Field Gun Jack Verses the Boers by Tony Bridgland

Field Gun Jack Verses the Boers by Tony Bridgland

War broke out in 1899 between the British and South African settlers of Dutch descent, the Boers, or Afrikaners as they are usually called today. Despite previous clashes, the British seriously underestimated their opponents. Although dressed in battered civilian clothes and made up entirely of volunteers, Boer troops were all mounted on horses and had very up-to-date German rifles. An even more unpleasant surprise than the mounted riflemen were the Boer artillery units. They were the only Boer troops to wear uniforms, were organized on a full-time basis, and were equipped with excellent German field pieces. The British artillery soon found itself out-gunned and out-ranged. Some British officers, however, were capable of adapting to the new conditions in South Africa. Royal Naval vessels anchored off the Cape had powerful, long-range cannons. It was decided to try bringing these guns ashore and mounting them on improvised carriages for field use. Naval infantry brigades had served in some previous campaigns, and proved capable of accompanying the army as gun crews, their straw hats and naval leggings identifiable in many wartime photographs. Although they were depicted in many wartime drawings and photographs, no serious study of the naval artillery has ever been done. Tony Bridgland has spent many years researching the topic and has produced a study of the technical problems involved in this unique operation, as well as a colorful narrative of naval personnel pressed into hazardous service far from the sea.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780850525809
ISBN 10	0850525802
Title	Field Gun Jack Verses the Boers
Author	Tony Bridgland
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Pen & Sword Books Ltd
Year published	1997-09-05
Number of pages	272
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.