US Infantryman Reacts to Royal Navy Field Gun Competition 

Props to anyone who has even attempted this! Doing more research and hearing from y'all, this sounds like a very admirable tradition indeed!

I am a former Devonport Field Gunner... 'First Wheels' ie, first pieces of gun to cross the chasm and the last wheels to come back. They weighed in at 120 pounds each and combined with your body weight you have around 300 pounds (136kg) loaded on your arms which comes a bit of a shock the first time you swing on that traveler. We had 08:00 to 09:00 in the gym every morning with 100's of grid sprints and calisthenics. Then it was tea with cheese and biscuits before changing into track gear and then it was normal to do 8 full runs before closing at around 16:00. There is an A crew and a B crew and we would face-off for all of the days runs. We would complete at least 40 runs a week and we trained for 3 months so you can work out for yourself how many times we threw those guns over the walls. There were plenty of injuries as everything is either wood or metal, its heavy and is moving fast. The battleships HMS Terrible and HMS Powerful sent their 12 pounder field guns ashore to help break the siege at Ladysmith. It is said that an army general told the Navy that he didn't have any horses to spare for pulling the guns, to which an Admiral replied, "We don't need horses... we have sailors!" You cannot imagine how proud we field gunners are to have taken part in that history.

My husband was a Portsmouth Field gunner in the late 60's. He ran 4 times, he was 1st swing. I loved going to the royal tournament. Sue Godsell wife of Brian.

We still do it now - one of our artillery units carried a field gun up the side of a hill in Afghan at the dead of night - they had to contend with IEDs and the chance of being attacked. By morning, they had the gun on a hill in a very commanding position and judging by the chatter by the Taliban on their radio net, they weren’t happy. They called it the dragon I think.

The Earls Court event came to an end because the increasingly stretched armed services have found it ever more difficult to provide personnel. Sad that the youth of today don't appreciate history and what it took to achieve the things they did back in the day. I'm a South African living in the UK and I can attest that a similar event was run in South Africa relating to the same event/siege of Ladysmith between the British and the Boers. The British didn't have field artillery so they had to strip their ships of the only available artillery and hump it across the African savanna in record time to drive the Boers out. The British suffered 175 killed and 249 wounded. 52 dead Boers were left in the British positions. On Christmas Day 1899, the Boers fired into Ladysmith a carrier shell without a fuse, which contained a Christmas pudding, two Union flags and the message, "compliments of the season". The shell is still kept in the museum at Ladysmith.

This was such an important event to The Royal Navy, that within seconds of the race finishing, a signal was sent around the world to every ship and shore station with the result and the times.

Lost my dear father in law 2 years ago aged 88. He was a proud fleet air arm field gunner. Still tough in his final years.

My Grandad was a trainer for this, I think in Portsmouth. Sadly he died when I was quite young so I never got to hear that many stories but I believe it was very hardcore, either my Dad or Grandad told me once that if someone lost a finger they would just carry on, not even stop to pick it up! It was an amazing tradition to commemorate an event that the Royal Navy is rightly very proud of.

I did the "Cadet" version of this, as a kid. Saw a lot of grown men do it. And my uncle was an officer for several teams. The adult version, just watching them train, was awe inspiring. But, [junior] Deadalus Field Gun Crew rules, and our succes run against everone, for me, is a proud moment of my childhood..

I sailed with an ex-matelot that had done this in the 80s and set a record with Portsmouth, absolutely phenomenal, what a top bloke he was

I'm ex RAF, have seen this live a few times, stuning! Amazing to watch live. Love your attitude, US Army may not have as long a history, but, what a great history it has. Keep up the good work.

We still do this in Australia. Its a ceremonial exercise. In WW2 in New Guinea, soldiers of the 3rd Division carried 17 pounder artillery pieces up and over 14,000 foot jungle ranges to stop the Japanese taking Port Moresby. No helicopters or planes could be used. Everything had to hand carried. It was brutal.

