.... and the loader on the 17pdr AT knows he fluffed the loading, too: check the guilty look on his face!
The 5.5inch preparation of ammunition is that the round is removed from its package, the plug removed from the top, and a B charge (a little bag of booster) is rolled between the fingers and inserted into the cavity. The correct fuze is then screwed into the top of the projectile. (The fuze safety cap was not removed until the projectile was placed into the loading tray, just prior to ramming) The fuze was set (if applicable to the fuze type) according to the info from the GPO. Up to six rounds could be prepared at each gun position prior to and during a fire mission (that's peacetime -- wonder how many they prepared during war?)
The No.2 gun number was responsible for changing the ignition tube after each shot was fired. He did this immediately after the projectile was rammed (which he checks for correct ram by seeing if the mark on the rammer aligns with the breech face). Once the rammer is removed, he flips the lock and extracts the spent tube before he places the new ignition tube into the lock, pushing it home with his right thumb, then raises the lock to the first position. He does this as the number 6 places the charge bag into the breech. No.2 then closes the breech and closes the lock to the firing position. The firing lanyard is attached by No.2 only when ordered to do so just before the order to fire is given.
I'm sure I've seen one of those belts (or something very much like it) that the ignition tubes are held in, and that it is part of the 5.5 inch gun CES. They have a closed off bottom to prevent the charge tubes from going all the way through, leaving a short length of tube protruding at the top (easier for No.2 to grab)
Mike C
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