Have larger copies of these photos if you'd like, just let me know.
Had a trip out with mates today to the IWM and then on my own to Firepower at Woolwich Arsenal to see the WWI items on display. Hope they're of interest, didn't get the chance to look at the My Boy Jack exhibit at IWM but will go back sometime to see.
18 pounder field gun Mk II - this example served at the Western front between September 1916 and November 1917, when it was sent back to Britain to have it's barrel relined after firing 16,153 rounds, and was sent back to France in March 1918 and served until the end of the war
60 pounder medium gun
9.2 inch, a heavy siege howitzer which were to prove very useful in the static trench warfare
ANZAC soldier of Gallipolli
Late war German soldier with MP18 Bergmann sub-machine gun and camouflaged stahlhelm. The WWI steel helmets were noticeably larger than the WWII ones. The large lugs on each side of the helmet were to fit a steel visor as added protection, normally supplied to snipers/machine gunners
Stahlhelm found at Verdun
Gas masks - the most useful looking one lower left is the 1917 British SBR (Small Box Respirator) which was copied by the US Army. The hood top right is a British hypo helmet which is basically made of flannel with a thin piece of glazing to see through, and was soaked in sodium thiosulphate and glycerine (known as hypo solution) and worn over the head and tucked into the tunic. The one at the top left is a wad of material soaked in material, placed on the mouth and tied around the head, with anti-gas goggles
Left to right - German gas mask, Belgian ARS gas mask which used captured German gas masks with French ARS gas filters, and a French M2 gas mask which was soaked in anti-gas chemicals and fitted around the face
Two PH hoods which replaced the earlier hypo helmets on which the see through material was prone to easily breaking. Again soaked with chemicals, it also had an exhale valve which is obscured by the label, also the eyepieces are clearly missing
Lewis light machine gun in the excellent trench exhibit
Early Maxim machine gun
Another British small box respirator - the filter is inside the bag
British WWI tankers leather helmet, which is similar in shape to the famous German pickelhaube helmets. The visor and chain mail are to protect against 'splash' (red hot pieces of metal flakes from the interior of the tank flying about when the tank is hit by bullets/artillery fire)
Mark V Male tank named 'Devil', with the right hand sponson removed and the left hand sponson actually being a wooden mock up. One of the Mk V's at the Tank Museum used to be a runner but hasn't run for years, although Peter Jackson has a Mk IV (I think) running replica
1911 B type motor bus B43 'Ole Bill' which served in France and Belgium throughout WWI, bought back in 1919 and in 1920 became the first bus King George V ever boarded, and continued working up until 1924
Onto Firepower, in the redeveloped Woolwich Arsenal area
12 inch naval gun as fitted to coastal defence emplacements
18 pounder
18 pounder funeral carriage
4.5 inch howitzer
Model of a 60 pounder medium gun in transportation made - as you can see, the barrel is slid back onto the trailer for ease of movement
French 75mm field gun - as said in my thread about WWI german air raids, this was used as an AA gun by the French and British, and was also used by the British in WWI and WWII
Model of a 9.2 inch heavy siege howitzer emplaced
Private purchase body armour
Not WW2 but an interesting weapon and worthy of inclusion - a Gatling gun
Like the Maxim at the IWM shows where the water jacket cooled Vickers and German MG08 MG's get their design from, this Maxim at Firepower shows the design behind the .30 calibre US air cooled Browning
WWI gun towing horse and driver. The driver's left leg is partly covered by a steel gaiter to protect his leg being crushed between the horse and the wooden pole attaching all the horses in the horse team together
1902 6 inch siege howitzer. Although used in the Boer War they were also widely used in WWI. They could be fired on the carriage or as a static emplacement using the wooden platform the wheels attach to
Model of a railway gun using a modified 12 inch naval gun as pictured above
My main reason for visiting - the 3 inch 20 cwt anti aircraft gun. The first proper dedicated AA gun instead of a modified naval type, they were later developed for naval use as well. In WWI they were either statically mounted as shown on a pedestal or placed on the bed of a Peerless lorry. These were the main AA gun defence of WWI for England claiming a number of Zeppelins. They were also widely used in WW2
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