"Firing into the Brown" #47 - Armstrong 7" 'ers, Sansom and stuff..

"So Carnehan weeds out the pick of his men, and sets the two of the Army to show them drill and at the end of two weeks the men can manoeuvre about as well as Volunteers. So he marches with the Chief to a great big plain on the top of a mountain, and the Chiefs men rushes into a village and takes it; we three Martinis firing into the brown of the enemy".

Kipling "The Man Who Would Be King"

Time for another update..

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..I came across this on Farcebook, and it is absolutely fascinating, it also has a direct bearing on the minor investigations and research I've been doing over the winter on the Hilsea Lines, as these would have been the guns that were mounted for a short time between 1886 and their eventual removal in 1903. By the by, these were also the heavy guns we saw fitted to HMS Warrior in the previous post.

It's worth noting that the design of these guns were already over 20 years old by the time they were actually installed in the Lines..  given that the Lines were already obsolete before they were even completed, and these guns were the first equipped despite the Lines having been completed 15 odd years before, it's also not beyond the realms of reason to conclude that these would have been guns not needed elsewhere..  😏

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I was sad to read this week of the death of the author CJ Sansom, one of my favourite writers..

He was perhaps best known for his books about the barrister Matthew Shardlake, set in Tudor England against the background of Henry VIII's court and the machinations of Thomas Cromwell, which I loved and have read all of (and this has caused me to want to revisit them soon), but I think his finest books were two relatively modern period ones he wrote..

Of the two "Winter in Madrid" is awesome and I reviewed it here [clicky] giving it a very solid 9 out of 10, but the best book by far is "Dominion". I reviewed it here [clicky] giving it a 10, and I absolutely completely and totally recommend it - if you haven't yet, you need to read it.

Sansom is (was 😔) one of those near mythical story tellers that I rave about - he was up there with the best, and I shall miss not having any more new stories from him, but what a legacy he leaves behind...

RIP, Sir...

Guardian Obituary [clicky]..

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 Laters, as the young people are want to say...