The Ordnance BL 60-pounder was a British 5 inch (127 mm) heavy
field gun
A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances ( field artille ...
designed in 1903–05 to provide a new capability that had been partially met by the interim
QF 4.7 inch Gun. It was designed for both horse draft and mechanical traction and served throughout the First World War in the main theatres. It remained in service with British and Commonwealth forces in the inter-war period and in frontline service with British and South African batteries until 1942 being superseded by the
BL 4.5 inch Medium Gun.
History
Origin and Use
The effective use of modern heavy field guns by the Boers during the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
(1899–1902) was a revelation to armies in Europe including the British. They were impressed by their mobility and range. Britain used some heavy guns in that war under ad hoc arrangements. After the capture of Pretoria in 1900 Lord Roberts, the commander-in-chief in South Africa (and an artillery officer), had stated the requirements of a heavy field gun: a range of 10,000 yards, weight behind the team of no more than 4 tons and the largest possible shell, accordingly the Ordnance Committee in London ordered experimental guns and three were trialled.
In 1902 the Heavy Battery Committee was formed comprising officers experienced with heavy and siege artillery in South Africa and presided over by Colonel Perrott who had commanded the Siege Train there. In early 1903 their first report dismissed the 4.7 inch (120 mm, used in South Africa) and the 30 pounder (used in India) from further consideration because they lacked firepower. Of the three trial guns they accepted the Armstrong design but rejected all three carriage designs. New designs were sought that were easier for detachments to use. 1904 trials with a new design, including both horse and mechanised towing, resulted in further changes but in 1905 the design for the BL 60 pounder was accepted, although it was still a half ton over the target weight.
In 1900 the Secretary of State for War had announced a plan to give "Volunteer Position Batteries 4.7 inch guns", he also extolled the merits of 4.7, (which the army knew to be misleading) and in 1902 and 1903 Parliament voted to equip 60 Volunteer batteries with a 4.7 inch, despite the 60 pounder being in development. The 4.7 inch had many weaknesses as a field equipment, but it had captured the public's imagination. However, in 1903 a heavy brigade RGA was formed by converting three siege companies and equipping them with 4.7 inch guns. The following year a second brigade was formed from three more RGA companies. These regular army brigades were part of the corps artillery, although their equipment was an expedient.
The 60 pounder gun was used on most fronts during the First World War and replaced the 4.7 inch guns. At the outbreak of war they equipped, with 4 guns, the heavy battery RGA in each infantry division. In 1916 all batteries on the Western Front started being increased to 6 guns. By this time heavy batteries had ceased to be part of each infantry division and batteries became part of what were eventually called Heavy Artillery Groups with several batteries of different types. After the First World War they equipped medium brigades, later regiments.
Production
By the outbreak of war in 1914 41 guns had been produced, 13 being in Canada and India. Armstrong were the main supplier, with Vickers and the Ordnance Factory Woolwich also producing complete equipments. Major assemblies including barrels were also produced by many other companies. Total wartime production was 1,773 guns (i.e. barrels) and 1,397 carriages.
Description
![BL 60 pounder Mark I gun barrel diagram](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/BL_60_pounder_Mark_I_gun_barrel_diagram.jpg)
General features
The 60-pounder was a heavy field gun or 'gun of position' designed to be towed by either a horse team or mechanical vehicle. It had a quick firing recoil, meaning that the carriage did not move when the gun fired. The barrel was a
wire wound tube in a jacket with a screw breech. It fired a separate round (i.e. shell and bagged cartridge were loaded separately). The lower carriage comprised a
box trail. It was designed for one-man
laying with both traverse and elevation sights and controls on the left.
![BL 60 pounder carriage Mark I left elevation and plan diagrams](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/BL_60_pounder_carriage_Mark_I_left_elevation_and_plan_diagrams.jpg)
The Mark I gun's recoil system was in two tubes above the barrel and used a hydraulic buffer with a
hydro-spring
This article explains terms used for the British Armed Forces' ordnance (i.e.: weapons) and also ammunition. The terms may have slightly different meanings in the military of other countries.
