American Reacts to The Royal Naval Field Gun Competition 

Limbs and lives have been lost training for this. It was INCREDIBLY dangerous to do but by God it earned you a shit ton of respect in the British Navy.

My Grandad was a member of The Royal Horse Artillery and my Father got him to come with us to The Royal Tournament one year. Unbeknownst to Grandad my Father had arranged for Grandad to be taken behind the scenes and to meet with the members of The Royal Horse Artillery, ( now known as The KIngs Troop) and they presented my Grandad with the official regimental tie... It was a special moment that I will never forget,

I was part of the 98 Devonport crew 4 months of training

Navy field gunners, strength of a carthorse, speed of a racehorse, brains of a rocking horse. I ran '78

They should bring it back, rather watch this than any football (soccer).

Use to watch this as a kid live at the Royal Tournament at Earls Court in London during the 70’s & 80’s.

Shared a few beers in the Sgt's Mess at BRNC Dartmouth with a chap who had lost 2 fingers doing this. It wasn't until the end that he realised. Absolutely nails, all of them.

This, this right here, is why the British once controled a QUARTER of the planet. Get the gun in the right place, whatever the obstacle, as quickly as possible

This is why Britannia ruled the waves. Used to watch them practice when I was in the Royal Navy. Some guys get such serious injuries they could no longer serve!

Makes us Brits proud of all of them

I remember watching this as a child! Back when we had respect for who we were instead of being taught to be ashamed of our history!

I used to love watching this growing up, can’t believe it was stopped, would watch it again if they brought it back

The Royal Tournament was fantastic - went there several times during the 80s with my parents. It raised a lot of money for charities & was a great recruitment tool for all three Services.

They train for months, crews change every year. Injuries are horrendous. The results broadcast throughout the fleet wherever in the World.

This was always one of the highlights of the entire year on TV for me. Such a shame it was stopped, those guys had such guts & dedication. I guess it was health & safety - a precursor to all the woke garbage that's currently polluting all our lives :-( Thanks to all those heroes who took part in it - it was a real spectacle, I'd love for it to come back.

I was in the crowd that night and its safe to say, not a dry eye in the place. These guys were the toughest men i ever met . Proud to say I drank a beer in Pompey's bar later that evening. Play up Pompey !!!

I'm a Navy vet, and I have never seen or heard of such a competition before. This was fantastic!

It's called "The Gun Run". It's wicked fun to do, too. I did it in the 1970's in Sea Cadets. The guns they are using here are 12lb field guns. We used smaller ones.

These guys are tough and have real pride in their team. I hear a story about one run through where the pin that held one of the wheels on the gun carriage was dropped and one of the men shoved his finger in the hole to hold the wheel on during the final run. This resulted in an amputated finger but a win for his team and he was very happy!

Such an awesome competition. If you watch the documentary of them training it shows you just how fit they have to be. They take a year out from duties to train just for this event. Incredible and sadly missed by all! 👍🏼

I was there as a kid with my nan... amazing Watching it now brings a tear to my eyes.. the pride, admiration and sheer amazement of it all.. The hairs on my arms and neck.. the adrenaline rush as a kid.

The way you were slouching back but when it started you instantly went up and forward says it all. 🇬🇧

That was filmed at the Last 'Royal Tournament' in Earls Court Arena. A showcase for UK military prowess & often featured guest Military units from all over the world. I remember seeing the American 'dancing' military band there. The 'Gun-Run' is still a regular competition in the Navy. Participants are all volunteers & specially selected for their task. The training is very demanding & takes months.. it can be very dangerous, and injuries do happen. It's very easy to lose a finger in the competition. As a teenage Sea Cadet, we used to do this (with a smaller gun) but the barrel still weighed a quarter of a ton. My job was on the 'Limber' pole jumping over the wall... it was very exciting. I was only 14yrs old.

