“Let’s see your hands! Ten fingers each of you? Right well done!” said Peter Scott to the 14 First City Regiment soldiers gathered at Fort Ihlosi Training and Tactical Base last week.
“If everyone has their fingers still intact, it means they executed all the drills properly,” he explained later.
“Let’s see your hands! Ten fingers each of you? Right well done!” said Peter Scott to the 14 First City Regiment soldiers gathered at Fort Ihlosi Training and Tactical Base last week.
“If everyone has their fingers still intact, it means they executed all the drills properly,” he explained later.
An ex-Royal Navy chief petty officer and drill instructor, Scott ventured out to South Africa from English naval city Portsmouth, where he is the chief 1st trainer of the Portsmouth Action Field Gun crew.
Basil Mills, local Grahamstown military historian and conservationist, was instrumental in getting him involved in training soldiers to do the South African Field Gun Challenge in Grahamstown. “I have a great interest in military history and discovered the sport whilst researching the South African War,” said Mills.
On a field trip to Britain in 2008, Mills heard of Scott, who was already training men in South Africa. The sport’s history stems from the South African War back in 1889, where in the Siege of Ladysmith the Royal Navy landed guns from HMS Terrible and Powerful and had to transport them over difficult terrain to fight against the Boers.
After returning to Britain, the Navy turned it into a sport. An official race includes two field gun crews consisting of 18 men each. They compete against the clock and each other as they haul their field gun and limber over an obstacle course of walls and a chasm.
The guns are similar to the 12-pounder guns used in the South African War and the whole rig weighs around a ton. The barrel itself weighs 430kg. You can understand why many consider Field Gun to be one of the toughest competitive team events in the world.
The soldiers of First City Regiment were a test crew and Scott trained them in just four days. “In the past few days they have learnt 3 200 drill movements and instructions,” he said.
The soldiers are now certified members of the First City Gun Crew. While they're keen to have a display at this year's Bathurst Show, Mills hopes it will carry on beyond this.
“Peter is looking at bringing out one of his teams from England in October to challenge us. I’m looking for any civilian volunteers, young men between 18 and 35 years of age, who are interested in this exciting, highly disciplined, team sport, Mills said. Mills is hoping to demonstrate the sport to the public, along with other traditional South African sports, such as spear-throwing, in partnership with the Grahamstown 200 years project.
He is also keen on building up a set of “cadet training guns” for the younger age bracket of 13-18 years. Anyone willing to get involved in the sport or assist with sponsorship for the equipment required should please call Mills at 083 420 2633. “Field Gun is a South African product. Let’s bring it back home,” said Mills.
