteries "selected on the basis of importance and experience" to form an equipment committee. The committee was chaired by General George Marshall, a former artillery commander in South Africa.

Founded in January 1901, it has conducted extensive research on everything from horse-drawn mobile guns and larger, more static field guns, to harness designs and even binoculars. They quickly worked out "the conditions that the proposed new equipment must meet"; the most important being "the weight behind the team", then ballistics, rate of fire, shell weight, shield deployment and the number of bullets carried.

UK arms manufacturers are invited to submit designs. From the numerous entries, 5 were selected for the installation of the artillery and 3 for the field gun, and their manufacturers were invited to submit "samples". These were tested in 1902 but were not found to be suitable for service, although they were all of good quality.

The creators were called to a meeting and agreed to co-create a composite design. This used Armstrong guns, Vickers recoil systems and sighting and lifting equipment from the Royal Armouries as well as ammunition transport.

A reduction in wheel size from 5 ft (1.5 m) to 4 ft 8 in (1.42 m) was also accepted (this was an issue investigated by the equipment committee), resulting in a reduction in weight. In 1903, four artillery batteries of the composite design participated in the trials, and the new 18-pounder design was accepted.

During the First World War, 18-pounders were used on all fronts. It served during the two world wars.

From 1938, Mark IV and V carriages were converted to 25lb Ordnance QF Mark 1 to Carriage Mark 1. The 18-pounder guns that were used by the British Expeditionary Force in France during World War II were also used in other theaters for training or beach defense.