vick1 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Hi, I wonder if anyone has seen a steam wagon circa ww1/ home or abroad, with a anti tank gun mounted on its rear platform, steam waggon makers sentinel /and foden supplied the war dept with steam waggons, but were any used in this way?.. I am sure I saw a picture once....possibly an Atkinson..it may have been a prototype or trial? I am sure it would be similar to the Thornycroft j type lorries and 13pdr gun.... has anyone got a drawing of the war dept handbook for the thornycroft lorry gun mount? Kind regards, and thank you for your anticipated comments, vic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rnixartillery Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 World War One mounted Anti-Tank Guns ! I'm sure at this time only small bore A-T rounds were being used and the concept of A-T Artillery was in very early concept stages. This was a time when even the idea of Anti-Aircraft Guns was a fresh development with the very simple remounting of the standard 13 pdr Field Gun which proved pretty useless ! although the 3" 20 cwt was a bit more on track. Rob.................rnixartillery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Child Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 If I can be an honorary gent for the day (replete with Christmas cracker plastic 'tash), your description rang a bell. I'm sure I've seen a photo of a steam lorry with a very tall funnel and a flat bed and a big thing that looked like a harpoon gun mounted on the bed. There's a photo of the Duxford J type here - http://worldcarslist.com/photo/thornycroft-j-type/02/default.html . The one I'm thinking of was definitely steam though (tall funnel) and the gun mount on the back was rather more naval-deck-mount, sturdy and squat with a lot of bolts. I've no idea where I saw it though, but if it sounds like what you are thinking of at east you know it exists. I wouldn't have thought it was specifically anti-tank though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woa2 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I lived in Acton during the 1970s and my elderly Landlady remembered seeing trucks with anti-aircraft guns driving around central London in WW1 when she was a girl. The trucks with guns were trying to shoot down Zeppelins. What she described was like the anti-aircraft truck in the Imperial War Museum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Definitly Anti Zepplin/Aircaraft. If you watch the first few minutes of the Korda film of H. G. Well's Shape of Things to Come, made in 1936, there is a scene where similar vehicles are deployed in 'Everytown'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vick1 Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 If I can be an honorary gent for the day (replete with Christmas cracker plastic 'tash), your description rang a bell. I'm sure I've seen a photo of a steam lorry with a very tall funnel and a flat bed and a big thing that looked like a harpoon gun mounted on the bed. There's a photo of the Duxford J type here - http://worldcarslist.com/photo/thornycroft-j-type/02/default.html . The one I'm thinking of was definitely steam though (tall funnel) and the gun mount on the back was rather more naval-deck-mount, sturdy and squat with a lot of bolts. I've no idea where I saw it though, but if it sounds like what you are thinking of at east you know it exists. I wouldn't have thought it was specifically anti-tank though. Hi Yes , my mistake, rather than anti aircraft, it was more of a naval gun and mount, unfortunately its not in any of my books of steam waggon books, maybe it was a one off trial... thank you very much for your honorable reply! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Peskett Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I have never seen a picture of a steam wagon with gun mounted but in this business you never stop learning !.. Anything substantial like the Thoprnycroft J type mobile anti-aircraft gun lorry it requires levelling / jacking beams underneath to which steam wagons generally do not lend themselves . We restored the J type at Duxford for IWM in the late 1980s. A good book covering much of this type of vehicle is 'War Cars -British Armoured Cars during the First World War' by David Fletcher, very well illustrated. Richard Peskett. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Hi Yes , my mistake, rather than anti aircraft, it was more of a naval gun and mount, unfortunately its not in any of my books of steam waggon books, maybe it was a one off trial... thank you very much for your honorable reply! That's because it was originaly a naval piece. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QF_3_inch_20_cwt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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