Talk:BL 60-pounder gun

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Trials of the original 1904 design revealed the need for a lot of modifications. 60 pr seems to have had a very advanced design for the time. The original limber was designed for towing by horse, oxen or vehicle.

However, production was very slow and the design was not accepted by India (or more accurately the British artillery officers in India). In 1914 only the 1 - 6 Divs had been equipped (one heavy bty of 4 guns per division), the rest still had 4.7inch guns. By Nov 1918 total btys were: UK - nil, BEF - 74, Italy - 3, Macedonia - 11, Palestine - 7, Mesopotamia - 4. In addition Canada had 2 btys in France, the only imperial forces using them.

Referring to 60pr as the backbone of medium artillery entirely misses the point. The term 'medium' wasn't generally used, 60pr were in 'heavy' batteries (as were 4.7in), 6 inch How were in siege batteris and they were by far the most numerous 'medium' guns.Nfe (talk) 09:17, 22 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for that Nigel. I've updated the page accordingly, please correct it if necessary. It can be a bit confusing when the photo of the 60 pounder in General Farndale's RA History of the Western Front reads : "It was redesigned during the war, but remained the standard medium gun throughout". Maybe he didn't write the caption, as elsewhere he uses the official WWI "heavy" designation. Technically the 60 pounder would appear to be a medium gun, fitting between field guns and genuine heavies. I wonder whether propaganda was at work in WWI - with the British having to cover up their lack of heavy artillery by calling mediums heavies and heavies siege artillery ? Or was it a result of their military doctrine as having different roots than that of the European powers ? Rcbutcher (talk) 11:38, 22 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

There is another surviving 60pdr, not in a museum. It is in Sloan Park, Bloomingdale, New Jersey, America

Another surviving example[edit]

I came across another surviving example of this gun in Veterans Memorial Park, Clarion, PA. Thetrojancow (talk) 17:07, 24 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]