QF 12 pounder 8 cwt Mk I gun

This gun had a short barrel and was of relatively low power compared to the 12 pounders of 12 and, although it fired the same shells.

• Name — QF 12-pounder 8 cwt • Origin — United Kingdom • Type — Light field gun • Is Ranged — yes • Is Artillery — yes • Is Uk — yes • Used By — British Empire Empire of Japan • Wars — Second Boer War World War I • Design Date — c. 1894 • Part Length — 84 in bore (28 calibres) • Caliber — 3 in • Cartridge — Separate QF, 12.5 lb Shrapnel, Common Lyddite • Velocity — 1585 ft/s • Max Range — 5100 yd • Carriage — Wheeled, box trail

Fourteen were converted into anti-aircraft guns as Mk I*. The Royal Navy eventually replaced the gun with the 3.7 in mountain howitzer.

The gun was used in the early stages of the Second Boer War in Natal.

• Illustration — In action at Fort Dachang, Cameroons, 1915 • Illustration — Australian and British gunners with gun in front lines at Gallipoli These guns were employed on land in the West Africa campaign. They were also employed in the East Africa campaign ("Logan's Battery" 6th Field Battery, 2 guns, towed first by Hupmobile cars and then REO lorries). This gun was briefly used in the Battle of Gallipoli, as the Royal Navy had supplies of ammunition for it when the army was short of ammunition for its own guns. Several guns were landed in July 1915 and operated from frontline trenches.

• Illustration — A gun with Victory in the background, at Portsmouth, UK There is a surviving example held and maintained at Devonport Field Gun Association Heritage Centre & Museum at Crownhill Fort, Plymouth. There are also three examples at the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets summer training camp at HMCS Acadia in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. They are still fired regularly, although they only fire blanks for ceremonial and training purposes. One example is located at HMCS Star in Hamilton, Ontario and is in use by the Hamilton Sea Cadet Corps.

This cannon is the type used in the famous British Royal Navy field gun competitions. The Command Field Gun competition originated in 1907 at the annual Royal Tournament and involved the competing teams manhandling a 12-pounder gun, carriage and limber over walls and across an imaginary "chasm". The last of these races was held in 1999. Another race which is still ongoing is the Brickwood's Field Gun competition that also dates to 1907 and involves pulling a gun and limber along a measured course and back, swapping the carriage wheels with the limber wheels twice. Another example of this type of gun is the Portsmouth Gun Carriage which has been used to carry the coffin of senior naval; officers at ceremonial funerals. The gun is preserved at, a shore establishment at Fareham in Hampshire.

The RN Field Gun may be seen 'in action' in the 1957 film "Yangtse Incident", when a group of these guns was used on the banks of the River Orwell to depict Chinese PLA gun batteries on the North bank of the Yangtze, which fired on Amethyst as she steamed up to Nanking in April 1949.