I ran for Portsmouth Command, in 1966. We train for six months prior to the Royal Tournament.

I remember watching this as a child. We would cheer on our chosen side, we're a military family serving in all the branches of the military with mum in the Wrens and dad in the Royal Marines. We would really look forward to this. Going once to the Royal Tournament was the icing on the cake. Then one year my son worked there all through the tournament, he loved it. This and the Royal Tattoo would make us swell with pride. Such a shame the bean counters decided to do away with it. Thanks for showing and commenting on this.

I was very privileged as a child to be taken to see the men training for this, at I recall, whale Island (near Portsmouth) when my dad was serving in the RN. Yes, it's historic and recalling traditions, but one of the most exciting things I have lodged in my memory. And yes. There are injuries. Fully respect this sport, tradition, and endeavour.

Part of the yearly Royal Tournament which is sadly no more. I trained for this but sadly could not run as a promotion course came up. Many of my friends ran the crew year on year. As you correctly say, It’s historic from old battles where field guns had to be taken over terrain to battle. The training is brutal and the runs are even more brutal. Lads have had carriages run over them, barrels land on them, broken bones and fingers going missing were common. Bodies of most are now wrecked! The rivalry within the Royal Navy was fierce. Ultra fit people with absolute dedication. Disgusting that it was stopped. A smaller competition still goes on within the Navy, now seeing teams from Marines, Army and RAF. Cadets also run teams. All done with much smaller hardware now. After the season is over they all go back to units to carry out their usual professions. So proud!

I’ve never seen this event before, makes my British heart swell with pride. Wow just incredible.

In the late 70s and early 80s I used to attend the Royal tournament with cub scouts. Loved it. The highlight as a 7 or 8 year old was always this. The energy and excitement of the few minutes was amazing. Well done to all those that took part.

The British have limited gear so the quality of their soldiering is off the charts. Even their basic infantry can run huge distances with heavy bergens. Their ability to move heavy equipment, on foot, over the battlefield is amazing.

Great British naval tradition. Bring back the Royal Tournament

Injuries happen daily during training. When I was working security detail at Earls Court, the home of the Royal tournament in the early 90's one Guy broke his arm and continued and a few days later one of the pins that holds the wheels got mislaid in the dirt so the man who's job it was to place the pin into the wheel just rammed his finger into the pin hole and they ran with the gun. It was destroyed, the passion between the 3 teams is phenomenal Peace Charlie 🇬🇧

you had to be their to really to appreciate this race properly .highlight of the royal tournament for me "POMPY ALL THE WAY"

Wonderful tradition, remembering a brave event in British military history. The Royal Tournament was a wonderful annual event, showcasing every aspect of military skill, both British and worldwide. It was also a fantastic recruitment tool (you see small boys in the crowd). Sadly closed by the ‘bean counters’. I served as a soldier with the Navy for a while and would often see the men training for this event. Seriously tough men and it was not uncommon for serious injuries to occur, including the odd lost finger! Thanks for posting.

With my Dad and Grandfather in the Royal Navy, I grew up watching this. Live, it was one of the most impressive and exciting things I've ever seen. I miss it and really wish they'd bring it back. Kudos to the men that took part.

I’m surprised he has so much difficulty understanding. It’s a test of cooperation, agility, strength and stamina. Qualities that will always be necessary in war.

I was there with my two young sons. Having watched the Royal Tournament on tv for many years, I just had to go for the last one. Absolutely brilliant!

76 pompey - HMS Excellent. In those day there were 3 teams Portsmouth, Plymouth and The Fleet Air Arm (Two main navy bases and the Fly boys) There is also a different version (or was) that was a contest between divisions in the larger RN Navy Base (Brickwoods - it was based upon run/ assemble/ disassemble/ fire and did not include the walls or traveller wire bridge)

I was in the fleet air arm, and was on the field gun crew for Portland but never got selected for the main FAA crew. I believe it was a specialist role where once selected they would only do these drills and training in their own gun crew unit, they weren’t required to wear uniforms only tracksuits etc, and instead of eating what other navy staff ate they had special diets which included a lot of steak.