BD
Between decks: applies to a naval gun mounting in w ...
recuperator to return the barrel to its firing position. The Mark II gun had a
hydro-pneumatic system below the barrel.
Initially the 60 pounder was fitted with tangent sights on a rocking bar with the range scale graduated to 10,400 yards and 22 degrees, the rear sight had a deflection scale. Before the First World War it was fitted with oscillating (reciprocating) sights, using the older No 5 sighting telescope (x12 magnification) on either Sight Oscillating BL 60 pr Mk I or II, which included a sight clinometer and range scale as well as a deflection drum for the telescope. This was replaced by the No 3 carrier for the No 7 dial sight.
Mk I gun on Mk I carriage
The original 1904 gun and carriage was designed for the gun barrel and recoil mechanism to be moved rearwards on its carriage (i.e. the breech moved towards the end of the trail) when traveling. This was intended to equalise the weight born by the 2 gun carriage wheels and the 2 wheels of the limber towing the gun,
[Hogg & Thurston 1972, page 116] hence minimising the weight born by any single wheel. Its cradle was difficult to make.
[History of the Ministry of Munitions, Volume X The Supply of Munitions, Part 1 Guns] Mk I carriage had the usual field artillery wooden spoked wheels with iron tyres.
In February 1915, wartime manufacturing and maintenance requirements led to a simplification of the barrel construction, as gun Mk I* and Mk I**.
[
]
Mk I gun on Mk II carriage
Wartime manufacturing of the carriage was simplified in Mk II by removing the provision to retract the gun for traveling. This moved most of the weight when traveling away from the limber on to the carriage's own wheels – most weight was on the gun carriage wheels rather than the limber wheels and it was 1 ton heavier. diameter x wide steel traction engine
A traction engine is a steam engine, steam-powered tractor used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin ''tractus'', meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any t ...
wheels replaced the wooden wheels to cope with the added weight.[ The tractor wheels added more weight to be towed, requiring the use of ]Holt artillery tractor
The Holt tractors were a range of continuous track haulers built by the Holt Manufacturing Company from California (U.S.), which was named after Benjamin Holt.
Between 1908 and 1913, twenty-seven of the first 100 Holt caterpillar track-type tr ...
s to replace horses. In early 1917 new brakes, a new cradle design and calibrating sights were adopted.
Mk I gun on Mk III carriage
The increased weight with the traction engine wheels made maneuvering difficult in typical mud conditions. In June 1916 the BEF commander General Haig requested a return to the lighter Mk I carriage. This was not possible, but retracting the gun back on its carriage for traveling was re-introduced in simplified form by disconnecting the barrel from the recoil system and locking it on the trail in the recoiled position. This reduced the weight by .[ Wooden spoked wheels were re-introduced. This became the Mk III carriage, or Mk II* for converted Mk II carriages.
]
Mk II gun on Mk IV carriage
The Mk II gun introduced from 1918 had a longer barrel, new box trail carriage giving increased elevation to 35 degrees and cut-off gear to automatically reduce the recoil length from 54 to 24 inches with increasing elevation,[Handbook for the BL 60-pr Mks II and II* Guns on Marks IV, IVR and IVP Carriages, 1935] hydro-pneumatic recoil system below the barrel, single-motion Asbury breech. It arrived too late to see service in the First World War and was effectively a new weapon. The gun was one of two types that could be carried by the Gun Carrier Mark I
The Gun Carrier Mark I was a British vehicle of the First World War. The gun carrier was designed to transport a 6-inch howitzer or a 60-pounder gun forward soon after an attack to support infantry in advanced positions. Gun carriers were first ...
.
Between the wars
After the First World War the various types of heavy artillery (including siege) were redesignated medium, heavy and super-heavy and these terms used to describe both the guns and in battery and brigade designations. The 60 pounder was officially classed as medium. These terms had been used in various documents in that war but not in the official designations of batteries.
The 60 pounder remained unchanged except for carriage modifications to enable mechanisation and new sights. Carriages were first the Mk IVR carriage that had wooden wheels and solid rubber tyres and later the Mk IVP carriage had metal wheels, pneumatic tyres and appropriate brakes. South Africa developed a new carriage of their own design from the Mk. I, which replaced wooden wheels with pneumatic tyred ones on a two-wheel bogie.