I used to work in the drill shed maintaining the guns for the Portsmouth team (1976). There must have been at least a dozen guns in there. Interestingly, there were also a pair of smaller guns used by young Sea Cadets. The members of the team are brave and insane in equal measures; fingers were lost, bones broken but the only thing that mattered was moving the gun. Great times. Edited to add, the results of each race were transmitted to every RN ship at sea and posted on noticeboards for eagerly waiting crews.

Our workshop in Plymouth used to manufacture / repair the wheels and spars for all 3 gun crews. Kept our wheelwrights busy all year round. The wheels were adjusted with lead blocks between the spokes in the hub to make them all identical. The spars were laminated from 1" thick planks to give strength. Still got broken regularly because of the sheer brutality of the competition. Used to see the Devonport crew practicing in the naval base behind our workshop. Such a shame it came to an end.

The Navy Field Gun competition still runs to this day, it was the televised Royal Tournament that showcased the final that ended in 1999.

Used to watch this every year till they stopped in 99. It was a hilight of the Edinburgh Militart Tatoo which is still held yearly. They stopped the field gun excercise due to unsurprisingly millitary cuts. Other groups have taken over and are running pretty much the same event at other venues. btw the Field gun was 4.7 inch or 120 mm in American

The Royal Navy Field Gun competition (“gun run”) was a recreation of a real situation in South Africa against the Boars where in the 1899 the Royal Navy sent some guns (6?) inland to assist the Army with a siege. To get the guns there (the Navy having no horses) the sailors had to pull the guns and man-handle them over various natural obstacles for the last part of the journey. Like ravines, hills, walls, etc. The guns on the real day were 4.7” guns and 12-pounders. The “gun run” scaled down recreation was part of a multi-day military exhibition that took place annually called ‘The Royal Tournament’ at a massive indoor exhibition centre called Earls Court in West London. The Royal Tournament stopped when Earls Court was sold and pulled down for redevelopment. I went to the Royal Tournament several times and the atmosphere during the gun run was electric. With spectators on each side of the arena encouraged to support the team nearest team; you screamed encouragement until you lost your voice. Fantastic night out!! The gun run took place in heats with different naval teams taking place each night, and the final was on the last night of the Tournament. So important to Royal Navy tradition, the results of each race were sent to every naval ship, unit, port and base around the globe daily.

Look up The Royal Navy Mast Manning Display Team. It’s impressive!

There is another version of this event called the "Brickwoods" Field Gun competition, which also started in 1907. Which I've seen shown in a couple of documentaries about the Royal Navy on TV in recent years. While it involves no obstacles and is run on a flat track. It's still being run annually at HMS Collingwood as part of the HMS Collingwood Open day. From memory teams representing all branches of the British armed forces can compete.

The only thing the FGC teams got extra was rations. Check out Ganges mast manning. Not a competition but used to be part of the training.

Hey EB... my dad competed in the 60s carrying the breach and he's also carried the wheels. To train he ran 16 miles with his mate with 1/2 a telegraph post between them. These are the fittest in the forces. Some guys in the wheels lose thumbs because the pin falls out and they shove their thumbs in to keep them moving. Hope you get to read this 🙏 .my Dad was called Granville Farrar and he served on the HMS Argonaut.. love your videos and the Yorkshire flag you're flying... I'm from Halifax West Yorkshire.. Best wishes from the UK 🇬🇧

The times were flashed around the fleet after every run. we worked hard to just get a chance to get into the team.

During the Boer War the British Navy/Army hauled heavy battleship guns on land, to use in sieges etc. Quite a feat, considering the terrain and climate. Think they were a bit slower than this, though. Just a bit...

Used to love watching these military demos/competitions as a kid!

Thanks for sharing this... as a family we used to watch this every year. My father fought in the Navy so really enjoyed seeing these disciplined men do their incredible feat....!

Ah the Royal Tournament at Earls Court London. I went to this four years running (1984-87) and saw the RN Field Gun Competition live, it's one hellava thing to watch! =)

I used to love watching this every year on TV. It was so exciting!

