AUSTRALIAN GUNS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 5, 19 January 1942, Page 6

AUSTRALIAN GUNS

NEW HOWITZER SUPERSEDES THE OLD FIELD GUN

COMMONWEALTH BUILT

When the first -25-pounder guns completely built in Australia were handed over to the army in Melbourne recently, the General Officer Commanding in Chief in Australia, Major-General Sir Iven Mackay, remarked: "This is the gun our men have been waiting for."

A special correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald, who was present, wrote that the 25-pounder, which is now in full mass production jn Australian factories, is Britain's famous new gun howitzer which lias largely superseded the 18-pounder field gun.

It is officially claimed that the gun has come into mass production in quicker time in Australia than in Great Britain. Their appearance in less than a year from the placing of orders is regarded by experts as a remarkable wartime achievement. From now on, tlic,usands of Australian workers, in more than 150 engineering shops throughout the Commonwealth will be working day and night turning cut, increasing quantities of these formidable lield weapons for delivery to the army at lic-me and overseas. Hundreds of ordnance workers who had helped in the building of the first guns cheered the Minister for the Army (Mr Spender) when first guns produced were handed over. Sir Iven Mackav said: "Had Sixth Division which lost all its guns during the evacuation lrom Greece possessed 25 pounders during the fighting in Crete, the German invasion of that island cculd havf been stopped."

Production of the gun was decided on in July last year. Three months Avere spent in planning.

First orders for components of the gun were placed with /0 sub-con-tractors in New South Wales and 70 in * Victoria in October last. Two firms were appointed major co-ord-inating contractors with instructions to establish assembly plants in Syd-. ney and Melbourne.

Tho Victorian assembly plant at Lhe engineering works of Charles Ruwolt PtyLtd., is tlic first to produce- complete guns, which the South Wales assembly plant, managed by General j\lolors-IToldens, Ltd., will follow closely. When both are in production output will l--" doubled.

At the Commonwealth Ordnance factory in Victoria 4000 men are now working round the clock in two 12-hour shifts.

After inspecting the assembly of the guns at the Ruwolt works Mr Spender said .he believed that, the people of' Australia did not know as much as they ought to know of tin amazing achievements of- the men who are making things like these. He could cite mere than one case in which the Australian munitions industry had shown the way to the world in what could be accomplished under extraordinary difficulties.

The Minister for Munitions (Senator Mcßride) said: "It is not long sincc anyone who suggested we might produce a weapon of this description would have been thought ridiculous."

When Australian military and munitions chiefs watched the firing tests, they saw a proof charge firo a shell 7V 2 miles out to sea. The shell took more than a minute to reach its target, and the burst could be seen only with the aid of binoculars. Each gun was subjected to seven exacting tests by officers of the Army Inspection Department, Hist a service charge was fired, followed by two proof charges, each containing about 25 per cent more propcllnnt than the normal service charge. These were followed by two super charges, whose projectiles were thrown at high velocity and with a high trajectory to give an j ; exceptionally long raime.