GUNNERY SCHOOL 



GUNPOWDER 



Gunnery School. Government 

 establishment for the practical 

 training of artillerymen. The chief 

 British military gunnery school is 

 at Shoeburyness. Essex, and is 

 quite distinct from the experi- 

 mental establishment, also situ- 

 ated there. The school was estab- 

 lished here in 1849 on account of 

 the immense firing ground afforded 

 by the Maplin sands, which are 

 left dry at low water. Officers 

 after passing the Royal Military 

 Academy at Woolwich proceed to 

 the Gunnery School for practical 

 training, and, in addition, courses 

 are arranged for officers and 

 N.C.O.'s qualifying as instructors, 

 and for practice in the use of new 

 weapons, and in " quick firing " 

 with specially designed ordnance 

 against rapidly moving targets. 

 Separate courses are provided for 

 the horse, field, and garrison 

 branches of the artillery. 



In 1900 a branch school for 

 siege artillery was established at 

 Lydd ; there is a camp at Rhyader, 

 and instruction is also given in 

 coast defence work from the forts 

 at the Isle of Wight. The naval 

 gunnery school, known as H.M.S. 

 Excellent, is situated on Whale 

 Island in Portsmouth Harbour, 

 and provides similar instruction for 

 all gunnery ratings of the navy. 



Gunning, ELIZABETH (1734- 

 90). Duchess of Hamilton and of 

 Argyll. She was the second of three 

 daughters of an Irish squire, John 

 Gunning of Castle Coote, co. Ros- 

 common. With her elder sister 

 Maria, she came to London in 1751, 

 with the intention of going on the 

 stage, but there the beauty of the 

 pair made an extraordinary im- 

 pression in society and among 

 the populace. They were feted 

 everywhere, while crowds followed 

 them in the streets. In 1752 Eliza- 

 beth married the 6th duke of 



Elizabeth Gunning. Duchess of 

 Hamilton and of Argyll 



I rnrn a print in the British Museum 



Hamilton (d. 1758). After being 

 engaged to the 3rd duke of Bridge- 

 water, she married in 1759 the 

 marquess of Lome, who, in 1770, 

 succeeded his father as 5th duke of 

 Argyll. In 1776 she was created 

 Baroness Hamilton, with remainder 

 to her male issue as baron. She 

 died May 20, 1790. Two of her 

 sons became dukes of Hamilton, 

 and two dukes of Argyll ; she also 

 had three daughters. There are 

 several portraits of her in existence. 

 Gunning, MARIA (1733-60). 

 Countess of Coventry. Elder sister 

 of Elizabeth Gunning, she married 

 the 6th earl of Coventry in 1752, 

 less than three weeks after Eliza- 

 beth's marriage to the duke of 

 Hamilton. She was generally re- 

 garded as being more beautiful 

 than her sister Elizabeth, and the 

 loveliest woman at the court. In 

 1759 she was mobbed by an ad- 

 miring crowd in Hyde Park, and 

 was afterwards provided by the 

 king with a military escort. She 

 died of consumption, Oct. 1, 1760, 

 perhaps from the use of white lead 

 for her complexion. 



Gunnisun. River of Colorado, 

 U.S.A. Rising in the S.W. part of 

 the state, it flows W. and N.W. for 

 200 m., and joins the Grand, a 

 main headstream of the Colorado. 

 It has cut a number of deep canons, 

 one of granite being 40 ft. long and 

 2,500 ft. deep. 



Gun Pit. Field entrenchment 

 capable of accommodating a field 

 gun or howitzer. The great im- 

 provement in the rate and accu- 

 racy of artillery fire in modern 

 warfare, combined with the use of 

 aeroplanes for reconnaissance and 

 spotting, has rendered it almost im- 

 perative for guns to be " dug in " 

 as soon as they reach a position 

 from which it is intended to open 

 fire. If hostile artillery fire is not 

 anticipated an empaulement will 

 give protection against rifle fire. 

 This defence consists of two banks 

 of earth placed on the flanks of the 

 gun about four feet apart in front 

 and fourteen feet at the rear. 



The gun pit is an elaboration of 

 the empaulement, the banks being 

 thrown up to a height of about 

 three feet above ground and the 

 intervening space sunk two feet for 

 a field gun (18-pounder). The 

 floor of the pit must provide a 

 solid foundation and the width of 

 the embrasure be such as will pro- 

 vide for an efficient field of fire. 

 Communication trenches link up 

 the gun pits of the battery, the 

 battery commander's headquarters 

 and the gun crews' quarters. Over- 

 head cover against observation is 

 provided by tree branches, sods, or 

 such other material as will har- 

 monise with *.\\p -urroundinu 



Maria Gunning, Countess of Coventry 



From a painting by F. Coles 



country, and the ground in front of 

 the guns' muzzles is either kept 

 wet or covered with sacking to 

 avoid dust being blown up when 

 the guns are discharged, thus re- 

 vealing the position. When time 

 permits the overhead cover of the 

 pit is usually elaborated to provide 

 protection against shrapnel and 

 shell splinters, a roof of baulks and 

 corrugated iron being carried on 

 heavy timbers, and then covered 

 with earth three to four feet thick, 



Gun Pit. Diagrams showing prin- 

 ciples of construction. Above, plan; 

 below, elevation 



camouflage, to prevent aerial de- 

 tection, being provided over all, as 

 before. See Artillery. 



Gunpowder. Oldest known ex- 

 plosive, essentially a mechanical 

 mixture of saltpetre, charcoal, and 

 sulphur. The early mixtures con- 

 tained much larger proportions of 

 the two latter ingredients than 

 modern powders. 



Ordinary charcoal is unsuitable 

 for gunpowder, and at present 

 dogwood, alder, or willow is cut in 

 spring, stored 1 to 3 years, then 

 cut into pieces about an inch thick, 

 packed into iron cylinders having 

 holes at one end through which 

 volatile constituents escape, and 

 heated in a furnace for four hours. 

 Air is excluded from the charcoal 

 by allowing the cylinder to cool in 

 a larger closed tank. Military 

 gunpowder generally approximates 



