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| aa. | Weapon | QF 88mm G-1 Field Gun |
| ab | Description | Major British field gun and howitzer during World War II. used by the SADF during the Border War from 1975 to 1988 |
| ac. | Type | Towed Field Artillery |
| ad. | Calibre | 87.5 mm (3.45 in) |
| ae. | Overall Length | 2.4 m (7.87 ft) |
| af. | Overall Width | 2.13 m (6.99 ft) |
| ag. | OverallHeight | 1.69 m (5 feet 6 3/4 inches) |
| ah. | Crew | 5 |
| ai. | Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
| aj. | Ammunition | HE: 11.5 kg (25 lb) (HE including fuze)
AP: 9.1 kg (20 pounds); solid armour-piercing (AP); later replaced with a more potent version with a ballistic cap (APBC) |
| ak. | Effective Range (HE) | Shell Propellant Normal:
Charge 1: 915 m - 3 566 m
Charge 2: 2 285 m - 7 130 m
Charge 3: 3 200 m - 10 575 m
Shell Propellant Charge Super:
100 m - 12 250 m (13 396 yards) |
| al. | Muzzle Velocity (HE) | 198 to 532 m/s (650 to 1,750 ft/s) |
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| ba. | Feed Mechanism | Quick Firing (QF), Single Shot, Breech Loaded; Separate Loading Multi-Charge |
| bb | Traverse | 4° Left and right with wheels and 360° on platform |
| bc. | Elevation | -5°/+37° |
| bd. | Rate of Fire | 5 rpm (heavy)
4 rpm (fast)
3 rpm (normal)
2 rpm (slow)
1 rpm (very slow) |
| be. | Sights | Indirect Fire: Calibrating & Reciprocating No. 9 Dial Sight & Probert Range Scale Cone;
Direct Fire: Telescopic |
| bf. | Muzzle Energy | |
| bg. | Barrel Length | 2 712.5mm (106.69 in) - 31 cals |
| bh. | Weight of Barrel | |
| bi. | Rifling | Autofrettaged loose liner; 26 grooves, one turn in 20 calibres |
| bj. | Operation | Manual |
| bk. | Recoil | Hydraulic buffer with a hydro-pneumatic recuperator |
| bl. | Firing Support Base | 360° Platform |
| bm. | Breech | |
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| bn. | Type of Breech Block | Vertical sliding block with a mechanical firing lock |
| bo | Weight of Breech Mechanism | |
| bp. | Trails | Box type |
| bq. | Suspension System | None |
| br. | Type of Firing Mechanism | Fired by a lever placed on the left side operated through a mechanical linkage |
| bs. | Carriage | Box trail & platform |
| bt. | Mobility | Towed by a 3-ton gun tractor (Bedford R-Series or Mercedes-Benz) |
| bu. | Wheels | 2 x 900x16 inch (FB Rims); Tire Pressure. 245 Kpa |
| bv. | Ground Clearance | 343 mm (13.5 in) |
| bw. | Axles | Single |
| bx. | Brakes | Handbrake |
| by. | Wheel Span | 2.13 m (6.99 ft) |
| bz. | Lubricants | Gun. Grease Molykote BR 2, Chassis Grease Snell Alvania and SAE 30 oil
Recoil System. Compressed air and Aeroshell Fluid 1. |
| ca. | Propellant | Usually a brass cartridge case with its integral primer, The case provides obturation. The cartridge would contain three coloured bags of propellant: red for Charge 1, red and white for Charge 2, and red, white and blue for Charge 3; and a second cartridge for Charge Super. |
| cb. | Detonation Mechanism | Direct Impact Fuze No. 117: the standard fuze, minimum angle of descent 8 degrees
Time Fuze No. 221: a time and percussion fuze used with streamlined base ejection smoke, star, flare and chemical shells. The time function was by combustion. 50 second maximum time. |
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| cj. | Designer | The Director, Royal Artillery, Major General H.A. Lewis, ordered construction of the first 25-pounder gun |
| ck | Designed | 1934 |
| cl. | Manufacturer | Vickers, on behalf of Royal Ordnance |
| cm. | Produced | Over 13,000. At least 12,253 were built in Britain alone. |
| cn. | Variants | Mark I: "Ordnance, Quick Firing 25-pounder Mark I on Carriage 18-pr Mark IV", or "Ordnance, Quick Firing 25-pounder Mark I on Carriage 18-pr Mark V" and commonly called the "18/25-pounder"
Mark II: The Mark II, fitted to the Mark I carriage was the standard gun during World War II.
Mark II/I: A programme introduced in 1946 to modify the gun's breech ring by morticing the rear corners.
Mark III: The Mark III ordnance was a Mark II with a modified receiver to prevent the rounds from slipping back out when loading at high angles, introduced in January 1944.
Mark III/I: This was a Mk III gun with the same modification to the ring and block as for the Mk II/I.
Mark IV: The Mark IV was identical to the Mark III/I, and featured the modified ring and a paired block from new.
Short, Mark I: The 25-pounder Short Mark I, or Baby 25-pr, was an Australian pack gun version of the 25-pounder, first produced in 1943.
Carriages:
Mark I: The first real 25-pounder carriage.
Jury axle: A local modification to use a Jeep axle and wheels to produce a 20-inch narrower wheelbase for easier movement along restricted jungle paths in Burma.
Mark II: Basically the War Office-approved formalisation of the Jury Axle version of the 25-pounder.
Mark III: A further development of the Mark II carriage to provide joints that enabled the trail to be cranked for "upper register" (high-angle) fire.
Mark IV: Further work on the Australian-designed short 25-pounder, enabling it to fire charge Super, but never went into production. |
| co. | In Service | 1940 - present |
| cp. | Proliferation | Australia;
Belgium ;
Brazil;
Canada ;
Cyprus;
Fiji ;
Greece;
India;
Iraq;
Ireland;
Jordan;
Kingdom of Italy;
Lebanon;
Luxembourg;
Malta;
Nazi Germany;
New Zealand;
Oman;
Paraguay;
Poland;
Pakistan;
Portugal;
Rhodesia ;
Singapore;
South Africa;
Sri Lanka;
Suriname;
United Kingdom;
Zimbabwe;
Kurdistan |
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