Love listening to your comments on our British military thanks for all the positive words x

I used to watch the training runs at HMS Drake back in the 80's. That's when the broken arms and fingers mainly took place.

The commentary is incorrect. The guns weren't sent to relieve the siege of Ladysmith but to reinforce the garrison prior to being besieged. The navy lads then had to endure the 4 month siege like everyone else. As an aside, one of the units besieged in Ladysmith was the 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment. Their motto was Semper Fidelis, the same as the USMC.

A guy i used to play Rugby with, Tony Bloor took part in the Field Gun Crew in the late 70s and 80s used to entertain us with stories of the injuries that teams used to get during training. Fingers left in the wrong place and flattened etc, Very gory .

My father was in the royal tournament in 1963 he represented the fleet air arm for Portsmouth which they won it that year 🇺🇲🇬🇧🇺🇲🇬🇧

Practice' thats an understatement you need to research the training that goes into this race ............

Military or not “hearts of oak” is a tune that makes any lad from pompey (Portsmouth) proud. Especially when your Yorkshire (poor bastard 😉) grandad was a submariner who did field gun.

I saw a documentary about the training involved for this competition . It's insane. Many many injuries. One guy at the end of one run, looked at his hand and realised he had a finger missing. They looked around for quite a while before his mate revealed that he'd found it a while ago but hidden it in his pocket for a joke. Another guy, during the actual competition in front of the huge crowd got his skull split open during the first run. He didn't drop out. During the brief respite just before the run back, they staple gunned his skull back together without any anaesthetic. These guys are dedicated and they are very hard.

Thank you for bringing this back to life. This competition used to cause major ructions every year in our family when I was a lad. My Mother was a Portsmouth lass, and my dad served on HMS Illustrious (Fleet Air Arm) during WW2, it was the highlight of the night. Secretly, I used to side with the FAA.

Superb commentary By you my friend

you my friend come across as a gentleman.

I first saw the Royal Canadian Navy do this when I was a kid, for their 75th anniversary. An amazing Gun Run.

Takes me back...these sort of events were broadcast regularly on TV when I was a kid. The Edinburgh Tattoo was very popular I recall. Nice to see again. Thanks for sharing. Brian

this as a kid was massive for me a great night watching the RN do there stuf

My late Pater served 1949 to 1959. He was a proud member of Devonport Command FGC. He was A crew Speedy Wheels, 13 in 55 and 58 and B team and arena team in between. 1956 he was told off when along with his father they visited a WW1 veteran who'd gone over the top and mentioned in dispatches, "book your ideas up, A crew only". It was his Grandfather Council, talking about the field gun. Dads shoulders and back was scared from the wheels, they were worn with pride til he died

This was how we beat the Boers at the Battle of ladysmith. We kept moving the gun positions so that by the time the Boers responded with their guns, we had moved. But thank you for your open minded review of our great traditions and how much training these guy went through. These guys are ridiculously tough and fit to do this and my father used to be the button boy in the Royal Navy mast climbing display. And my respect to you serving your country also

Those guys are massive. That is a crazy race. Amazing to watch.

As a kid aged 3-4, my family lived right by the Royal Marine barracks at Eastney (nr Portsmouth) and I used to watch the Portsmouth crew train with their guns, the walls and the rigging from the end of our back garden! Naturally, also being born in Portsmouth and having both parents serving in the Royal Navy, I always supported "Pompey"!!!

The Devonport Field Gun Crew were the best. Oggie oggie oggie!

When I was in the cadets we did the same thing with a 1/4 mountain field gun.

