The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-03-17
THE PCM-POM.
4 One-Pounder, Automatic Gun in the
south African War.

Capt. T.. L. Zolinski. in Casters Magazine
The accounts of the South African war
always include some reference to the ef-
fects of the fire of the so-called pom
POM This, to the majority of readers,
even those who were of the military pro-
fession. was obscure, and 1t was not known
just what was referred 10. Brieny, the
"pOm-pOm" is a One-pOunder, AUTOMATIC
gun. 1t uses metallic cartridges similar to
those used in small arms, but of a caloer
of one and one-half inches, throwing a
shell weighing one pound The cartridges
are placed in a looped belt, and this is at
tached TO the gun. BY a simple operation
one of the cartridges is inserted in the bar
rel and is fired by pulling the trigger. After
this the force OF recOll Is utilized 10 con-
tinue the firing automatically as long as
belts with cartridges are supplied.
Attempts were made TO get this gun into
the British service. but it was objected to
necessarily large to kill a man n not
large enough 10 be considered a piece OF
artillery. 1t was stated that an entire bat
terry of these guns could be quickly put out
of action by a single piece of field artillery,
and that there was no place for them In
either service. Had it been stated pre-
viOuS TO the South African war that a
British field battery of artillery could be
put out of action by a single one-pounder
in the hands of half a dozen farmers the
statement wouiu have been regarded as
ridiculous. There is no question that a sin
gle piece of field artillery would stand a
80 oOOo AA@A0 "a 100000 - O@D ~
Maxim automatic gun out of action on a
perfectly level field, Will no cover. Blu the
BOer did not fight these guns in that way.
They did not come out into the open TO
fight. With a piece of ordinary field ar
tillery the charge is such that sufficient
dust and gas are blown into the air to make
the gun visible, even when using smokelesS
powder. 1t is difficult also to conceal a
piece of artillery, with its horses and other
accessories. Moreover a piece of artillery
~recoils, and has to be brought back into
position and resighted after each discharge.
With a "pom-pom' the recoil is all taken
up inside of a stationary casing, and but
little of its force tends TO displace the car
riage. The gun does not, therefore, bulge
when it is firing. The gunner takes DELHI
crate aim, guessing at the range. He fires
about five shots, which can be done by
holding the trigger in the pull position
for about one second. As soon as the pro-
~jectiles explode he is able to observe exact
ly where he is hitting, and quickly read
justs his sights. After q few trials he is
able TO explode the projectiles on the exact
spot required, and as the recoil does not
disturb the position of the gun he can go
on firing as long as he wishes.
1t is stated that the Beers seldom fired
more than twelve shots at a time without
waiting for the gas to blow away. If they
fired more their position might be discov-
cred by a cloud of gas and dust sufficient
to make them visible. 1t is now admitted
that one of the chief surprises of the
South African war was the "pom-pom,"
and British officers very soon found that
It was the most troublesome piece of artil-
lery with which they had to contend.