RNAS AA gun on Tenedos, 1915

[rcbutcher]

Greetings from sunny Sydney Australia, my first post here.
I've attached a photo from the Australian War Museum archive that's driving me nuts.


The AWM text reads : "Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey. 1915. A 'home made' gun carriage which can be placed behind a fast motor. It was constructed by the men of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) Wing based on Tenedos Island, which took part in the operations at the Dardanelles. [Nieuport 10 and Morane-Sauliner Type L French aircraft in background] Admiralty Official Photograph. Maker: Brooks, Ernest"

MY problem is the gun - doesn't look like anything I understand the British to have used. It looks like a Hotchkiss 3 or 6 pounder but is much longer than the British version (40-calibres only) - see the sleeve extending partway down the barrel. But I understand the French used 50-calibres versions of the 6 pounder Hotchkiss, which did look like this. Did the RNAS borrow this from the French ?

And where would an aerodrome in the middle of nowhere have got the sports car wheels from ?

cheers
Rod

[rammjaeger]

In the first moment I thought it to be a French Canon de 47.

However, if you look at Dr. Hide´s very fine Flak article in C&C International, issue 1 (and 2) in 2005 you will see a photograph which could fit well the bill:
The subtitle starts with "RNAS crew with a semi-automatic Vickers 3pdr." You can find the photograph on page 14 in 1/2005. This gun has another "home made" mounting but it looks right to me and was built by the RNAS.

The sports car wheels? Hmm. Don´t know the type of the car!

[rcbutcher]

Thanks, that's a start - I don't have a good picture of the Vickers 3 pounder to compare it to - anybody got one ? What does "C&C" in C&C International stand for ? Where can I find it - online ?
Rod

[rammjaeger]

Sorry, the name is "Cross & Cockade International".
Please, have a look at Cross & Cockade International

Later this weekend I will see if I can scan the picture in Dr. Hides article for you but now I have still some other things to do.

[rammjaeger]

The 50k limitation for pictures forced me to cut off the irrelevant parts of the photograph.

[rcbutcher]

Thanks for helping out with this, that seems to confirm it's a Vickers QF 3 pounder.
regards
Rod

[Ransom E. Olds]

The carriage of this piece seems to include not only the wheels, but also an axle, leaf springs, and a good bit of the frame of (perhaps) a Crossley tender that came to a bad end. Waste not, want not! Ransom