Tri-Service

Rare First World War Gun Fires Again

A rare First World War anti-aircraft gun is firing again 100 years after guns first successfully repelled a German Zeppelin raid over the White Cliffs of Dover.

The three-inch gun, one of only six of its type left in the world, was built in 1915 as one of the first weapons designed to combat the new threat of aerial warfare.

The restored First World War anti-aircraft gun in position overlooking the English Channel and its accompanying brass plate

The gun, acquired by English Heritage from the Ministry of Defence in 1994 and sited at Pendennis Castle, Cornwall, since then, has undergone months of restoration work, including a visit by historians to an Israeli museum to see how one of the other guns was set up.

The rare surviving gun is the only one in full working order, English Heritage said.

It has now been installed at Dover Castle to recreate one of the anti-aircraft gun emplacements first put in place in 1915, and will be regularly fired in demonstrations by a specially-trained team of English Heritage volunteers in authentic costume.

Rare First World War Gun Fires Again

Volunteers in First World War uniform fire the restored anti-aircraft gun at Dover Castle

Visitors will be able to witness the gun being fired for the first time this weekend, almost exactly 100 years after the first successful hit on a Zeppelin by anti-aircraft guns controlled from Dover Castle's fire command post.

Guns were sited around Dover to help defend the port and the Straits of Dover, a key supply route for troops in the trenches and described by English Heritage historian Paul Pattison as "the most dangerous water in the world during the First World War".

Rare First World War Gun Fires Again

Soldiers fire an original three-inch anti-aircraft at Dover during the First World War

Dover was the target of the first recorded bombing raid on Britain from a German aeroplane in December 1914 and was one of the first places to get the purpose-built guns, specifically designed to fire with a velocity which could bring down aircraft.

Mr Pattison, senior properties historian for English Heritage, said:

"Dover Castle was critically important to the defence of Britain during the First World War, standing guard above the English Channel and helping to defend the nation from the new threat of aerial warfare."

Volunteers in First World War uniform inside the restored Fire Command Post at Dover Castle

"This project brings to life the story of the soldiers who manned this front line, monitoring the channel and firing newly developed anti-aircraft guns."

Visitors will be able to see the conserved fire command post and port war signal station, the command and control centres which controlled all the coast defence guns and the shipping entering and leaving Dover harbour, try their hand at Morse code, learn semaphore and how to spot enemy or friendly ships.