I've heard stories of the sailor's losing fingers and breaking limbs training to do this.

My dad took part in field gun competition when he was in the Royal Navy.

My husband has been a No.1 Field Gun Trainer for the Brickwoods competition for years and my son was so proud to be in a cadet Field Gun team at HMS Collingwood. I love Field Gun!

This is a perfect example of why we had an Empire, because we had men who could move mountains.!!

Officially classed in the Business book of records as the World's Toughest Sport.

Way back in the late 1950s my Dad took me to see the Royal Tournament of which this was very much a part. After the show we walked round the back & saw 'behind the scenes'. My Dad perhaps had connectons in high places & we were not challenged nor asked to leave. An indelible memory from a time now passed. Why has this terrific spectacle been cancelled ?

Is this The Royal Tournament at Earls Court? I'm 44 now but I used to go to this every year as a kid when I lived in the uk. loved it.. The dogs were awesome

Broken wrists, ankles and losing fingers is commonplace in this competition.

I was RAF and wish i could have run this, they do a simplified version niw with all three services in the UK. Checkout "To the limit and beyond" from the late 70's/early 80's, it follows the Portsmouth crew in selection and training.

Hats off to your enthusiasm and once again your objectivity. I've subscribed to hear more. Keep it up fella.

Thanks for doing this one. Brought back a lot of memories, I used to go to the Royal Tournament every year with my dad and this was always the highlight along with the White Helmets motorcycle display team

I did the Tourney for three years, never in my life seen such truly hard men 👍🏽

January Saturday afternoon in lockdown. I'd forgotten about this! Superb and thanks for reminding me!

I watch this, trackside when i was 10, that was back in 86. Truly impressive.

There is a documentary on the training for this event, which I've witnessed twice at The Royal Tournament, WONDERFUL!!!!!!!! I think it was in the training film that it was mentioned in one run the pin holding the wheels on the axle was dropped and so a guy just put his finger in the hole and they carried on. Dedication. That results of the final are sent around the entire Royal Navy Fleet as soon as there in.

Have you seen the musical drive of the Royal Horse Artillery? It's especially terrifying when they do it indoors. The timing has to be absolutely perfect.

Saw this live a couple times in the early 80s. Brilliant stuff.

Brought tears to my eyes.....bring back the RT. This is why we the greatest country ever.....

It was stopped because the government cancelled the Royal Tournament (a multi-week event celebrating Britain's armed forces to raise money for veterans' charities), it was restarted as an event taking place on Armed Forces day and now has teams from all three services

Watched this Live over a number of years at the Royal tournament Earls court,even better when you are there

Good onya mate, it's great to see that you can appreciate things that can happen in the world. Not only in america. You will be a success.

I watched this event for years and watching it now still make me weep with pride

I loved going to the Royal Tournament, and do think it was criminal to finally stop them. This was a major event. I also remember the Kings Troop, Royal Horse Artillery doing their musical drive in that arena - They made your seat vibrate with speed and power. Awesome stuff to watch, sitting right close up to it all. Check out the Kings Troop Musical Drive! King George VI, once mechanisation came after WW2, expressed the view that a RHA Troop should be kept for ceremonial occasions - hence the Kings Troop. I can image them on the field at Waterloo.

The Birmingham international tattoo still does a similar competition called the inter-service field gun challenge. These people are awesome some have lost fingers and damaged limbs in doing this’d challenge

My Dad used to take me to see this, it was absolutely brilliant to watch, the whole of the Royal Tournament was a real spectacle of pride, strength, Agility, of the British Army

Just so nice to see you enjoy this 👍🏻🇬🇧

It's videos like this that make you realise why we had a century of Pax Britannica. Love your videos man - really enjoy your insights throughout all your videos. :)

I watched Portsmouth team training in 1979 when I was away with the Sea Cadets in Portsmouth Navy Dockyards (wanted to join the Royal Navy). I t really was something to see that close. Some of the injuries they received in training were pretty bad, and if they didn't make the team, the men were really gutted. I also used to go to the Royal Tournament most years, my Father and Grandfather were both in the Royal Artillery, but I always loved the Field Gun run. Bring it back !!

