Artillery in Canada: 4.7-Inch QF Mk. IV Heavy Field Gun

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3405480)

4.7-inch QF Mk. IV* "B" Gun on Mk. I Travelling Carriage, Canadian Artillery, 1915.

The Q.F. (Quick Firing) 4.7 inch MK IV, designed for Naval and Fortress use, was not popular with the gunners as it was awkward to move and difficult to operate. The gun was introduced into service in 1888 for naval and coast defence purposes and also was used by the Army in the South African War 1899-1901 as a heavy field gun.  Its inaccuracy due to barrel wear and its relatively light shell diminished its usefulness in trench warfare. Used from 1905-1919 by the Heavy Batteries of the Royal Canadian Garrison Artillery of Montreal PQ, Prince Edward Island and Coburg, Ontario. . Projectile: 45 pounds (20.4 kilograms).Range: 12,000 yards (11,000 metres). Detachment: gun, limber, 8 horses or oxen and 10 gunners. (RCA Museum)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3405481)

4.7-inch QF Mk. IV* "B" Gun on Mk. I Travelling Carriage, Canadian Artillery, 1915.

(Maxwell J. Toms Photos)

(Clive Prothero-Brooks Photos)

4.7-inch QF Mk. IV* "B" Gun on Mk. I Travelling Carriage, Shilo Golf Course.  The BL 4.7 inch 45 calibres gun (actually a metric 120-mm gun) was a British medium-velocity naval gun introduced in 1918 for destroyers, intended to counter a new generation of heavily armed destroyers that Germany was believed to be developing.

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