page_title: BLC 15-pounder gun
section_title: Combat service
hierarchical_section_title: BLC 15-pounder gun / Combat service
caption_attribution_description: British Camel Battery of BLC 15 pounder guns after the capture of Hatum on 5 January 1918, Aden campaign. Teams of 4 camels in 2 pairs are seen towing a gun and limber at left and right of picture. In the centre appears to be an ammunition limber towed by 3 camels. The guns are identified as BLC 15 pounders by the large shroud housing the recuperator above the barrel, with its peculiar backward-sloping front end.
context_page_description: The Ordnance BLC 15-pounder gun was a modernised version of the obsolete BL 15-pounder 7 cwt gun, incorporating a recoil and recuperator mechanism above the barrel and a modified quicker-opening breech. It was developed to provide Territorial Force artillery brigades with a reasonably modern field gun without incurring the expense of equipping them with the newer 18-pounder. It is the gun that writers usually mean by "15-pounder gun" in World War I, but can be confused with the earlier Ordnance QF 15-pounder Ehrhardt or Ordnance BL 15-pounder, both of which fired the same shell.
context_section_description: The weapon was used by British Territorial Force, New Army and Canadian infantry divisions in all theatres of World War I until replaced by the 18-pounder from 1916 onwards.
  The 10th Battery of the Royal Canadian Field Artillery (RCFA), equipped with four guns, fought a notable action in the evening of 22 April 1915 north of St Julien to hold the left of the British line where the German infantry was breaking through following their gas attack on the first day of the Second Battle of Ypres. Hence, when skillfully utilised in the role that it was intended for – against troops in the open – the gun was still effective despite being obsolete. Where infantry avoided being caught in the open, the guns were of limited use due to their light shell.
  After they became redundant, from late 1916 some were retained in fixed positions on the Western Front as anti-tank guns, freeing up modern guns for their usual duties.
  Number 1 15-pounder Camel Battery RGA (today's 21 (Air Assault) Battery) served with six guns with the Indian Expeditionary Force in the Aden hinterland from 1915 to 1918 during the South Arabia campaign, to defend the important port at Aden against any Turkish advance. In July 1915, actions were fought in initially losing and then regaining the British advanced post at Sheik Othman controlling the water supply to Aden. Sgt Curtis was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for saving his gun in these actions (presumably the first, in which two guns were lost). The Camel Battery was present when the British captured Hatum in January 1918.
  The gun was the standard field artillery for the early South African Union Defence Force and saw action with the Cape Field Artillery at the Battle of Kakamas and Battle of Upington during the South-West Africa Campaign.
caption: Camel Battery of BLC 15-pounders after capture of Hatum, 5 January 1918
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