Yeah i used to watch this on tv all the time..good fun. it was hold from 1907 till 1999..i don’t know why it ended it just did..well on tv anyway. there is Junior Leaders Field Gun Competitions that was held in 2007 and still going till this day..and you will find Royal Navy bases will host field gun competitions featuring Royal Navy crews and Royal Marines sometimes but that’s it.

I had the honour to do a version of this for a 'Jeux sans Frontiers' style of games between Kingsbridge (Devon) and our two twin towns of Isigny (France) and Weilerbach (Germany). We were the hosts of the 'Tri-Town Games' that year, and had no idea what was in store. The games are kept secret from ALL teams. Needless to say, once we realised what the games designers had devised for this race, we knew one thing. This is one race we MUST NOT LOSE. British pride and tradition is at stake. All teams were given a simultaneous demonstration of how things came apart (different obviously from the actual race), their dis-assemblage and assemblage, and how to best transport them across the obstacles, and how to fire the gun at the end (yes, the guns fired a heavy beanbag a fair distance). This gave me opportunity to take part in something I had watched and loved as a kid (JsF), along with some good honest British tradition. (My congratulations, by the way, to the guys who engineered the guns out of plastic pipes, wooden cradles, metal bits, rope, rubber doo-dads, and whatever). Anyway, to put you out of your misery, and given no forewarning, but with the extra impetus of National Pride, we showed the opposition a clean pair of heels, won the race (and, as it happened, the day). Hoorah !

I was there for that competition, I was in the RAF and despite inter service rivalry there's nothing more to do but give those guys a massive thumbs up.

Well done Pompey....miss this so much, proud to come from a Naval/ Military city

When I was younger I used to go and watch this every year

This competition took place at our International Tattoo, a fund raiser for our Veteran's, and 1989 was the last annual tattoo because of the cuts that came about from the end of the cold war. I believe this competition has been run twice since then.

Fieldgun is classed as a team sport. One team member said "it's like rugby, but against hard steel not soft flash."

I had forgotten about this annual event at the royal tournament, pity it was stopped, makes one proud to be British.

It was stopped because of the severe injuries often obtained, mistakes are never trivial, normally broken or shattered bones, I remember one instance where a team member finished and hadn't even realised he's lost a finger at some point!

Great to watch live,(on TV) One slight miss-timed place of a man, and he got hurt, hurt real bad. I used to do a gun-run in the Royal Artillery cadets back in 1981 when I was 14 years old, using the 25 Ib field gun used the base plate to cross a mock trench, and firing one blank at the finish line. We had a blue and red team and performed these displays at fate's for the public. felt great!

I did this in 1980 for the 70th anniversary of the RCN. Most proud moment of my life to this day. I still have a scar on my face from catching a corner of the traveller that I wear with pride.

There, we were Great once and not so long ago. Time to make the run of the Fieldguns Great Again 💥Great stuff 👍

My dad competed for portsmouth. Great memories watching at whale island

Sadly it was stopped for economic reasons, it cost a lot of money to have several hundred naval personnel spend 3 months training for an event. There were also lots of serious injuries during the training, which meant many of them unable to work for days/weeks/months on end...another added economic cost. Plus, there had been lots of 'cuts' so the navy was much smaller so, effectively losing several hundred naval staff for 3 months just to perfect 'working with cannons' wasn't the best use of naval personnel. But it was bleddy brilliant and everyone loved the energy and excitement of it....

