The Last Gun Race 

Can only cry at the shortsightedness of the powers that be! Long live the crews!

Lovely to hear and see my dad Tom Folley who sadly passed 18 years ago.He was passionate about the Field Gun

I am an Army Veteran,I have always respected these lads, Brilliant !! The British Royal Navy "Heart of Oak".

Thanks for sharing, my Grandad is the gentleman who is referred to as Tom Folley. He passed when I was 7 so being able to hear him speak meant a lot.

I had the great privilege of watching this competition at Earls Court as a visiting performer from USA in 1979. For a solid month we did two shows a day and this competition was the highlight of each show. Its a shame that society finds the need to omit tradition in favor of profits. In time there will be little left of what makes us unique and proud of our heritage. Thank you all for the amazing training and display of speed and precision. Your hard work and skills will not be forgotten.

I ran for Pompey in 94, 96, 98, 99 and I've still got all my fingers. Thanks Woody for posting 👍

I spent 41 years as an Artilleryman in the Australian Army and feel these type of events are good for whatever branch you serve in. We don't have this type of event, even though we have gun runs which is a modern gun pull race over 25-50 meters with only the parade ground to use not all the time but during some Regimental sports days, unit birthdays or a pull through town to raise money for charity. None of these involve swinging the gun over a chasm Mr Colin White you are sadly an out of date dinosaur. Running the Royal Naval Museum you should be the one for keeping it, otherwise you are just a contradiction in the position you hold. I take it the Naval Cadets are still taught sailing? yet the Navy don't have sailing ships as such. So why is there those differences? So to say I have enjoyed watching this even as long as I can remember is an understatement. My Grandfather served in the Royal Indian Navy during WW2, so my interest is well founded. If safety is an issue then sailors wouldn't go to sea, soldiers wouldn't use weapons and Airforce personnel would stay on the ground. There is danger is all aspects of work and play. To say it's not relevant to the modern navy the modern navy has no physical strength is not hard willed, where as the old navy needed strength and hard will is ridiculous. The sailors during Falklands sure had strong will and strength. It is relevant, relevant for the following reasons, 1. team building, 2. commitment 3. competitive application 4. unit pride and overall personal achievement. As a sailor one would want to do something as traditional as that. The Army had had many forms of strength competitions since time begun. House racing, climbing, gun races and so on. Naval competitions are limited if you are at sea. I guess climbing the halyards could be one but the modern warship is sort of short on them. So back to the Gun Race, I for one would lobby your Defence minister to get it back on the table for it's reintroduction. Of course we will have to wait some time due to the Coronavirus issue. On the other side maybe a good moral booster for the nation post virus situation.

I was stationed at HMS Sanderling (RNAS Abbotsinch, Scotland) in 1962-63 as a junior rate, and the killick of the mess was a field gunner, Chips Rafferty was his name and he was the nicest bloke you could come across. A big man that did a good job keeping us juniors in line, and not afraid to get physical with anyone stepping out of line. Fond memories of that time and the years ahead in the RN and it's many traditions now sadly gone. My hat goes off to those that served the navy in the field gun crew no matter which port they represented.

Another great masculine tradition wrecked by pen pushers

Time to bring it back!

Traditions in this country are being ditched left, right and centre. Dis bloody graceful.

Really think it is a shame that this was cancelled. Obviously the field gun run doesnt server a 'practical' purpose in the modern navy, if you dont value tradition, team work, commitment and endurance against hardship. A crying shame this has not been carried on and on for future generations.

I did the Royal Tournament 3 years running in the 80s with the Kings Troop RHA. Our musical drive took different skill sets to these guys, but no less hard work, dedication and precision. The field gunners and us were the only participants every year, regardless of whether it was an Army, RAF, or Navy led show. For that there existed a mutual respect on each others behalf. We used to use their battery bar after the evening performances and made sure we were courteous and respectful. They were big men, usually as broad as they were high. The excuses rolled out regarding man power for the end of this spectacle are rubbish. It is down to dumbing down pride and heritage and cost. It'd be ended today on the grounds of it not being diverse or inclusive enough anyway. It's all gone to shit. We ignore history, heritage and culture at our peril.

