Fareham sailors show off their gun-hauling skills
DETERMINED Royal Navy sailors have shown their mettle during a gruelling display of raw power at a military base.
HMS Collingwood’s field gun team carried out a final rehearsal ahead of the annual field gun competition at the Fareham naval establishment next month.
The crew has been training for the physical endurance race since April and put on a display in front of their fellow sailors at Collingwood to show how far they have progressed.
Lieutenant Ross Lyth, field gun officer, has high hopes of his team and said: ‘Training is progressing well and early signs indicate that the HMS Collingwood crew has real potential to win the event this year for the sixth time.
‘We’ve had and continue to face our challenges with personnel availability and minor injuries, but this is true of any crew.’
With its origins going back to 1899, competing in Field Gun competitions demands teamwork, leadership, and moral and physical courage.
The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity Field Gun Competition is held annually at HMS Collingwood where 21 crews from units across the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force, including units from overseas such as Naples, Gibraltar and Cyprus, currently compete for the prestigious Brickwoods trophy.
The tournament sees each crew racing to assemble and antique field gun weighing more than 1,000lbs and run with it, disassembling and reassembling as the competition requires, before dramatically dragging the gun 'home'.
The event originates from guns being run across treacherous terrain during the siege of Ladysmith during the Boer War.