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Former submariner lays down 1,000-mile field gun pull to fight cancer in Forces
3 June 2025
Do you fancy hauling a one-tonne Boer War-era field gun?
No, the legendary feature of the Royal Tournament isn’t making a welcome return.
Instead, former submariner David Bathgate has a much more demanding challenge in store for military personnel.
The field gun run was over inside 90 seconds. Hauling a gun the length of the British mainland will take nine weeks.
David, who spent more than 30 years in the Silent Service, mostlyon deterrent patrols, is laying down the gauntlet to personnel from all three Services, as well as veterans, to form teams to haul the vintage weapon for one of the 45 legs – or more.
Even divided into so many legs (five per week), the event is a major physical and logistical challenge – teams will be expected to average more than 22 miles a day; it’ll take them three weeks just to complete the Scottish stretch of the John O’Groats to Land’s End.
The first team is due to set off from the northeastern tip of the mainland on September 1 and the last should arrive, gun carriage in tow, at the signpost in westernmost Cornwall marking the opposite end of the isle on Halloween.
David calls it a national endeavour – the latest challenge for the charity he heads, Military Vs Cancer.
Having watched cancer take the lives of his uncle, then his aunt and finally his brother John, David decided enough was enough.
He vowed to raise £100,000 and thus was born Military Vs Cancer.
Since that vow nearly a decade ago, the Yorkshireman and the growing team around him have smashed the initial target – but also found that demand for help from personnel and their families has rocketed (it rose eightfold last year alone).
That means ever more fundraising events on an ever grander scale.
Beyond raising money for the charity, the gun pull is intended as a reminder of the intense efforts made by sailors to drag guns across South Africa at the turn of the 20th Century to help relieve besieged British troops at Ladysmith.
A (loose) re-enactment of the heroics in the Boer War became the mainstay of the Royal Tournament and continues today courtesy of the Brickwood event at Collingwood.
David acknowledges he needs a lot of support – teams or individuals – to realise the challenge, with training and assistance provided.
Volunteers can sign up for a full five-day stretch, multiple days, or even just a single leg depending on availability.
Further details can be found here: https://www.militaryvscancer.com/field-gun-pull-september-2025/