The Camel and Heavy Weapons.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by kronckew

edster, the item in your post seems to have disappeared. i note that the drawings (and the one showing a punt gun type on a camel) above show a very precarious mount with the muzzle dangerously close to the camel's head. i would suspect if used many camels would be headless in a pitched battle. it'ds also be very hard to reload. the one real pic of a gun on a camel seems to show it being used to transport a real artillery piece for subsequent reassembly prior to use. drawings can be flights of fancy by artists who never saw but only heard by word of mouth. even the one actually showing the gun would have a hard time firing it in it's present position, especially with shot or langrage. could be used in a fake 'parade style charge & volley fire that performers seem to enjoy in north african get-togeters with muskets firing blanks.

one of my favourite pics, the 1939 classic 'gunga din', (title role played by sam jaffe, who was not indian) not only has some neat sword fights, enfields & bayonets, indian lancer charges and scots guards attacking, but shows a pair of elephants used to transport, in pieces, a proper gatling gun they subsequently assemble and use to more that decimate the enemy 'thugee' cavalry charge, and to fill the air with a cloud of smoke as it would have... a more likely approach for a camel as well. 'gunga din' tends to get TV airing freequently here in the UK, i tend to watch it again and again. made during the end of the british raj, they actually use british and indian soldiers to play both sides in the battle, and the scots guards and indian lancers acted just like they would have in a real period battle there. i've heard they all really enjoyed the battle scenes. i also note it took TWO elephants to carry a gatling and its carriage/ready boxes etc. but they assembled it in a couple of minutes.

anyway, i suspect mounting a proper artillery piece to be fired from a standing camel, or even a prone one, was a literary enhancement.

Apparently not quite; It sounds unbelievable but the lightest of the camel guns could be fired off a standing camel but absolutely never from a moving beast... The camel, it was discovered, hardly flinched when these weapons were fired.

Firing position.
The position was that the camel was instructed to sit. This was achieved by a number of guteral grunts khhhh!!! khhhh!!! khhhh!!!! by the handler upon which the front legs folded and unless the handler leaned backwards at the same time he would be catapulted about 10 feet into the desert... The legs of the camel were then quickly hobbled or tethered making it impossible for it to stand up or scatter on the noise of the gun... Most sketches show how the camel simply peers off into the distance as if registering the fire ...and if they could talk they could give corrections...right 100....etc

Once sitting down the ton and a half of beast and equipment would be a solid platform enough to fire reasonably accurately with cannon or Gatling.

Moghul Artillery see http://warfare.altervista.org/18C/Ar...DStevenson.htm from which I Quote"

Artillery.
The huge guns favoured by the Moghuls were looked upon almost as gods. The gunners were considered the most reliable troops in the army as they were paid directly by the state. The enormity of their guns is apparent when considering that the largest siege guns used by the British were 24 pounders and that 48 pounders were considered average size in Moghul armies. One Indian gun called 'Malik-i-Maidon' ('Master of the Field') fired a roundshot weighing 2,646 pounds. Generally speaking most of the artillery transported to the battlefield were not larger than the 9.5 inch 'Zam-Zama' ('Thunderer'). Because of their size and the relative inefficiency of the Indian gunners and despite their longer range the Moghul guns were far out-classed by the lighter and more manoeuvrable guns of their European foes which delivered a more accurate and higher rate of fire. In action Moghul guns were chained together as an obstacle to charging cavalry.

Some of the lighter guns were mounted on mobile platforms, bullock drawn and pushed from the rear by elephant.

Very light 1 pdr. and ½ pdr. guns were mounted on camels (Zambereks or Zambuks),

or on elephants (Gingals or Jingals).

Rockets.
Rockets were very popular with Moghul armies. The rockets were simply explosive devices fixed to a bamboo shaft, often with a blade attached to it's head. The rockets were ignited and thrown by hand, travelling a wildly erratic course for up to 1,000 yards. Because of this and their small bursting charge, rockets were only effective against large bodies of troops and to scare animals. Rocketeers usually carried their rocket supply in carts or on camels and when not in use the shafts were ornamented with small pennants."Unquote.

So far as I can tell...The camel when seated is the ideal position from which to fire in the dismounted, but on the camel, seated role..There is no way a camel can be used belting along at 10 knots firing its main armament... When seated it is difficult for the animal to raise its head in line with the canon on its back...on the high pintle mounting. The physiology of the camel will not allow that. Once tethered/ hobbled the camel cannot stand up until the hobble rope is untied from its legs... Seated, the firing position is excellent.

Note below that a soldier is holding the chain attached to the camels nose... This nose ring gives total control to the handler... The camel will not move when one of these is pinned through its nose...The firing position shown below is apparently the one used in all armies using this system.