Sights were changed the calibrating type, initially to the No 9 carrier for the No 7 dial sight. This carrier had muzzle velocity corrector scale and an elevating arc below the sight mount, the arc was fitted with a choice of range scales depending on the ammunition being used. Subsequently, the No 14 carrier was issued, this was a Probert pattern calibrating sight, the range scale plate being double sided, 8 CRH CRH may refer to:
* Calibre radius head, a traditional British ordnance term for a concept in ballistic projectile design
* Celtic Resources Holdings, an Irish mining company
* China Railway High-speed, a high-speed railway service operated by Chin ...
shell full charge (13,700 yards) and reduced charge Mk IXC (8,300 yards) on one side. On the other side for the 56 lb shell (15,200 yards).
In the 1930s some carriages were converted to the new 4.5 inch (114 mm) BL ordnance to become BL 4.5 inch Gun Mk 1 on Carriage 60 pr Mark IV and IVP, which then started replacing 60 pounder.
Second World War
60 pounder was withdrawn from active service in 1941 but remained in training use until 1944. It was replaced by the BL 4.5 inch and BL 5.5 inch medium guns.
Combat use
First World War
The 60-pounder Mk. I were formed into "Heavy Batteries" in the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
operated by the Royal Garrison Artillery
The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...
and used mainly for counter-battery fire
Counter-battery fire (sometimes called counter-fire) is a battlefield tactic employed to defeat the enemy's indirect fire elements (multiple rocket launchers, artillery and mortars), including their target acquisition, as well as their command ...
(i.e. suppressing or destroying the enemy's artillery). When the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
began a single 4-gun battery was attached to each infantry division of the BEF as available – initial numbers restricted it to the Regular divisions 1 – 6, others were equipped with the obsolescent QF 4.7 inch Gun. From early 1915, 60 pounder batteries moved from Division to Army control. As more 60 pounders became available the 4.7 inch guns were retired.
Writers such as General Farndale occasionally refer to 60 pounders as "medium" guns, but in the First World War they were officially referred to as heavy guns.
From 30 June 1916 the War Office adopted Major-General Birch's recommendations to increase heavy battery sizes to 6 guns, as more guns with better concentration of firepower were required on the Western Front, while minimising the administrative overhead of more batteries. Batteries in the other minor theatres appear to have mostly retained a 4-gun structure.
In the First World War the Mk I gun could fire the early 60 lb (27.3 kg) 2 c.r.h. shell 10,300 yd (9.4 km), and the later more streamlined 8 c.r.h. shell to . Weighing 4.4 tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s, the 60-pounder required a team of 8 horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
s to tow it, with a maximum of 12 possible in difficult conditions. Mechanical towing by Holt Tractor
The Holt tractors were a range of continuous track haulers built by the Holt Manufacturing Company from California (U.S.), which was named after Benjamin Holt.
Between 1908 and 1913, twenty-seven of the first 100 Holt caterpillar track-type tr ...
s and later motor lorries took over from horses towards the end of the First World War.
At the end of the war no batteries were based within the United Kingdom, 74 batteries were in service with the BEF on the Western Front, three in Italy, 11 in Macedonia, seven in Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
, and four in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
. In addition 2 Canadian batteries were active on the Western Front and were the only other force using the weapon.
Post-First World War
60 pounder remained in service during the inter-war period and was used in Russia (1919) and Mesopotamia 1920–21.
During the Second World War they served with the BEF in France and North Africa in medium regiments, by the South African artillery in East Africa and by an Australian battery at Tobruk. Its last combat action was in the Western Desert. 19 were with the BEF and lost in France and total British holdings were expected to be 134 guns by August 1940, most being reconditioned or repaired guns.
US service
Shortly after the Armistice
An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...
