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| Royal Armouries Leeds NVAA Battlefield Tour 2021 |
Showing posts with label Royal Armouries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Royal Armouries. Show all posts
Saturday, 4 September 2021
Leeds 2021 - Royal Armouries Tudors
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| Royal Armouries Leeds |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Field of the Cloth of Gold |
The Field of the Cloth of Gold was a summit between Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France. The meeting lasted from 7th to 24th June 1520. It's aim was to foster Anglo-French relationships. It was held at Balinghem which was in the English Pas de Calais.
The 14 day meeting was also a festival of music, joisting, fighting tournaments, and huge feasts. Each King looked to outshine the other, the ostentatious display of costumes, tents and decorations woven with golden thread leading to the occasion being termed the Field of the Cloth of Gold.
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Field of the Cloth of Gold Henry VIII |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Field of the Cloth of Gold |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Field of the Cloth of Gold |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Field of the Cloth of Gold |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Field of the Cloth of Gold |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Tudor fighting demonstration |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Tudor fighting demonstration |
Leeds 2021 - Royal Armouries
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| Royal Armouries Leeds |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Hall Of Steel |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Hall of Steel |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Battle of Pavia 1525 |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Battle of Pavia 1525 |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Men at Arms |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Men at Arms |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Men at Arms |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Littlecote House Armoury |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Littlecote House Armoury |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds War Elelphant |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Samurai |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Samurai |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds Tiger Shoot |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds |
Monday, 25 May 2015
Royal Armouries - Machine Guns
Rapid fire weapons which could be characterised by the ability to provide multiple shots were in existence as early as 1580. The ability to achieve automatic loading and high rates of fire came in 1862 with the American Gatling Gun.
The Gatling gun consisted of multiple barrels on a cylinder which was rotated by hand which provided sequential firing and reloading. Although replaced by the machine gun, modern Gatling guns are able to combine automatic firing with multi-barrelled weapons.
The first automatic weapon which reloaded by the recoil power of the previous round fired was the Maxim gun invented by Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884.
In 1896 the Vickers Company acquired the Maxim Company and improved the design of the Maxim gun to produce the Vickers Machine Gun.
The British Army formally adopted the Vickers gun as its standard machine gun on 26 November 1912.
In 1911, US Army Colonel Isaac Newton Lewis invented the Lewis Gun. Lewis had difficulties persuading the US Army to adopt the gun, so he retired and moved to Belgium in 1913. He established the Armes Automatique Lewis company in Liège to facilitate commercial production of the gun. Lewis had been worked closely with the Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA), and in 1914 they purchased a licence to manufacture the Lewis machine gun utilising the British .303 round. In 1914, Lewis moved his Belgian factory to England.
The Lewis Gun was approved for service on the 15th October 1915.
The Lewis Gun was adopted as a light machine gun and issued to infantry units. The Vickers machine guns were withdrawn from the infantry units, and grouped together of a newly formed Machine Gun Corps.
The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was created by Royal Warrant on October 14 followed by an Army Order on 22 October 1915. The MGC would eventually consist of infantry Machine Gun Companies, cavalry Machine Gun Squadrons and Motor Machine Gun Batteries.
A depot and training centre was established at Belton Park in Grantham, Lincolnshire. A total of 170,500 officers and men served in the MGC, of which 62,049 were killed, wounded or missing. Seven members of the MGC were awarded the Victoria Cross.
The MGC was disbanded in 1922.
The Gatling gun consisted of multiple barrels on a cylinder which was rotated by hand which provided sequential firing and reloading. Although replaced by the machine gun, modern Gatling guns are able to combine automatic firing with multi-barrelled weapons.
The first automatic weapon which reloaded by the recoil power of the previous round fired was the Maxim gun invented by Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884.
In 1896 the Vickers Company acquired the Maxim Company and improved the design of the Maxim gun to produce the Vickers Machine Gun.
The British Army formally adopted the Vickers gun as its standard machine gun on 26 November 1912.
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| Vickers Machine Gun Mk III 1913 |
The Lewis Gun was approved for service on the 15th October 1915.
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| Lewis Light Machine Gun Mk 1 1916 |
The Long, Long Trail: the British Army in the Great War
The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was created by Royal Warrant on October 14 followed by an Army Order on 22 October 1915. The MGC would eventually consist of infantry Machine Gun Companies, cavalry Machine Gun Squadrons and Motor Machine Gun Batteries.
A depot and training centre was established at Belton Park in Grantham, Lincolnshire. A total of 170,500 officers and men served in the MGC, of which 62,049 were killed, wounded or missing. Seven members of the MGC were awarded the Victoria Cross.
The MGC was disbanded in 1922.
