by Bob King | Jul 23, 2020 | 2oth Century
By 1901 at beginning of the new Century the three new gun batteries, each consisting of 3 gun emplacements had been completed. The Western Battery had 3 x 12 pounder quick firing guns, the Centre Battery was armed with 3 x 6 inch Mk VII guns and the Eastern Battery...
by Bob King | Jul 17, 2020 | 2oth Century
During 1900 all along the Devon and Cornwall coast including the Sound the local Crab and Lobster Fishermen found the populations of crab and lobster had suddenly fallen dramatically. Around the Island alone up to 30 boats would have been fishing for crab and lobster....
by Bob King | Jul 9, 2020 | Victorian Britain
The last decade of the 19th Century began with Gunner Dawson of the Island Garrison saving the life of Gunner Kelly. Both had been on the Royal Artillery Cutter returning from Millbay to the Island when Gunner Kelly fell overboard prompting Gunner Dawson to...
by Bob King | Jul 3, 2020 | Victorian Britain
The first reliable breech loading guns became available in 1880 so less than a decade after the Palmerston Fort on the Island was completed its armaments were already out of date. The guns could now be loaded more quickly as the powder and shell could be loaded from...
by Bob King | Jun 25, 2020 | Victorian Britain
By 1874 the first set of Army Reforms known as the Cardwell Reforms after the Secretary of State for War had been promulgated. The Crimean War had exposed the Army as being undermanned and incompetently administered but reforms were being resisted by the old and bold...
