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Old 27-02-18, 06:19
Colin Alford Colin Alford is offline
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Location: Barrie, ON
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Gents,

The files listed in my previous post were Canadian Military Headquarters-London files.

The following link will get you to the Army Technical Design Branch files related to the "David"

http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oo...5/2955?r=0&s=4

These files start at image 2955 (above link) and end at 3668.

My disclaimer: I have no specific interest in this topic and merely used this evening to test my research skills.

With that said, as I was skimming through the file trying to find the end of it I noticed some information that is worth some discussion:

The attached 5 documents seem to indicate that there was some confusion regarding correct nomenclature.

They can be found at images 3472, 3482, 3443, 3423; and 3534

Here is my interpretation of the war-time documents:

There were only 4 true "David" guns produced (2 Pr H.V. on a 2 Pr Carriage with 360 degree traverse and fitted with Muzzle break): Ex 19 and Ex 20 were sent to the UK, their barrels became worn during firing trials and two new barrels were produced and shipped. Ex 81 and Ex 82 were produced at the same time as the replacement barrels and were intended to stay in Canada.

Ex 54 and Ex 55 were essentially 6 pr guns on 6 pr carriages but with 2 pr bores. These were intended to stay in Canada and be used for firing trials. Ex 55 subsequently was modified by having the barrel drilled to accept pressure gauges.

The post-war "confusion": In the typed text of the last document (Feb 46) the two guns on 6 pr carriages (Ex 54 and 55) are identified as "Davids" but this is contrary to the war-time documents. In the handwritten note at the bottom of the page (which was subsequently scratched out) it seems to say "Not Davids. Davids are 6 pr bored for 2 pr" with an arrow pointing to the information regarding Ex 81 and 82. Again this is contrary to the war-time documents

My deduction is that the Shilo gun is likely Ex 54 due to no obvious (in the available images) barrel drilling for pressure gauges.

Given this information I think that it may be incorrect to refer to the Shilo Gun as a "David" although it was certainly part of the "David" project and designed to fire "David" ammunition.

Colin
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