First Trainer Pat Patella, good guy first met him in 86 and 87 when he was battery staff and I was with Devonport as their medic and when he ran for Pompey in 87 also served onoard the Fearless, was then a world record holder with PFG until the final Tournament when Devonport broke their record. Totally dedicated

Remember seeing this live with my old boy at Earl’s Court, guess I was about eight years old . Shame these traditions are lost , think it’s what made this country a little bit special.

When I was a kid, my mum & Dad would take my brother and me to Earl's Court every year. I loved the regular events, The Musical Ride by The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, The Drill Demonstration by The Queen's Colour Squadron of The Roya; Air Force and the White Helmets Motorcycle Display Team of The Royal Corps of Signals. But the thing that I looked forward to the most was The Royal Navy Field Gun Race.

There is only one reason this and the tournament, the Royal Yacht, and a host of shore establishments were sold off - incompetence. But it begins with the end of the Cold War after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The decision was made to rapidly pull money away from defence and begin a rolling redundancy and scrapping programme, which the RN very quickly completely fucked up. I distinctly recall the redundancy terms being set in an FTM, this focussed on specific branches and rates, but in a closing paragraph the FTM was quite clear. In summarising the detail in a far shorter paragraph, it had effectively broadened the terms or the package and the pay-off to all branches and most rates. This meant that OPS branch leading rates went out with a hefty sum of money and a pension, even though the terms were looking at specific technical branches and rates at or above Petty Officer in order to get promotion rolling upwards which would still encourage recruitment. I also recall being told by an officer that it was a major foul-up. _"If they don't meet the specific criteria, but quote the offending summarising paragraph of the FTM, they have to be processed for the relevant package."_ This saw ships unable to meet full compliment inside a few months. It also meant the Operator/Maintainer branch had to be created, accelerated, and expected to help close the manpower shortfall with necessarily rushed training. Philosophically, this was an impossible remit; you can train technicians how to operate the gear, but you can rarely train operators to diagnose and fix it. And a main part of the focus of the redundancy deal was technical branches. It was also exacerbated by officers in desk roles heading unnecessary portfolios and job titles keeping their heads down. This has to include flag ranks, with their grace and favour apartments, entertainment allowances and personal drivers. Nothing with gold braid was willing to fight for anything that was lost, for fear of spoiling their own promotion chances or drawing attention to themselves. Instead, they kept quite and with their usual alacrity kept finding ways of looking useful by finding any way of getting their signatures on the bottom of anything that kissed a flag officer's arse. A horrendous and growing manpower shortage for active units drove these losses - not a lack of money or a desire to save it.

One of the best documentarys iv seen. Cheers for the upload 👍

This ace vid is only half of it. I was posted,( RAF), to the Royal Tournament in 1969 and watched all 29 gun crew battles. I was billeted at Earl's Court so I watched all 29 early morning practices as well......58 watches in all. Here's what I learned: men engage in this work to prove to themselves and their coaches that teamwork is everything; it surmounts pain, disappointment, broken bones, injured spirit. Yet, downing a pint or three with these chaps proved they were not Gods of the Guns, but chaps like you and me, determined to succeed......and not let their comrades down. I was privileged to be there and believe you me.....watching this incredible feat 58 times is not enough to appreciate the effort of mind and body that goes into it. The word 'amazing' is grossly over-used today; applied to the gun crews it's massively underused. Unforgettable.

When men were allowed to be just that being men .

Well done to ALL who ran and RIP to Danny and Neil. Also Si Price. Never forgotten.

Loved the old field gun as a teen. Lee on Solent, Fleet Air Arm and the public runs. Great days.

Absolutely brilliant M8.

My granddad was in the Navy during WW2 and used to do this, I don’t think I’d actually seen it until this video. But I always remember him telling me a story of one of the men losing the end of his thumb and not even flinching! He said he just carried on until the end 😮

This is what youngsters of today need, pride, passion a sense or worth. Does my head in this nation, we throw all the good stuff away leaving a load of weak 20 somethings who don't know their arse from their elbows. FFS.

I've visited Ladysmith SA which of course is what all this is about , go navy 👍the senior service 🇬🇧

If you can say you were a Gun runner, respect.

Pride, determination, a "wish to win, against all odds";;;;who would NOT want to foster those ideals...except maybe, a politician.

