1 pdr QF Mk 1 Auto cannon (England)

1-pdr Belt-fed autocannon with a mechanism similar to a maxim machine gun - the entire barrel recoils within the body of the weapon. The barrel is encased with a water jacket. The gun is mounted on a two wheeled steel box carriage. The carriage is of steel rivetted construction. A padded shoulder rest is fitted to the body of the gun. Evelevation is by means of a handwheel wheel mounted underneath the receiver. The wheels are of wooden spoked construction, with 12 spokes, and 6 felloes. The wheels are of 4' 8 " diameter. On the right hand side of the gun is mounted an angle iron frame which held the ammunition box. The top of the receiver is marked with a broad arrow mark cypher and inscription 'VSM 1905 No 2499.'
An inscription on the lower right hand side of the receiver indicates that the gun could be set to fire single rounds, or automatically. The fire selector switch that enabled this is missing. A stamp on the inside of one of the felloes on the left hand wheel reads 'VSM 190[illegible]'. No equivalent mark can easily be read on the right hand wheel.

The carriage and wheels are painted in a light sandy khaki. The body of the receiver is painted in a darker khaki, approximating 'service colour'. The water jacket appears to be unpainted gunmetal.

Officially known as the 1-pounder Q.F gun, this gun instead was nicknamed the "Pom-Pom" because of the noise it made. The gun was belt fed, and closely resembled in appearance and in mechanism thre Maxim machine gun. It fired common and steel pointed shell either in single rounds or in bursts of five or six. It had a maxmum range of 3,000 yards and could in emergency rip off a full belt. The Boers introduced the "Pom-Pom" and used it extensively in the South African war, but it was not exploited to any large extent during the First world War other than in an anti-aircraft role. The operational use of this example is unknown.