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| Royal Armouries Leeds - Machine Gun Corps Equipment |
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| Royal Armouries Leeds - Machine Gun Corps Medal |
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| Royal Armouries - Machine Gun Corps Trench Art & Chinaware |
Saturday, 23 May 2015
Royal Armouries Leeds - Indian Mutiny
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| Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle |
The Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle was a muzzle a .577 calibre Maine-type (a French invention allowing rapid loading) muzzle-loading rifle-musket, used by the British Empire introduced in 1853. It had a range of 1,250 yards (1,140 metres).
The ammunition was self contained in a cartridge which had the powder and bullet together in a paper wrapping.
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| Pattern 1853 Cartridge |
To load the rifle soldiers had to bite open the cartridge, pour the gunpowder contained within down the barrel, ram the cartridge (which included the bullet) down the barrel, remove the ram-rod, bring the rifle to the ready, set the sights, add a percussion cap, present the rifle, and fire.
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The Enfield P53 was introduced to Indian troops under British colonization in 1856, and issued to the Sepoys of the British East India Company in 1857. Rumours began to spread that the cartridges were greased with animal fat. The possibility of it being beef offended Hindu's, if it was pork it would offend Muslims. This resulted in the Sepoys in Meerut refusing to perform rifle drills using the cartridge and them being court marshalled.
The Sepoys mutinied on the 10th May 1857 triggering the start Indian Rebellion
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| Indian Sepoy Uniform & Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle |
Friday, 22 May 2015
Royal Armouries Leeds - Oriental Gallery
Japanese armour was generally constructed from many small iron (tetsu) and or leather (nerigawa) scales (kozane) and or plates (ita-mono), connected to each other by rivets and lace (odoshi) made from leather and or silk, and or chain armour (kusari). These armour plates were usually attached to a cloth or leather backing. Japanese armour was designed to be as lightweight as possible as the samurai had many tasks including riding a horse and archery in addition to swordsmanship. The armour was usually brightly lacquered to protect against the harsh Japanese climate.
Source: Japanese Armour
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| Tosei Gusoku Japanese 18th century |
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| Turkish Heavy Cavalryman 15th century |
Mail plate armour for man and horse became the standard equipment for heavy cavalry under the Ottoman Turks (1370 - 1506). The cavalry were armed with bow, sword, and sometimes lance.
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| Terracotta Warrior |
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Royal Armouries Leeds - Artillery History
The ballista was developed by the Ancient Greek and Romans. It was a large crossbow capable of shooting a large bolt. The 14th century example uses a crew to wind back a slider, the claw at the back pulling back the cord, so drawing the bow. The ballista was essentially an anti-personnel weapon, its bolts capable of piercing shields or indeed impaling more than one victim.
The mangon was a catapult consisting which worked by the torsion of sinew. A wooden arm was thrust into the skein and twisted to force the arm against a crossbar. The arm would be released, flying back against the cross bar, this launching the projectile.
The trebuchet came into to use in Western Europe in 12th century. An arm was pulled down, the long end with a sling containing the projectile, the short end a counter weight. It could fling projectiles weighing up to 350 pounds (160 kg) at or into enemy fortifications. When released the counterweight would cause the arm to rotate rapidly, sending the projectile to the target.
Its use continued into the 15th century, well after the introduction of gunpowder. It was obsolete by the beginning of the 16th century with the development of cannon.
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile.
They were invented in China, the first recorded use being a long barrelled bamboo apparatus in 1132. The first cannons in Europe were probably used in Iberia in the 11th and 12th centuries. They tended to be large cumbersome weapons used for defence, or in sieges. During the Middle Ages cannon became standardized, and more effective in both the anti-infantry and siege roles. After the Middle Ages most large cannon were abandoned in favour of greater numbers of lighter, more manoeuvrable pieces.
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| 14th century Ballista |
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| Mangon |
The trebuchet came into to use in Western Europe in 12th century. An arm was pulled down, the long end with a sling containing the projectile, the short end a counter weight. It could fling projectiles weighing up to 350 pounds (160 kg) at or into enemy fortifications. When released the counterweight would cause the arm to rotate rapidly, sending the projectile to the target.
Its use continued into the 15th century, well after the introduction of gunpowder. It was obsolete by the beginning of the 16th century with the development of cannon.
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| 12 century Trebuchet |
They were invented in China, the first recorded use being a long barrelled bamboo apparatus in 1132. The first cannons in Europe were probably used in Iberia in the 11th and 12th centuries. They tended to be large cumbersome weapons used for defence, or in sieges. During the Middle Ages cannon became standardized, and more effective in both the anti-infantry and siege roles. After the Middle Ages most large cannon were abandoned in favour of greater numbers of lighter, more manoeuvrable pieces.
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| 16th century bronze wheeled cannon |
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