The 18-pounder Gun was the larger of the standard British Army field guns of the Great War era. It remained in service through the interwar period but was replaced during the Second World War. The word caliber (American English) or calibre (British English) comes from the Italian calibro, itself from the Arabic quâlib, meaning mould. ... Comparison of a shell fragment from a HE shell, of that of two different types of shrapnel balls Shrapnel is the term used to describe the spherical shot or musket balls dispersed when a shrapnel shell bursts. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... A field gun is an artillery piece. ... Combatants Allies: • Serbia, • Russia, • France, • Romania, • Belgium, • British Empire and Dominions, • United States, • Italy, • ...and others Central Powers: • Germany, • Austria-Hungary, • Ottoman Empire, • Bulgaria Casualties 5 million military, 3 million civilian (full list) 3 million military, 3 million civilian (full list) World War I, also known as the First World... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

History

Introduced along with the smaller but otherwise similar 13-pounder in 1904, the 18-pounder was found in use on all fronts during the war. Put into reserve during the inter-war era, some were converted into the famed 25 Pounder design, while many others were re-activated for training or coastal defence. (Redirected from 25 pounder) The 25 pounder was the major British field gun/howitzer that was introduced into service just before World War II and was the British Armys primary artillery system into the 1950s. ...

The original design, officially known as the Ordnance Quick Firing 18-pounder Mark I, was quickly replaced in production by the "rationalized" Mark II for better mass production. Experiments led to Mark III that was not produced. Mark I and II guns were still in use in the post-war era, and some even saw combat in the Far East in WWII.

The major variant was the Mark IV, which started testing in 1916 and reached the battlefield in 1918. The new "Ashbury breech" allowed for higher rates of fire. In 1926, some of these were experimentally fitted on a tracked vehicle as self-propelled artillery, but the resulting Mark V was not used operationally. In the early 1930s many of the surviving Mk.IV's were converted into 25-pounders, while earlier weapons were not bothered with.

Combat use

During the First world war, the 18 pounder was operated by the Royal Field Artillery along with the 13-pounder. The Royal Field Artillery came into being when the Royal Artillery was divided on 1st July 1899, it was reamalgamated back into the Royal Artillery in 1924. ...

The 18 pdr was used by the BEF in 1940, briefly in North Africa, and in the Far East until 1 The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was the British army sent to Belgium in World War I and British Forces in Europe from 1939 - 1940 during World War II. The BEF was established by Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane following the Boer War in case Britain ever needed to...

See also

• BL 8 inch Howitzer

• Artillery
• List of artillery