Weapons
The 12-Pounder Field Gun
12-pounder field gun in the collection of the
Canadian War Museum. This is the No. 5 Gun actually used by
"D" Battery, RCFA at Leliefontein.
The 12-pounder breech-loading gun that equipped the
Brigade Division, Royal Canadian
Field Artillery in South Africa began to enter Canadian service in
1897. It replaced the 9-pounder rifled muzzle loading guns that had
equipped Canada's field artillery units since the 1870s. The new gun
was the standard equipment of the mounted troops of the British horse
artillery, and was a great improvement over its predecessor. Loading by
the breech was quicker and simpler than ramming ammunition into place
from the muzzle, and the 12-pounder had a range of 4,500 metres, 1,500
metres better than the earlier gun. Smokeless cordite propellant,
moreover, eliminated the thick haze that had previously surrounded
artillery pieces in action and thereby given away their location to the
enemy.
Rapid technological developments, however, had already rendered the
12-pounder obsolete by the time of the South African War. Guns of the
British and Boer forces fired heavier projectiles to a still greater
range. They also featured hydraulic or mechanical systems to absorb
the shock of recoil. In the case of the 12-pounder, which lacked these
devices, the gun had to be pushed back into position after every round,
thus slowing the rate at which it could be fired.
It says much for the efficiency of the Canadian gunners that they
achieved good results despite the shortcomings of their equipment.
12-pounder field gun