, Britain offered the United States 200 60-pounders to resolve outstanding contractual obligations (primarily in lieu of additional 9.2-inch howitzers) and the offer was accepted. The weapons were primarily Mark I guns produced by the Elswick Ordnance Company
The Elswick Ordnance Company (sometimes referred to as Elswick Ordnance Works, but usually as "EOC") was a British armaments manufacturing company of the late 19th and early 20th century
History
Originally created in 1859 to separate William A ...
. Their acquisition was reported in the US Army Ordnance Department's May 1920 Handbook of Artillery:[Handbook of Artillery, US Ordnance Dept, May 1920, page 189]
"The United States procured a number of batteries of 5-inch 60 pounder guns with the necessary accompanying vehicles from Great Britain. The materiel is of British design and manufacture throughout, and the units ceded to the United States include the Gun, Mark I, mounted on a carriage, Mark II; the gun carriage limber, Mark II, the ammunition wagon, Mark II; and the ammunition wagon limber, Mark II".
The accompanying photograph in the manual depicts a Mk I gun on Mk II carriage with traction-engine wheels typical of the Mk II carriage, and the accompanying diagram depicts the gun in the forward traveling position (i.e. with weight over the gun carriage) typical of the Mk II carriage mounting. The carriages had poles and other fittings for horse draft, but these could be replaced with a connector for tractor draft.[
A few weapons delivered to the US before the Armistice for evaluation had the Mark I carriage, but most had the Mark II carriage. 200 weapons were delivered in January 1919, and 67,000 rounds of ammunition by the end of June 1919. Most of the weapons remained unused by June 1931, when the ]secretary of war
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
suggested they be disposed of through donation as war memorials. 197 guns were available for this. Despite many going to scrap drives in World War II, over thirty weapons remained on display in the US in the 2010s.[
]
Ammunition
At the beginning of the First World War 60 pounder ammunition scale was 70% shrapnel and 30% HE. The standard shell was 2 CRH CRH may refer to:
* Calibre radius head, a traditional British ordnance term for a concept in ballistic projectile design
* Celtic Resources Holdings, an Irish mining company
* China Railway High-speed, a high-speed railway service operated by Chin ...
, but in 1917 an 8 CRH shell was adopted.
Subsequently, after the First World War a 56-pound 10 CRH shell to 15,200 yards was introduced. However, its HE content was less than 2/3 that of the various 60 lb shells and it was some 3 inches shorter.
Shrapnel was also varied with bullet weights ranging from 35 to 41 bullets/pound and total loads varying from 616 (Mk ID) to 992 (Mk I) bullets.
Chemical shells were used with 60 pounder but not smoke or incendiary.
First World War Ammunition
Image gallery
Image:Loading60PdrGun.jpg,
Image:60PounderRecoilMechanismDiagram.jpg,
Image:CanadianArtillerymen60pdrShellNovember1916.jpg,
Image:60pdrLeTransloyOct1916.jpg,
Image:Vista lateral BL-60 pounder Mk I.jpg,
Surviving examples
In museums
* Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...
, London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, United Kingdom
* Royal Canadian Artillery Museum
The Royal Canadian Artillery Museum, Canada's National Artillery Museum, is a museum dedicated to telling the complete story of more than 200,000 Canadian Gunners who have served Canada in war and peace since 1855. Canada's National Artillery Mus ...
, Shilo, Manitoba, Canada
* Polish Army Museum
Museum of the Polish Army ( pl, Muzeum Wojska Polskiego) is a museum in Warsaw documenting the military history of Poland. Established in 1920 under the Second Polish Republic, it occupies a wing of the building of the Polish National Museum as w ...
, Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, Poland
* Virginia War Museum
The Virginia War Museum is located in Huntington Park on Warwick Blvd., Newport News, Virginia. The museum contains exhibits on American military history from 1775 to the present.Virginia War Museum. "Virginia War Museum" brochure, Winter 2007.
...
, Newport News
Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...
, Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. United States
* National World War I Museum
The National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri was opened in 1926 as the Liberty Memorial. In 2004, it was designated by the United States Congress as the country's official war memorial and museum dedicated to World Wa ...
, Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...
, United States
* Historical Military Museum of Cartagena, Spain
* Robben Island Museum, Robben Island
Robben Island ( af, Robbeneiland) is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrik ...