Ah man thanks for this. .my Dad took me to see The Royal Tournament every year for the longest time. Just amazing

My regiment did the Royal Tournament every year and I'm here to tell you that each of the gun crews (yup, it's a gun and loads from the rear rather than a cannon that loads from the front) set up a bar each and still competed to see which bar was best. Super fit lads who worked seriously hard at this event and the results were wired across the entire Royal Navy every day during the tourney. Big shout to Portsmouth, Devonport and the Fleet Air Arm. Good lads all of 'em!

My dad was career senior rate fleet air arm back in the day, I was raised a navy scaley brat and pissed my dad off proper when I enlisted with the RM. Went to many of these and each has its own place in my memories. These traditions need to be kept alive, this is living history

Watch ‘to the limit and beyond’ The Woolfridge Report, takes you through the training!

I think you understand, so I certainly do not want to patronise you. This is simply a tradition that the Navy has continued. I also think it's very cool.

i seen this a few times growing up as a kid and the atmosphere was electric.people just going crazy. i loved it so so much and shame it stopped. it was navy base versus navy base and these are proud guys giving 110%. they practice and some do get injured

@Combat Arms Channel, Superb review and reactions. All I can tell you about the preparation/s for this is from my memory: a good friend at the time, Peter, his brother was IN the competition around 1980. Precise details I can't now recall but Peter said the training for this covered WEEKS [maybe longer] and that his brother put on about 30 pounds of solid muscle: that kind of fitness/weight gain doesn't happen overnight. Remember: these are serving military personnel

Hearts of Oak, stirs the loins still. 26 years in the RNZN

This is what you'd have to do if all the fancy, modern equipment failed in the field. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🇬🇧

,gives me an enormous sense of pride seeing this. Our armed services are something we should all be proud of.

Used to watch this every year - the one part of the show I made sure to see. Such a shame it doesn't happen anymore.

This typifies what the armed forces do better than anyone else how to get a group of people to perform a task to perfection! It goes to show what hard work training and teamwork can accomplish we are always stronger working together towards a common goal than divided working against each other.

this channel has the best audience. all i see is lovely and encouraging comments

Mate it still goes on, and yes there are lots of toes and fingers that go missing

Absolutely fantastic! Show of strength, teamwork and dedication. . Steeped in tradition. No one dies it like the Brits! This would be so hard to do. Like the guy doing this video. It may look a bit weird bit there's a reason and tradition. All the way back in the boarwar the guns were taken across land by hand to relieve the others. It was then turned into this tradition to replicate it. I'm guessing for health and safety reasons it was stopped in 1999. I'd imagine it's very dangerous. So so proud of our armed forces...

These guys were machines. You have these types in the US Marines and the US Army. All good Armed forces around the world has guys like this. I used to watch them train they had lots of injuries and I saw some in tears as the training is so hard. Makes me smile that Armed Forces would stop something like this for HSE reasons then tell you to go overseas to be shot at or stand on an IED.

the Brickwood Trophy, is something to be proud of. To win this team sport is special. A part of my distant relatives.

I remember watching these when I was a kid. Back then when there were only 3 networks ABC had the "wild world of sports" on every Saturday and they would always show these competitions from the UK. They were probably my favorite thing to see on there.

And yes they do get injured, i'm willing to bet most of the sailors participating are suffering from sort of injury while doing the movement.

Bring back this and the Royal Tournament Respect to all the field gun teams over the years.

HMS Excellent 1938 completed in 1 min 13.4 seconds. 1999 was the last Royal tournament but the field gun competition continues at HMS Collingwood.

This used to get shown at the Royal Navy training establishment HMS RALEIGH as an example of teamwork and what can be done when every man does their job

Haha! I loved that comment about how they do all this without injuries - just Google "Field Gun Competition injuries" for a WIDE selection of physical strains, fractures and crush injuries during training!! Those who make it to competition are supremely fit (their diet is quite incredible during the months of training!) and may well have seen multiple colleagues physically destroyed in the process!

