Sadly, the "real" Field Gun competition is no longer run, and all we have left now is the "kiddy version", known as the Brickwoods Trophy.james k wrote:Whatever that is, it isn't The Field Gun Competition.
Brickwoods Trophy Field Gun competition
The competition which is annually held at HMS Collingwood, is run to Brickwood's Trophy Field Gun rules. It is now run on the flat ground, without walls, A-frames, 'chasms' or a zipwire. Its a different style of competition to the more famous, more dangerous and more aggressive one (Command Field Gun) which used to be held annually at the Royal Tournament. The Brickwood's Field Gun competition began in 1907, when Portsmouth's Brickwood's Brewery gifted a trophy to the Royal Navy to create an exclusive Portsmouth only field gun competition. There used to be obstacles like in the Command version of the sport, but over the years, rules have been changed and the competition was opened up to teams from other locations outside of Portsmouth.
Command Field Gun competition
The more famous and "proper" version is known as (Inter Port) Command Field Gun competition, and was run annually at the Royal Tournament in London. Teams from Portsmouth, Devonport and the Fleet Air Arm competed, although Chatham and the Royal Marines also used to compete. A field gun and accompanying ammunition carriage was pushed and pulled around a course which had a wall to climb over and go through, and also an imaginary 'chasm' (which required an A-frame and zipwire to be erected to traverse). The tournament was last held in 1999 due to cutbacks.
^There is a memorial statue to Portsmouth's Command Field Gun teams near to HMS Victory in Portsmouth' Historic Dockyard area.
^ A documentary about Portsmouth's Command Field Gun team, made in 1979
Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_gun_competition