18 Pdr Limber ( Aust )

[Graeme Stephens]

Greetings from Perth, West Aust. - I have come back to an 'old' restoration of mine, with the hope of adding some of the 'missing' items.
Hopefully the International Brains Trust can guide me, briefly the Aust Army at the start of ww2 had 2 types of 'pneumatised' 18pdr Limbers, ones with the Firing Platform frame on top / and ones without.
The pic'd Limber is framed.
From what I've seen on wrecks over the years the framed limber had Tools mounted on the old Foot Boards, while the frameless Limbers retained the Rifle mounts at the front having easier access - but field mods are common ?
My first question - on top at the rear is a bracket array, which I'm guessing holds 4 Aiming ( folding? ) Posts, I have a spare 3" Mortar post but it is too short. !8 Pdr aiming posts in manuals are mentioned but I have not seen one.
Question 2 - I'd like to make leather pouches for the Fuse Setting Key No 17,18,19? they were mounted on each side, does any one have dimensions of the Key. .................. there's a start ....... cheers

[m606paz]

Beautiful!

[Graeme Stephens]

For demonstration purposes I’m fortunate to have a 25 Pdr Firing Platform to show how the 18 Pdr Platform would have appeared, I assume there were slight differences between the 25 Pdr and the 18 & 4.5” Platforms?
My 18 Pdr shells range from a Mk1 1905, thru ww1, 1920’s, 30’s. to 1942. ( I’m not a shell collector )
Question 3 – added ( 1939 ) to the rear door are two, once leather bound brackets, ~ 34 “ apart and supported something 2 “ wide …. Maybe a Range Scale ?
You might see that I have removed the 3 rivets which once held the rear door Key Pouch, I’m having a go at wet leather molding, ………. cheers

[Graeme Stephens]

For your viewing is my *ww2,18 Pdr. Limber without Firing Platform frame.
Easier access to the Rifles, and no tools in storage.
The Army blanket on top is to show the Public where the 3 ww1 Gunners once sat.
Two Drag ropes on top connect to the Slip rings on the Wheel Hubs.
In ww1 there was another rope on top - the 66’ long Tethering Rope – for the Horses
Question - this Limber was made by ‘ Metro ‘, who were they?
Part of the original ww1 Arm Rest was used to support the ww2 Mudguards.

[Lynn Eades]

I cant help with any of your questions, but to say the "L" on the plates stands for "Land" as opposed to "A" ( Admiralty) (in case you don't already know)
Very nice Limbers. Thanks for posting.

[Mike Cecil]

Metro = Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Ltd, later became Metro-Cammell.

BRC&W = Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company.

The 18-pdr was issued with two aiming posts which were normally carried on the front of the shield on the carriage, not on the ammunition limber.

Aiming Posts, as far as I can ascertain, were 4 feet long with alternating 1.5 inch bands of white and black.The head was any one of: a rectangle, a diamond or a round.

The Australian Army converted only the Ammunition Wagons to pneumatic tyres and wheels for towing by a mechanised tractor, to become the ammunition limber of the 18-pdrs converted to pneumatic tyres and wheels. Horse-drawn ammunition limbers were unsuitable as they were fitted with a timber perch pole and had a different under-structure to support the ammunition box.

Live ammunition carried in the limber and wagon was always fitted with cartridge clips, a brass, four-armed clip with a woven canvas loop for extracting the cartridge from the rattan & leather basket. One arm was painted red and shaped so the clip could be easily unclipped from the base of the cartridge by hand.

The Fuze Indicator was 34.5 inches in overall length and was carried in a leather or canvas and leather cover. It was operated by the No.6 gun number when in action.

Lynn is right about the 'L' - it stands for Land Service.

Mike