My 2 pounder story

[Ron]

I saw my first 2 pounder AT gun at the 1990 MVT show at Weston-Super-Mare. It was on display as a freshly restored exhibit from the ‘Budge collection’ and I decided then and there that I must have one!

 

Some years later I found out that a museum in South Africa was closing down and that some UK dealers were about to fill some containers with some of the exhibits. One of which was a 2 Pounder that had been concreted into the ground as a sort of gate guard/climbing frame and was a bit worse for wear to say the least.…..About a year of waiting and negotiating passed and finally I had my 2 pounder…….Project!

 

It’s a MK2 built by BSA in 1941 and still has its Bronze ID plate riveted to the carriage. Of course there was no internet help back then, but an invite from the curator at Woolwich enabled me to acquire lots of pictures and measurements of theirs. My very good friend and engineer John Ilott spent literally hundreds of hours making parts and machining castings, some of which the Tank Museum had kindly loaned me as patterns from their stock of spare 2 pounder barrels. I carried on with the main restoration work with help from another keen young friend.

 

The gun has always remained a ‘work in progress’ and I revisit it when and if the occasion arises, such as when some rare and near unobtainable parts were acquired from Australia.

 

It’s always been on the cards that I would replace the erroneous traverse and elevation wheels that I fitted in the absence of the correct ones. Finally after the kind loan of some originals as patterns from another forum member, I’ve had some cast and John has machined them and I fitted them today.

 

There's still work to do and I now have a 25 pounder traverse wheel going spare if anyone needs it.

 

Ron

Edited January 27, 2017 by Ron

[Adrian Barrell]

It's a thing of beauty Ron and a real credit to you(and your friends)! I would love one in my collection.

[Lauren Child]

That is exceptionally nice - well done

[Ron]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

 

The barrel was deactivated in SA by the means of welding a bunch of door handle square bars in the breech end and by burning a small hole in the under side of barrel. There were also some grooves burnt into the face of the breech block. I made a cosmetic repair to the hole in the barrel and the square bars melted out very easily, leaving me a clear barrel that a round can be loaded in ......Not that it would ever fire without much more precise work from an armourer.

 

Here are the before and after shots of the ammo locker that came from a nice man in Australia. The leather tool/spares box was found at a flea market for a fiver would you beleive? And still has it's paper 'contents' label inside the lid. Ron

Edited January 28, 2017 by Ron

[andy1960]

Walked past it many times and admired it.....nice to know the story..thanks for sharing it with us Ron........:thumbsup:

[matchlesswdg3]

Lovely stuff, Ron! Interesting story of perseverance. Only question is.......what (non motorcycle) challenge next?!

[Ron]

Hi Ferg. It's true that the WD bikes have become my big passion! But I still have other WD vehicles and often revisit them when the odd correct part comes along or there's something from a previous restoration that is not to my satisfaction.

 

For instance though a bit off topic. Last year I made this reproduction switch board for my Wireless Morris. It was a fascinating exercise swapping information and dimensions from Canada and Australia and hunting out the gauges and switches. Ron

[Topdog]

A beautifully restored piece, well done

[andy1960]

Hi Ferg. It's true that the WD bikes have become my big passion! But I still have other WD vehicles and often revisit them when the odd correct part comes along or there's something from a previous restoration that is not to my satisfaction.

 

For instance though a bit off topic. Last year I made this reproduction switch board for my Wireless Morris. It was a fascinating exercise swapping information and dimensions from Canada and Australia and hunting out the gauges and switches. Ron

 

Yes amazing reproduction... but we know where there's a real one don't we Ron..... but they will not part with it, even though it does not fit in their collection !! :argh::argh::argh:

[Ron]

Indeed Andy and tried several times with offers of a swap (with cash) for something more suited to their theme. One day maybe?

 

Ron

[Wolfy]

Great work Ron I really like these 2 pounders and theyre hard to come by.

 

Whats the wheel stud arrangement as it looks like 6 stud similar to British trailers?

 

I supplied some 'easy clean' wheels to a friend restoring one and I'm sure they were 5 stud Morris wheels. I know they came with solid wheels also.

 

Carleton

[Ron]

Well spotted Carlton. The gun came with no wheels or hubs and I do have several pictures of MK2, 2 pounders on easy clean type wheels. I acquired the remains of a WW2 generator trailer and used the wheels that you see, we adapted the hubs to make the proper quick release mechanism. Again my friend and engineer John spent a multitude of hours on this. They are the same size and style as Dunlop Tilly wheels but are a bit more heavy duty and probably more suited for artillery. The tyres are 6 ply cross ply's and were designed for use on milk floats. Ron

[Wolfy]

Makes perfect sense, keep us posted on updates.:-)