heavyartillery

Apparently this was a 7.5in (190mm) Mk. III naval gun used on a static siege mount to shell Nieuport in Belgium. 14 of them were salvaged from the pre-dreadnaught battleship Swiftsure when it was decommissioned in 1917, with some going to coastal defense in Britain and a few for siege work in Belgium along the coast there. However, I must confess that this gun looks larger than 7.5 inch, perhaps a 9.2 inch or even a 12 inch spare barrel for a rail road gun.

Not so much a tractor, something that hardly existed at the time, more a steam-powered traction engine.

that gun isn't big enough. they should go back to base and try harder.

It's only the barrel.

It Appears to be a Foster Daimler tractor, a 105hp petrol engine driving through a reverse cone clutch and gearbox, with 2 forward speeds and one reverse, , the same sleeve valve engine went on to power the early tanks www.alamy.com/soldiers-with-a-daimler-foster-tractor-ww1-...

my grandfarther was at the battle of the somme,and was in the transportation of field guns,and in charge of horses used to transport the guns.i remember when i was a very small child he only told me one story about the mud.he said that one day he was talking to a fellow soldier while transporting a field gun through mud.he turned to his freind in mid conversation and he was gone,nowere to be seen, he had slipped into the mud and sunk.he never told me this chaps name,but still as a very old man it still was on his mind.george moore 1888.-1975.

What would be the nature of this device referred to in the caption? To me it just looks as if the men are pushing on a bar, a sort of yoke from which traces run to the wheels of the gun.

The vehicle on the right is a Holt tractor, and it is actually pulling the 8 inch gun. The gun is attached to a limber, or a set of wheels under the tail, and that in turn is attached to the tractor. The view of this arrangement is blocked by the soldiers standing there.