I loved this as a kid growing up, watched it every year on the BBC, a massive highlight if the year in my house, always has massive respect for all servings personnel, my great grandfather was a gunner at a gun emplacement at one of the fortifications at Valletta in Malta during WWII, he was commentated for his bringing down Italian and German Stuka Ju-87 dive bombers aircraft, and he was medalled 5 times for different things from bravery to the shooting down of enemy aircraft and more. We've lost too much of our traditions in the UK and losing many more if our heritage too if we're not careful by allowing a small minority of anti military Leftwing Socialists hell bent on abolition of our armed forces, bloody fools, it's the reason we're free, fighting for us to be free, giving them to right to take this mental cause of action, and I'd say the same about to whom ever got rid of this centuries old tradition, and the Naval Mast Manning too, we need a focus to extend peoples understanding of what they sacrifice for us doing their job as soldiers sailors and airmen. Rule Britainnia 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧👍🏻

As a Royal Artillery veteran, all I can say is "Respect" That is really tough.

Always loved to see this on the TV when I was growing up. Shame it ended.

These are real men.

Thanx for the upload. Such a shame its ended

What a fantastic display of strength, tradition and honor!!!

Wow. This was fascinating. Team work at it's finest.

Thanks to Blair for cancelling one of the best Tournaments on telly ever. He destroyed so much English pride with his idiocy of right on woke shyte.

Although made by BBC SOUTH, surely this doc was broadcast across the entire country?. The quality of it FAR exceeds what one would expect from a purely regional show.AS for these men...GOD how bloody tough they ARE!. What a fantastic ,mesmerising programme, i was hooked on every minute.I have no naval or military connections (DO live in Aldershot though!)but , if this is still an expressable emotion, i am feeling SO proud of these wonderful BRITISH fighting men. It was just so THRILLING to watch and HOW i would love to see the RT return!. WELL DONE lads and, i am amazed to say given my normal opinion of them, well done BBC-albeit the BBC of 1999!.

Respect - ran the messes for these guys at the RT for over five years - respect....

Used to love watching this on the royal tattoo.. shame. Always wanted to go watch

Thank you for posting 👏

Top bloke was Rob De Silva, he was at HMS Dryad when I was there in 93, went on a week long Banyan on a Narrowboat with him too.

Wow! This popped up on my feed, and it brought back so many memories of when I was a youngster watching the Royal Tournament. Overtime, life gets busy and I don’t even remember it coming to an end 😢 There was no real reason to end this proud tradition.

I had never seen that before. R.I.P Danny, you are sadly missed.

OMG "Nasty Neil Jones" what a Bloke! Had a Blast serving on Two ships with him Rest in peace, Fair winds and following Seas.

Good Video.. thanks for posting... I'm sure that's Ian " Billy" Binks at the beginning....Good lad....

When Britain was GREAT bring back field gun the Royal tournament and all our great traditions its as if this country forgets why British men and women have these events and organisations our nation should always be GREAT BRITAIN

Bring it back

Field gun, a tradition which should never been stopped. The results sent around the fleet all over the world and ships companies eagerly waiting for the results. I think something was lost over some bureaucratic decision made by somebody who never understood what this meant.

Nobody wants to enlist in a Navy with no tradition. As a Canadian we went through this period of tossing tradition out the window and now we can't man our ships, there is no longer a feeling of belonging to a stead fast tradition. It was in 1967 when some smart ass (Hillier) decided to toss away all of the Navy's regalia and with it our traditions. Can anyone tell me why the collar has three stripes, why the collar has two hills and a valley? Why is there a silk ribbon, why is a cap tally bow worn over the left ear? Tradition.

All about legality and insurance issues, just another Naval tradition pushed aside. I'm Canadian and we used to have a West coast, East coast competition, but that got shut down because of injuries, regardless that the participants volunteered.

My mother used to watch the runs pre War on Whale Island. She said she was there once when the barrel wasn't hooked on properly and it fell and killed a guy.

They couldn't get the men to perform it now. However, if the Royal Navy had it on Xbox: I am confident they could stitch a team together.

health & safety has ruined this amazing spectacle

Does anyone have any photos of Paul Newman from this time? I’d love to be able to send copies to his dad if you have any?

What a shame ....I write in 2020 the Royal Navy is now not worth me commenting on.

At 20 50 what true words have ever been said shame no one listened in government to me we still run the gun even if its just in our minds and harts of oak

Back when if you died you still got up and got on with it...

