Title:US-MANUFACTURED HEAVY ARTILLERY IN BRITISH SERVICE (PART 1) [Allocated Title]
Film Number:A70 79-4
Other titles:
Summary: 52nd (Bedfordshire Yeomanry) Heavy Regiment RA's 420th Battery goes into action with 5th AGRA in support of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division.
Description: I. The fourteen man crew of one of the battery's four 155mm M2 'Long Tom' guns manhandles their gun into position at Trungy. A rope is lashed to the gun barrel, which is then pulled into its firing position by the 'Long Tom's' Mack 7½ ton tractor. Gunners operate the lifting screw on the M2 limber to lower the trails.
II. At Abbaye Mondaye, the gun detachment prepares the gun for travelling by raising the tracks onto the limber and jacking up the carriage with ratchet wrenches. The entire gun team hauls the gun barrel onto its travelling cradle. Three Mack tractors and their 'Long Toms' leave for a new firing location. One of the gun detachments arrives at Trungy.
III. At Abbaye Mondaye, the 'Long Tom', manned by eight gunners, is seen in action; after each round the powder chamber and the breech lining are swabbed out and the firing mechanism is removed to have a new primer inserted. As each projectile and bagged propellant charge is loaded into the breech, the firing mechanism is replaced with a new primer and the firing lanyard is connected to the percussion hammer.
Production Details: Directorate of Public Relations, War Office (Production sponsor)
Army Film and Photographic Unit (Production company)
Ginger (Sergeant) (Production individual)