Like many folk songs, the origin of "Ten Green Bottles" is lost to antiquity. It is believed to be of English, more specifically of Yorkshire origin, although one suggestion is that greenbottles refers to officers of the Metropolitan Police, apparently underworld jargon for the new force founded by Act of Parliament in 1829. This could explain why the bottles were said to be hanging on the wall rather than sitting on it. This explanation sounds plausible, but in September 1998, a French academic found a fragment of a manuscript, apparently dating from the late 14th Century, which appears to be the earliest extant version. It runs:

It’s purely a race for honour. I’m 72 and watched this every year from a small child on tv during what was called The Royal Tournament.The training for this is a killer and men have lost fingers,broken bones and other injuries doing it. I don’t know why it was stopped but I was and still am very upset that it no longer takes place.

My Brother ran for Portsmouth (POMPEY) visited Whale Island many times to see them practise. I was fortunate to go back stage at Earls Court with the Pompey Crew in 1980 but unfortunately it comes down to money why the The Royal Tournament ended and the last of the Field Gun competition as you see it in this form. They still run field gun which I think they call Brickwwoods field Gun today but is different to what you see here.

I have watched this live on one occasion. There were even injured men taking part. They had broken fingers splinted to the next one. Their muscles were incredible too. The Royal Tournament was held at Earl’s Court in London. I think it was the expense of the whole show & possibly security risks that brought about its demise.

This is a very dangerous stunt and injuries often occur, it is a very competitive and Kudos for the winner!

I used to watch these anually as a kid on British TV but sadly this is one of the things that went missing from our TV listings.

If youngsters could do something similar in local communities it would be a great team building excercise.

Three stages of the run. The run out, the run back, the run home. Run between Portsmouth Command, Devonport Command and the Fleet Air Arm (Wafu's!), the results of these runs are flashed to ships and shore establishments throughout the world as they happen. If you are a Field Gunner, NOTHING is more important than winning this competition. And if a you meet a Field Gunner and he has all his fingers..... he's a lightweight! Just don't tell him to his face! 😂 The Royal Tournament (the field gun competition is just a small part of it) an annual display o military from UK and other nations, too, was scrapped due to defence cuts. We simply "couldn't afford it". There is no extra cash for the Field Gunners... but they do get extra food! They are all volunteers. The honour of being a Royal Navy Field Gunner, beats any medal or decoration. You're a Field Gunner... you're a hell of a guy.

when this competition started the navy was fueled by coal, and the lower decks where manned by stokers who shoveled coal all day. Most jobs on a warship required a very good fitness level, today's warships have 1/4 of the number of crew to pick from and most of them push buttons all day

My father in the late 1920s was one of those guys, he was known for free falling down a rope head down and stopping just a few inches from the floor.

I saw this as a kid with my parents. It was so awesome. I wish they'd start this tradition again. I saw a training video 4 this years ago. If u can find it, i think you'd love it.💕🇺🇸🇬🇧

I was born in Plymouth. As a child, remember my father taking me to Devonport Barracks to see the Devonport team train for the event. I remember standing a few feet away from the cinder track as they charged through the routine. Terrifying.

My Dad's dad was in charge of an army gun carriage in the 1920's, seeing action in the Indian NW provinces (Khyber pass, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India). At least he had a team of horses to help with the grunt work. :)

My muscles ache after watching this. I will never complain about the 2 mile walk to the deer stand again

I believe the reason it was stopped is that some of the injuries were quite severe, even in practice, loss of fingers etc.

You asked a question that we Brits have been asking for a long time why did they stop doing the run? might I suggest you also watch the manning the mast ceremony especially how the last man comes down at the end.

This takes me back. We used to watch this on Television. it was a big event.

We have a phrase in U.K ‘military precision’ when things have to be planned, timed and executed perfectly. This is a prime example

How dedicated are they? There was a race where a guy was putting on a wheel but didn't have the peg to hold it on. What did he do? He stuck his finger in the hole to replace the peg. His team won.

Its been many a year since I saw this.. good to see it again