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debeers




Ammunition. – It will be convenient here, before mentioning some further and serious difficulties experienced while the gun was in action, to describe the ammunition. The powder used has already been described [see two posts above]. A good wool serge was chosen for the bags to form the cartridges, and they were made by a local draper, being hooped with silk ribbon. The “Ring” shell is shown in Fig. 11, Plate 42. The “Common” shell was similar, the only difference being in the absence of the rings cast in. Both kinds were used, their weight when filled with the bursting charge of 1 lb powder being exactly 29 lbs. In making the shell the rings were first cast separately, then were mounted on a clay core, alternating tooth and space as will be noticed, the shell bursting better when thus arranged. This clay core with rings was then used as an ordinary core in the mould, and the metal poured. At first it was tried to cast them with the base solid, the core at that end supported by a “star”, but this was not successful, the base being spongy in nearly every casting. Other methods were tried, and that adopted was to core them right through the base, that being downwards, and to pour in at a point about one-third the height from the end. Sound castings resulted. The cored hole in the base was plugged with a brass plug screwed in tight, and before issuing for service every shell was tested by steam at a pressure of 125 lbs per square inch to detect blowholes, but none failed at that test, and no “prematures” were complained of. The shells were turned to gauge, the point screwed for the fuse, and grooved for the copper gas-check, that being made from a ring turned and cut off to width required, then cut through with a saw, sprung into place and expanded into the dovetailed groove, afterwards being turned, and the relieving grooves cut. The insides of all shells were lacquered.
The percussion fuse was devised by Mr Labram, his idea being to have the simplest possible one to make. The action of it is, that when the shell strikes and its forward motion checked suddenly, the plunger, which is filled with mealed powder, continues its motion forward, its impetus being sufficient to overcome the resistance of the safety spring and wires. The nipple strikes and explodes the cap, which is an ordinary percussion cap as used in sporting shot guns, the mealed powder is ignited and fires the charge in the shell.
It may be mentioned in passing that ammunition, both cartridges and shells – “common” and “ring” – had been made in the workshops and supplied to the garrison since early in November, for the 2.5-inch R.M.L. guns, the Government supply having been exhausted in about a month. The 2.5-inch shell is shown in Fig. 12, Plate 42.


28 lb "Common" projectile (left), with sectional drawing of its "Ring Segment" equivalent. The base of each shell was cast with a Diamond and "DE BEERS". Note the brass plug in the centre of the base, screwed in after casting, to fill the hole left after the removal of the clay core.




The shell used in “Long Cecil” were made of cast iron, were 12 ¾ inches long over all, with a conoidal point 4 ¼ inches long, the body of the shell being turned parallel to be an easy fit in the bore of the gun. Near the back end of the body a shallow dove-tailed groove was turned, ¾ inch wide, and into this was fitted tightly, by means of expanding by hammering, a copper ring, known as the gas check. This, when finished by turning, was larger than the bore of the gun, and when the explosion of firing occurred “set up” into the rifling, causing the shell to rotate, and preventing any loss of pressure by escape of gas past the shell, along the rifling grooves.
Both “common” and “ring” shell were the same size and weight, and made in the same way, except that the body of the “common” was a plain cylinder, while that of the “ring” contained a number of serrated rings of cast iron, which were cast first separately, then put in position and the shell cast around them, forming a solid mass, but which, when the bursting charge took effect, split up into a large number of small pieces.
In the point of each shell was a hole, screwed to receive the percussion fuse which ignited the bursting charge of gunpowder contained in the shell, when an object was struck and the travel of the shell suddenly stopped. These percussion fuses were designed by Mr Labram, and consisted of a brass body, having a screw thread to the outside. Inside this a steel block, or plunger, worked freely in an axial direction. This plunger had a small hole bored through, and its front end was pointed to form a nipple. A percussion cap was placed in a recess in front of the nipple, and held in position by a plug screwed in. The action of the fuse was this: While the shell was travelling forward, the plunger, being loose, remained naturally at the back of the fuse, but on any sudden stoppage of the motion of the shell, the plunger shot forward, striking the percussion cap, and the resulting fire passed along the hole through the plunger and ignited the bursting charge inside the shell. To prevent the plunger moving during the handling of the shell, a light spiral spring was placed so that it was necessary to compress the spring before the nipple could touch the cap. Safety wires were also provided as an extra precaution, which had to be broken before the plunger could move at all, these both together offering only sufficient resistance to prevent a premature burst during ordinary transporting or from an accidental fall. The accompanying illustration of the ring shell made for the 2.5-inch guns shows the “percussion fuse” as designed by Mr Labram, and shows the arrangement of the serrated rings [see photograph at bottom of page].
The bursting charge was 1 ¼ lbs. of gunpowder, and the shell, when complete and loaded, weighed 29 lbs.
EDWARD GOFFE, A.M.I. Mech. E., Chief Draughtsman, De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., Kimberley.




