[Image] 25 Pounder at the Australian War Memorial

August, 2008. Australian War Memorial

The 25 Pounder Heavy Field Gun.

A British 25 Pounder Heavy Artillery piece is as returned from service with the 9th Division in the Western Desert Campaign. This actual gun was used during the Battle of El Alamein in the attack that stopped Rommel's final drive across North Africa and is on public display at the Australian War Memorial at Canberra, Australia.

It sits on a heavy steel base plate that acts as a means with which to anchor and turn the gun on uneven ground, like the sand or rock of the Western Desert. It fires the standard commonwealth High Explosive charge but was also capable of firing Armour Piercing, Chemical, Smoke and Flare rounds. This gun is said by many to be the best artillery piece of the Second World War, though there are just as many supporters of the German 88mm.

The 25 Pounder was the standard artillery piece of both the Royal Australian Artillery as well as the Royal Horse Artillery, the British Artillery Regiment, that aided the Australian Infantry with the defence of Tobruk during the siege by the Afrika Korps in 1941.

Several of these guns, along with countless crates of ammunition, were captured by the Germans at Mersa Matruh in Rommel's rapid advance towards Alexandria in 1942. These same guns were turned upon the 2/48th Infantry Battalion during the Battle of El Alamein with devastating effect. The 2/48th retook the guns within a short period of time and again set them upon the fleeing Germans.

All accounts from Tobruk that I have read all say that without the support of the Royal Horse Artillery the Siege of Tobruk would have been over very quickly. Tobruk was the perfect example of Australian Infantry and British Cavalry and Artillery working as one cohesive unit.

image courtesy of Robert Snewin. Used with permission.

This post is a direct reponse to the question asked by Douglas Chan who wanted to know what were the Royal Horse Artillery guns used during the Siege of Tobruk. I hope this helps Douglas. Good luck with your project!

[Image] The 2/28th and the R.H.A load a captured Italian 149mm gun.

Tobruk, Libya, 18th September, 1941.

Men of the 2/28th and the Royal Horse Artillery.

This photo is a good demonstration of the resourcefulness of the Australians and English at Tobruk. The gunners of the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) utilising infantry of the 2/28th Battalion to load a captured Italian 149mm Field Gun.

These guns whilst large were quite unreliable, as alot of the Italian equipment was found to be. Note the stone "sangar" in the foreground. These low walls of stone were what was built to shelter troops from fire when the ground was too rocky to effectively 'dig in'.

The other things of interest for me in this photo is the long lanyard attached to the gun running back to the sangar. Pulling this long cord allowed the gunners to fire the cannon from a safe distance. The unreliable nature of Italian ordinance meant that to stand near the gun when firing it could mean instant death.

The other thing that amuses me is sense of urgency in the men running away from the gun to the shelter of the sangar. They have obviously seen what happens when an Italian large caliber shell misfires. Note the physical size of the shell in the sangar in the foreground. The explosion from one of these would be devastating.

image 020652 Australian War Memorial.

[Map] Siege of Tobruk, 1941.

The Siege of Tobruk

Libya, 1941.

This is a map of Siege of Tobruk, as defended by the 9th Division, from April to November, 1941. You can see the both the Red and Blue lines as well as post numbers and dispositions of the Royal Horse Artillery guns.

Post R49, as discussed in the previous article "Post R49 Tobruk Explained" is located on the Red Line to the east of the El-Adem road. The locations of major battles is also shown.

Click on the image to expand it.

Read "Post R49 Tobruk Explained" here: http://9thdivvy.blogspot.com/2008/07/image-german-aerial-image-of-post-r49.html

image from "The War, The Whores and the Afrika Korps". by NX34089 Cpl. Jack Barber, 2/17th Infantry Battalion, 1997, Kangaroo Press, Sydney.