13 Pounder Cartridges

Ammunition 13 Pounder

Arriving in our collection in early February 2024, these cartridges were used to fire salutes during Operation London Bridge — the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2023. They were gifted to the museum by the King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery (RHA), who, as the King's mounted ceremonial battery quartered at Woolwich, carry the responsibility for firing Royal salutes that mark grand occasions of State. Their soldiers are trained to care for 120 horses and to drive teams of six, each team pulling a lovingly maintained 13-pounder field gun of the First World War era.

In service with the RHA between 1904 and 1940, the 13-pounder field gun was the standard equipment of the British and Canadian RHA at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. It was developed in tandem with the 18-pounder field gun used by the Royal Field Artillery. As well as firing the first artillery round of the war, another 13-pounder played a key role in a desperate rearguard action at Néry in 1914 during the Great Retreat from Mons — an action that saw three Gunner Victoria Crosses awarded.

These brass cartridges were manufactured in recent times and are still made solely for ceremonial gun firing. They contain commercially produced black powder to produce the loud report. In wartime service as quick-firing ammunition, the cartridge would have held cordite propellant and an affixed shell — either a shrapnel round containing 234 lead balls or a high explosive round with a small quantity of amatol.

The blue-green colour at the cartridge neck is the oxidation of copper, which — together with zinc and trace elements — forms the brass alloy. This oxidisation occurs slowly under atmospheric conditions but, in this case, has been accelerated by the acid in the black powder, forming copper carbonate.

In addition to Royal Gun Salutes, the King’s Troop may also be seen at the Musical Drive of the Royal Windsor Horse Show, the Major General’s Review, the Colonel’s Review, the King’s Birthday Parade, the Lord Mayor’s Show and Remembrance Sunday.