Bofors 40/70 gun restored to its former glory

An old anti-aircraft gun used to ward off enemy bombers has been restored to its former glory by Black Country servicemen.

The Bofors 40/70, found gathering dust at London's Royal Artillery Museum, now takes pride of place outside the Fallings Park base of 210 Staffordshire Battery, 106 Regiment Royal Artillery.

Territorial Army troops from past and present gathered at Wolseley House for a dedication service led by Major General John Milne to mark the dedication of the gun.

Among them were grandfather-of-two Dave Clemson, aged 66, of Coven, and grandfather-of-six Graham Poole, 67, of Great Wyrley.

The former sergeant majors, who served the Battery for 57 years between them, fondly recall operating Bofors during training drills and spent several months helping to scrub up the gun.

"The Bofors was a good bit of kit, but there was an awful lot of it," Mr Poole said.

"This one was in a terrible state when we first came to have a look. Now it looks the business. I never thought I'd see it like this again."

Mr Clemson added: "The Bofors was operated by eight men, weighed more than four tons and fired 240 rounds per minute. You wouldn't have wanted to be on the other end of it."

Bofors were used by the British military from the Second World War until the 1970s when missiles and radar-operated anti-aircraft weaponry was developed to cope with the increasing speed of jets.

They were used for training drills into the 1980s.

Bombardier Barry Simmonds, aged 70, of Heath Town, served from 1970 to 1986. He was fired at by an Australian pilot during a drill in Tenby after troops mistakenly aimed the Bofors at the plane.

"We soon got down on the floor after that" he said.

"The Bofors were very difficult to get in and out of position. They're so heavy, you either dug them in or they sank.

"It's so lovely to have one here for us to see whenever the association meets."

Captain Anthony Willington of the present day 210 Battery, said: "It was gathering dust, nobody loved it and so we've rescued it and it's now somewhere it can be appreciated."

"It could have been anywhere or done anything, they were used all over the world. It was the main anti-aircraft system of its day. Eventually, as jets got faster, they needed something new. But it was used for a very long time."

The Battery took possession of the gun almost a year ago and has kept it in storage while it was scraped, cleaned and polished by members.

Major Alexander Roberts added: "We were first made aware of its availability in 2008, it's taken a long time."