As my friends well know, I have long been interested in invasions of Britain, and especially the story of 1940 and Operation SEA LION (Fall Seelöwe). Interested too when a recent BBC 'Antiques Roadshow' asked their military specialist what rare item he would most dearly like to discover. His answer: the Smith Gun.
In recent months I have tracked down two survivors of this rare weapon: one at the Imperial War Museum's Fort Nelson in Portsmouth; the other in the National Army Museum, Chelsea.
This remarkable innovation was designed by the director of a toy company for the defence of the British realm. The regular army would have nothing to do with it, but the Local Defence Volunteers (later 'Home Guard') thought it was wonderful. The most remarkable feature of this unusual weapon was the way of getting it into action. turned on its side, one of the large disc wheels became the base; the other the roof. The smoothbore barrel traversed around the axle. The gun could be towed behind a motor-cycle, though the placard warned: 'THIS SIDE UP - SPEED NOT TO EXCEED 20 M.P.H.'
In case anyone is not aware, Ian died last year in a light aircraft accident.
ReplyDeleteSorry to inform you this way if you were not aware.