I was a Royal Navy Medic (SBA) at Chatham Naval Hospital, l was surprised at seeing my first member of a Field Gun team and his injury. His hand, well his thumb to be precise was being grafted and was attached by a strip of skin to his abdomen. When the gun was being put together his thumb got slammed in between. The strip of skin would be removed from the abdomen and folded over the end of the missing thumb. It's called a skin pedicle graft.

Sadly, this ended as such when the Royal Tournament was scrapped in 1999. A version of this has been resurrected and I saw it at the Birmingham Military Tattoo recently. It is now an inter-services competition and is every bit as intense as the original- probably more so as it is Army vs Navy vs RAF. You mentioned injuries. There are reserve team members for such an eventually. A friend had a mate of his in the Army team a few years ago. He was picked for the team itself (a huge achievement) but during a rehearsal *lost a finger.* After a few salty epithets and a visit to the First Aid team, he *PLEADED* with the commanding officer to be allowed to continue despite a quite serious injury and was distraught when it was denied. As you have picked up on, it is an exercise of discipline, teamwork and brutal effort.

If you valued your fingers, dont do the RN field gun race!!, remember this well, thanks for the commentary 🇬🇧🇺🇸👍

The original "Command" Field Gun is still being run by civilians as Wellington College (cadet-size) and Portsmouth Action Field Gun (full-size).[1] A second team, Eastbourne Youth Field Gun, established 2017 and also a cadet-size formation, is the newest field gun formation in the "Command" format.

The Royal Canadian Navy still does this every summer at the Halifax International Tattoo. Also the Canadian Army mechanics corps does this with willys jeeps where they drive on and strip the jeep completely to its major components and then ferry it by rope and resemble and drive off the other side in about 2 minutes.

Love to watch our allies and hear the respect for the Boy's and also good to watch our American brothers back and show our respect for them and our struggles in the middle east etc. Keep up the good work our red white and blue two nations together we stand.💜💜💗💗

The music, you hear at the beginning is the Royal Navy anthem 'Hearts of Oak'

The Wellington school has a course and its cadets practise often. When playing golf on the adjacent school course, they can be seen through the trees. Fantastic!

My Father was a Field Gunner for the FAA in the 1960s This is one of the Toughest things you can do in any Military Sports in the British Forces. These guys are selected and then Train for a whole Year to be selected for the Demo teams it is an Inter Royal Navy Competition to Remember the History of 2 Royal Naval Warships crews that were asked to support Land forces with Artillery but they had to dismantle their ships guns and then take them by Man power alone to the Battle over Land and some very Harsh Terrain during the Boer War in South Africa it made headline news all over the World in its day and the Royal Navy decided in 1907 to show off their skills at a Military Tournament in London and from that day on-wards it has been a Fiercely fought over competition that teams from Various Units and Branches of the Royal Navy fight for to be the Gun Crew Team winners it was Signalled world wide as soon as the Results were in each night of the Tournament to all of the Royal Navy. Field Gunners are given special diets and Time off to Train with the Crew and the Injury rates were very High in Training and Competition but to say you were a Field Gunner was and Honour that all looked up to you for being It Was sadly decided the Injury rate was to much so it was cancelled However there is a Smaller version of the Gun and a competition is now between the Royal Navy and British Army teams But the old Field Gunners were Hard Men and Showed the world what a Royal Navy was about Team work Military Services and British Pride

The memories this has brought back, when I was a recruit in the Army during my basic training I got to be a steward for this event in Earls court . Even got to meet Wolf from the Gladiators as they where there performing

A common trait of UK armed forces training is: there are no walls, there are no barriers, the landscape is NO IMPEDIMENT to your mobility on the field. If it is to the enemy - they lose.

Now imagine mnan handling guns over terrain in South Africa, then you know why.