Pity it was Pompey and not FAA but still a great video and memories of the 80’s at Daedalus. Thank you

RESPECT..H6 EX CRAB-AIR MEDIC...........

The 'modern navy' does not look like this.

Women aren't robust enough to competition field gun. That's not sexist, most men aren't.

GO LADS! GO!!!

I go to cadets on whale island and every evening I look into the window of a drill shed and see there gun 😁

I did read that the gun teams continued to train off duty, as long as it was kept out of sight.

The field gun was a draft with a compliment. It is therefore a little disingenuous to say any ship was left short or in trouble if a crewman left to go to Whale Island, as it would ultimately depend on contemporary operational circumstances, recommendations and the consideration of various ranks in the ship concerned, and finally a decision at HMS Centurion. This is why all branches/ratings are - or at least were - buffered by the training and staffing programme in every shore establishment. But by the time of this documentary the redundancy mess was at its peak - it began in the mid-1990s and men were leaving inside weeks.

This era was gone in 2000, making way for a weaker society. Englands empire was finished in 2000.

I used to be this fit....in my dreams

What a fanny at 09:56 - this was LEGENDARY when I was a wee laddie!!

Is it just Rumor or Myth that a team from Her Majesty’s Army won the compaction one year ? John

Men of this calibre are needed, for what's coming, in the South Ch*@a Sea!

What a great shame is all I can say. Another tradition going out the door along with the Hairy Dogs and the bell-bottom creases.

I done a smaller version of this with cadets only without the zip line

It's a travesty that this and the Royal Tournament ended.

Im from the Colonies and served in Field Artillery. They got rid of this?! Whatever for?

When a country's military can no longer support tradition because of a government's decision the country is in trouble. II am a civilian here in the United States did not serve because of my disability period, but have always supported the military because my uncle served with honor in the US Navy. The UK has lost a piece of what makes the Royal Navy special when they decided to no longer fund the training for this event. I thought the British were all about tradition as much as progress. Looks like we guessed wrong

The 'Human Calgary Stampede'.

The Royal Navy has suffered and it shows the day FUBAR thanks Gov

23:29 *that* is a pretty seriously screwed ankle and foot....

plenty of lost fingers

The thumbs down are French.

Why didn't they just hand it over to the Royal Marines / Paras ? Different branch of the services yes but at least it would still be the real thing. Bring it back.

I suppose you don't need men mountains to press buttons ?? God bless the Field Gunners !! Hardest 'sport',,ever !!

Fuck I'm proud to be British....

I was at whaley early 70s I ate normal rations not steak!

23:08 did he just say someone died & the resuscitated...?

11:23 Ricky Hatton?

Back when men were allowed to be men. It’s sad how UK society has degraded since 1999.

9:55 saying goodbye to a great tradition from a smirking stupid old man. He doesn't understand, its these traditions that bond the younger sailor, but just because he's old and broken, doesn't mean you can remove it from the younger fit sailors. I hate old people making decisions for young people. Its usually wrong.

If I win big time on the lotto I will bring it back fuck cut backs

Premier League footballers should earn their respective fee's ,by not getting blown over in a tackle cheats should be eliminated from any competition

Its a sad state of affairs in this country of ours when a tradition which celebrates bravery and teamwork gets binned in fact just what have we become i would far rather watch this than some celebrity worshiping crap which is what we are fed by the BBC and others Just another example of Britain's sliding under the waves!!!😱

The money the Royal Navy spends on virtue signaling could most likely pay for this.

These men are built like rugger players. What jobs on board needed this physique in their day? Is there still a need for such muscle? Doing what? Is such size a qualification for recruitment in 2020? (FTR, Never served, father was engineer on landing craft in war, always felt kindred to the RN).

Lisa Nandy disliked this video.

P*ss poor excuse to blame operational ship's crews being depleted - a simple tweak of rules, i.e candidates only drawn from shore bases. They dont seem to mind guys protecting strawberry stalls at Wimbledon or guarding a wooden box outside an empty Buck House. Perhaps Trafalgar Night should be banned across the Fleet from all wardrooms, after all, it's only ancient history?

9:35 listen to this wimp, yeah just do away with everything cos we're weak geeks now

shame... having no idea what this brings to the nation.