Casting "ring" shells for the 2.5-inch R.M.L. guns, "the Government supply having been exhausted in about a month" (Goffe).







The Labram Percussion Fuze – "the idea being to have the simplest possible one to make" (Goffe).





A note, rolled and inserted into the nose of the 28 lb "Long Cecil" shell pictured above, reads:

Kimberley,
9th May 1901

Do not Remove this note.

Made in Kimberley by J. Henry Anton, late of Clydebank, Scotland.

Yours
J. Henry Anton
DeBeers
Kimberley.

28 Pounder for Long Cecil, which was made at the DeBeers Workshops during the Kimberley Siege. These Shells travelled 7,480 yards or 4.25 miles.





Shipping records show J.H. AUTON [sic], engineer, 23 years of age, leaving for the Cape on 17th June 1899. The 1891 Scottish census has John H. ANTON living at 7 Earl Spencer Place, Old Kilpatrick, Clydebank, Dumbartonshire. He was born on 2 Sep 1873, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he was living with his parents at the time of the 1880 US Census. In 1891 his occupation is given as "Apprentice Iron Turner". Goffe’s description of the manufacture of “Long Cecil” ammunition notes that the iron shells were turned after casting and that the copper driving bands were similarly finished once they had been shrunk on. A man performing these tasks might well claim that a shell had been made by him, as is stated by Anton in the above note.

Anton was probably allowed to keep the shell as a memento due to the defective nature of the iron in the cone. The two photographs below show extensive porosity to the interior of the shell, with some areas so badly cast that cavities have had to be filled with solder. It would be odd for a shell of such poor quality to pass to the driving band fitter, as its defects would have excluded it from service. Perhaps Anton completed the projectile, adding the driving band and fuze, before taking it home as a souvenir of the part he had taken in the defence of Kimberley. It is noteworthy that Anton does not appear on the Defence of Kimberley medal roll. He was not, therefore, one of the members of the Town Guard, who Goffe mentions had to be withdrawn from defensive positions to carry out the work on "Long Cecil".










Underwood & Underwood Stereoview, showing one of the 28 lb projectiles on the trail of "Long Cecil".



A period photograph of one of the 2.5 inch shells manufactured in the De Beers workshops for the Royal Artillery's R.M.L. guns. In the foreground is a deconstructed Labram percussion fuze. Note that each shell (of both calibres) had punched lettering close to the base which read "COMP'TS C.J.R." (with the compliments of Cecil John Rhodes).








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Below is a photograph of a 4.7-inch Naval Lyddite shell, fired during the Battle of Spion Kop and presented to President Kruger by Kaptein T.C. ROBERTSON, Adjutant of the Pretoria Volunteer Corps (Pretoria Vrywilligerskorps).

Inscribed: "GESCHENK / Aan / ZHE'D: DEN STAATS-PRESIDENT / S.J.P. KRUGER / Eer Herinnering aan de slag / Van / SPIOEN-KOP / Natal 24 jan 1900 / Van / P.C. ROBERTSON KAPT. ADJ: D.C. / PS:74:14"

Psalm 74: 14 reads: "You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces, And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness".

The fuze screwed into the shell is of the type "Direct Action Impact (Lyddite)"







Kapt T.C. Robertson, Pretoria Vrywilligerskorps




Drawing of the Fuze Direct Action Impact (Lyddite)



...

Images of the Wolf from Mafeking, courtesy of the Royal Artillery Museum.

I learnt today that one definition of a howitzer is that there is a greater aperture at the base of the barrel.

It is impossible to see from this view down the barrel.

CIV DR A.C. STARK - KILLED 18/11/1899 LADYSMITH

When I visited Ladysmith in 1978, the base of the Long Tom shell that struck Dr Stark was still set into the pavement outside the Royal Hotel, Murchison Street, marking the spot where he was killed. I have no idea whether it is still there.

The concave nature of the base indicates that this was a shrapnel shell, so it is likely that Dr Stark was killed by a shrapnel bullet. He would have been very unlucky to have received a direct hit from the intact shell.





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