The mountain batteries of the Indian Army were the undisputed masters of the screw gun. This clever piece of equipment was the two point five inch rifled muzzle loader and it was born from the need to fight in the jagged mountains of the frontier. The genius of the design lay in the fact that the barrel could be unscrewed into two separate parts. This meant the weight was split up so that a team of sturdy mules could carry the entire weapon over steep ridges and through thick bush where a traditional wheeled cannon would have been completely useless.

In colonial Africa these batteries were legendary for their speed and grit. A crew of gunners could jump into action and have the entire weapon assembled and ready to fire in about a minute. While the British infantry often struggled with the heat and the terrain the Indian gunners and their mules were in their element. They provided the essential heavy support during campaigns in Somaliland and later during the Boer War where they proved that a gun you could carry on your back was often worth more than a massive one stuck in the mud.

As technology marched on the old muzzle loaders were eventually swapped out for the ten pounder breech loader. This newer model was much faster to load because the gunners didn’t have to stand in front of the barrel to ram home the shells. Even with the new tech the spirit of the units remained the same.

They stayed mobile and flexible always ready to assemble their guns in the middle of nowhere to support their comrades. These men and their mules were the backbone of colonial firepower in the most remote corners of the continent.

Both of the Indian Army guns.

Tomorrow the final unit for the MWWBK’s Indian Army