Doug's Photoblog
Field Gun Race 5 of 5
Posted by Doug (Burnham-on-Sea, United Kingdom) on 10 August 2012 in Sport & Recreation and Portfolio.
Last shot in this series showing the HMS Heron crew on the run home as the eventual winners, beating HMS Seahawk by a narrow margin.
The tradition of the Royal Navy racing from one end of a course to the other with a gun, limber and ammunition over and through a series of obstacles then firing off a blank round to signify they have finished goes back to the Boar War. Then during the siege of Ladysmith Royal Navy gunners had land guns from HMS Terrible and Powerful to help in the relief of the siege and manhandle the guns over very difficult terrain to support the Army.
This became an annual competition against different commands of the Navy at the Royal Tournament until 1999 when I personally suspect it was stopped because of health and safety. It's now run on a flat course but the guns and limbers are still stripped and reassembled at two checkpoints on the course.
SPOTLIGHT IMAGES AT:
http://dougp.aminus3.com/featured/
Canon EOS 500D
1/640 second
F/7.1
ISO 400
300 mm
