This is an odd ad!

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by rob love

I re-sandblasted everything lightly to remove any oils, and followed up with a coat of POR15 and then the Gillespie OD.

Rob, I think this has popped up in other threads at other times, but just to get the info here in this thread; what colour code of Gillespie paint did you use?

Someone else in years to come might be the custodian of this gun and they might appreciate knowing the correct touch up.

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Rob,

I've consulted three parts ID lists: the Sept 1943 Canadian ID list (CARXXVPRCA) published in North Africa, the British War Office ID list (CATOFIVPRA) published March 1941, and the British War Office parts list of February 1945.

The first two mentioned lists (1941 & 1943) show one side as a chain only, the other side as the chain/turnbuckle combination. The curious thing is, each shows the opposite location, viz the British list shows the chain on the left side of the trail, and the chain/turnbuckle on the right side (the same configuration as you have on your gun), while the Canadian list has the chain/turnbuckle on the left, and the chain only on the right (left & right based upon standing at the trail eye, facing toward the ordnance).

The 1945 British list shows chain/turnbuckle on both sides, for both the No.1 and the No.2 trails.

Hope that helps.

Mike

[rob love]

I checked the other Canadian gun and it is the same as this one: fixed chain on the left side and turnbuckle on the right. There are 6 Canadian guns on the base I can check and see if this was the norm on Cdn guns. I know when I was doing the work on the crab legs for the platform, the 1950 British parts manual showed me the wrong way to have the two pieces attaching to the frame. I got the one on, but the other one was off by about an inch and a half. I had to reverse both the pieces to get it to go on easily. The line drawings are not always correct.



I think the siege lamp stowage was posted on thegunner.net website, which is British. It was on their technical page but the link now appears to be broken.

Your 25 pounder book is on my list of things to order. Now that you allude to a Canadian connection, I guess I had better get to ordering.

Tony: The colour is Gillespie 33070. It is more of a ballpark match rather than an exact match. It kind of falls in between green and brown, depending on which way you look at it.



Terry: I would be happy to make your day again. Find me something else to buy....17 pounder, L5 or 6 pounders are all on my list. I don't mind going the distance or doing the work...good things don't always come easy.

[rob love]

Found a period photo of what I believe to be the siege lamp box stowed on the trail. Not the approved location, but I believe I have seen another photo with a gun stowing it in that position.
The caption of the photo reads: 25 pounder field gun of the 153rd Field Regiment (Leicestershire Yeomanry) during a practice shoot in the mountains near Tripoli in the Lebanon, 7 June 1943.

[David Dunlop]

Is it the angle of that photo, Rob, or is the Trail on that gun on the ground at a level with the front axle of the gun?

David

[rob love]

It may be partially the angle of the ground, but the wheels are on the firing platform which seems reasonable sunk in, and the spade-box may well be on the bottom end of the trail making it a little higher.