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A Blast From The Past
by Sgt Colin Stone (RDF)
Pictures by Sgt Colin Stone (except the last one courtesy of Mark Smith MA,
Curator, The Royal Artillery Museum)
T
he 3.7-inch mountain howitzer, or to give it its correct
name the 3.7-inch howitzer (���mountain��� wasn���t in its
original name), is a bit of an oddity in Irish artillery
service as we never used pack animals for motive power
and we do not have terribly high mountains that would necessitate its relatively light 1,610lb (730 kg) weight. Indeed,
the Irish Free State forces were far ahead of their time in
their use of mechanical vehicles to replace horse power.
This tiny weapon served in both world wars and served
Ireland from 1933 to 1977 when a final shoot in the Glen
combined 2,600 rounds over a four day shoot to complete
a YOs course with the Artillery School, then based in Magee
Barracks, Kildare.
In 1876 the director of the Russian Tsar���s arsenal, Captain
Kolokolzor, designed a gun that overcame the limits of
what a pack animal could carry. This limit was around 200lb
An Cosant��ir March 2013 www.dfmagazine.ie
(91kg) and was overcome by constructing the barrel in
two sections that could be transported separately and
screwed together when assembling the gun.
This new weapon was kept top secret until 1883,
but the British, with their mountainous colonies, were
also looking for a similar solution. In 1879 a Colonel Le
Mesurier RA came up with a similar idea and 12 rifled,
muzzle-loaded guns were produced by the Elswick
Ordnance Company for the Afghanistan Expedition. The principle behind these weapons led to the
development of the 3.7-inch mountain howitzer as
we know it.
British forces in India had used the 10-pdr jointed
gun but with the advances in artillery they sought an
improved weapon. They approached the Woolwich
Arsenal in London, who were too busy but suggested
