Devonport field gun crew cycle for charity

Plymouth Navy Base field gun crew cycled for charity as a well as reaching peak fitness for the annual Royal Navy competition at an event in the city centre.

The Devonport Field Gun team collected funds for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity in the shopping precinct while showing off their gun ahead of the Royal Navy tournament in Fareham, Portsmouth, on Saturday June 4.

The team cycled the equivalent distance from Plymouth to the rugby stadium at Twickenham on static bikes to mark the annual Navy v Army rugby match and keep on top of their training.

The competition is a highly physical event involving a race among 22 teams to assemble and fire an old- fashioned cannon along a course at the naval training base HMS Collingwood to compete for the Royal Navy Field Gun Trophy.  

Training prepares the team for an explosive sprint-based challenge with speed and agility combined with teamwork – all attributes prized by the military. 

The event has its origins in the Boer War in which a naval gun crew transported their weapon across country into battle.

Find out more at HMS Collingwood Open Day 2016.