L118 Light Gun

The Light Gun is a British 105mm towed howitzer that entered service in 1976 as a replacement for the L5 105mm Pack Howitzer. It is still in service with the Royal Artillery, equipping four regular regiments and three reservist regiments, and with a number of other Armies around the world.

The L118 Light Gun uses separate loading ammunition, meaning the projectile is loaded first, followed by a cartridge containing the propellant. The L119 variant used by the United States and others uses semi-fixed ammunition, with the projectile fitted to the cartridge case before loading. 

The Light Gun can be airlifted inside (or slung underneath) a Chinook helicopter, and on land is pulled by the Royal Artillery’s Pinzgauer ATVs (before that by one-ton Land Rovers). In Arctic service it can be fitted with skis and pulled by a BV206 (previously by the BV202).

Five batteries of Light Guns (30 guns in total) were used during the 1982 Falklands War (during that conflict the Argentinian Army was equipped with L5 Pack Howitzers purchased from the British in the late 1970s). During the later stages of fighting around Port Stanley, each Light Gun fired up to 400 rounds per day, making a significant contribution to the British victory.

We hold examples of both L118 and L119 in our collection. This one is recorded as having a particularly early production date, and may be one of the initial prototypes.