We still do Field Gun competitions now, they're just a lot 'safer' now. No obstacles in it anymore but still fun to watch

HMS Collingwood open day is providing various attractions including this.

Remember seeing that in person as a kid at a local tattoo here in the Maritime provinces. Amazing to watch.

My best mate and trainer did this back in the 80s for red devonport. Saw a couple fingers get ripped off his mates and many 4 inch splinters. These guys are hard and strong as hell.

You can always rely on the Royal Navy. They saved the day at Queen Victoria's wedding for the horses panicked with all the noise. So they took the horses out of the traces and the sailors lining the funeral route then pulled the gun carriage and coffin. This is now the procedure at all Royal Funerals. See clip of King George's V1 funeral.

They would broadcast the results all over the fleet. The guncrews would put a finger in the hole if a bolt fell out the wheel. Many a crewman lost a finger over the years. Broken arms and ribs are also a common result, especially for the flying angel.

I served on Whale Island when the RN Field Gun Team were training there. BIG men who had to double everywhere. IO would not mess with them. This was so important that the results of each ruin were radioed round the fleet !

Having grown up in Portchester, at the top of Portsmouth Harbor, I don't know how many times I saw a gun-running competition or practice as a kid. I remember the team marching into Guildhall square with the gun when they won at the Royal Tournament one year, can't remember when it was though. I was pretty young so it's got to be 35+ years back. My Grandad was a pin man (not sure this is the correct name, but is as it was described to me when young), holding the pin in place on one of the wheels. He was quite proud of the half-finger he had having tripped and stuffed his hand through the spokes at full chat.

The British forces have always put a lot of stress on physical fitness. Even troops who you would not consider front line seem to be fitter than your average American infantryman.

Back in the day I was a medic at HMS Excellent and we saw a lot of injuries during the training season for the Portsmouth field gun crew!

This is a tribute and re-enactment of the relief of Ladysmith in the Boer War. It was discontinued because our Navy has become so small we cannot afford the cost and the pressure on man power to continue it.

Being from Portsmouth I've seen this many a time and to actually see is amazing

Amazing! When those guys just drop their heads when the line comes across. You get that wrong it's good night!

I remember doing this as a teenager in the 90,s in Manchester uk, we used to train in an old engineering mill a few times a week in all sorts of weather too, cold snow didnt matter, you soon got warm. Really enjoyed it, i remember we had a board on the wall for who got the most stitches. I was a wheel man myself and think the weight was maybe roughly a third of the full weight. Cant remember. Seen the barrel hit the post a few times and spin hitting people, so yeah a few injuries were common, nothing serious tho. Good times.

Our chief engineer at work was in one of the last ones, Gary Jone, big badass welshman, medically discharged because of an injury he got while on the field gun run.

My Great Grandfather was a Rifleman 3rd Brigade in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps during the Boer War - they marched escorting the Naval Guns during the siege of Ladysmith and many other actions. The big Naval Guns were what were used at that time to get a real kickin on the enemy. The POINT of these drills and exercises is for these TEAMS to show their skill and dexterity in moving, assembling and firing these guns as quickly and smoothly as they can over difficult ground and obstacles in the field ... you won't understand that unless you've been an Artillery man! My other Great Grandfather was indeed 1st Field Artillery Brigade AIF serving at Gallipoli and France, 1st World War ... 18pndrs ... if you saw the terrain these men had to range guns on ... THEN you'd get it.

There is a hell of a lot of training involved by the volunteers. Back in the 1950s and 60s in the boys’ training establishment, HMS Ganges, 15 & 16 year old boys volunteered to train for a boys’ version - with no compromises made. The type of field guns used by the naval brigades (the effective predecessor of the Royal Marines (Bootnecks)) in the adults’ version were used at Ganges too. In the Ganges version there was a crossing - the channel separating the Main establishment from the running track (now a marina) where the pigs roamed and was often wet & filled with pig shit. Any boy who fell in smelt very bad!