, South Africa
Other surviving examples from the United States
* Benton Harbor, Michigan
Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is 46 miles southwest of Kalamazoo and 71 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. According to the 2020 census, its population was 9,103. It is the smaller, by population, of ...
, Crystal Springs Cemetery.
* Bloomingdale, New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, a MK 1 field gun stands at the entrance of Sloan Park.
* Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, stands on the grounds of the Old Customs House.
* Clayton, Indiana
Clayton is a small town in Liberty Township, Hendricks County, Indiana, United States. The population was 972 at the 2010 census, up from 693 at the 2000 census.
History
In 1829 a little town in Liberty Township was named "Clayville", honoring ...
, Clayton Cemetery
* Fort Devens
Fort Devens is a United States Army Reserve military installation in the towns of Ayer and Shirley, in Middlesex County and Harvard in Worcester County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Due to extensive environmental contamination it was li ...
,
* Located in Wythougan Park, Knox, Indiana
Knox is a city in Center Township, Starke County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 3,704 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Starke County.
History
Knox was founded in 1851, and is named for American Revolutiona ...
as a war memorial to the soldiers and sailors of World War I.
* Maywood, Illinois
Maywood is a village in Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States in the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded on April 6, 1869, and organized October 22, 1881. The population was 23,512 at the 2020 United States Census.
Histor ...
* Medina, New York
Medina is a village in the Towns of Shelby and Ridgeway in Orleans County, New York, United States. It is located approximately 10 miles south of Lake Ontario. The population was 6,065 at the 2010 census, making it the county's most populous ...
, manufactured by the Elswick Ordnance Company, Newcastle upon Tyne, England in 1916. Now a war memorial at State Street Park, State Street at East Center Street. The gun was restored in 2019.
* Oglesby, Illinois
Oglesby is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,712 at the 2020 census, down from 3,791 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ottawa Micropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Oglesby was a center for mining coa ...
* Rittman, Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, in the cemetery.
* Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
, South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
, a MK I gun stands at Terrace Park
* Wabasha, Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, a Mk II field gun stands in the center of Cannon Park, which is also at the center of the city of Wabasha.
* Auburn, California
Auburn is a city in and the county seat of Placer County, California, United States. Its population was 13,776 during the 2020 census. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history and is registered as a California Historical Landmark.
Au ...
, outside the Auburn Veterans Memorial Hall
See also
*List of field guns
Field guns are one of two primary types of field artillery. Guns fire a heavy shell on a relatively level trajectory from a longer barrel, allowing for very high muzzle velocity and good range performance. Guns are most adequate for providing l ...
Notes and references
Bibliography
*"History of the Ministry of Munitions", 1922. Volume X : The Supply of Munitions. Facsimile reprint by Imperial War Museum and Naval & Military Press, 2008.
*Dale Clarke
British Artillery 1914–1919. Field Army Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2004
*General Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Western Front 1914–18. London: Royal Artillery Institution, 1986
*Major-General Sir John Headlam, The History of the Royal Artillery – from the Indian Mutiny to the Great War, Volume II 1899–1914, 1934. Facsimile reprint by Naval and Military Press 2005.
* I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914–1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972
Handbook of artillery: including mobile, anti-aircraft and trench matériel (1920), United States Army Ordnance Dept, May 1920
*Major General BP Hughes, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery – Between the Wars 1919–39. London: Brassey's, 1992.
External links
Handbook for the 60-Pr BL Gun, Mark I (Land Service) 1909; Extracts from Handbook for the 60-Pr BL Gun, Mark I (Land Service) 1907
at State Library of Victoria
60 – pr. b.l. gun, section gun drill, 1912
at State Library of Victoria
Handbook of the B.L. 60-pr., marks II and II* guns on Mark IV field carriage: land service, 1921
at State Library of Victoria
Gun drill for 60-pounder B.L. gun marks II and II* carriages mark IV 1923
at State Library of Victoria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bl 60 Pounder
World War I artillery of the United Kingdom
World War II artillery of the United Kingdom
World War I guns
World War II field artillery
Elswick Ordnance Company
127 mm artillery
World War I artillery of the United States