three for the field gun were selected and their makers invited to submit a "specimen". These were tested in 1902, but none was found suitable for service although they all had good features. The makers were called to a conference and agreed to collaborate to produce a composite design. This used the Armstrong gun, Vickers' recoil system, and Royal Ordnance Factory's sighting and elevating gear and ammunition carrying. Reduced wheel size from to was also accepted (it had been a matter the Equipment Committee had to investigate) which saved weight. Four Artillery batteries of the composite design took part in trials of in 1903, and the new 18-pounder design was accepted. The cost of rearmament was huge, and it took some pressure from the press for the War Office to follow through. Initially the British Indian Army was re-equipped first; however, the First Moroccan Crisis changed the priorities. In the end the weapon phase-in cost £4 million (equivalent to £ with the GDP deflator) and became the biggest such undertaking to the date in British Army history. The 18-pounder was used on all fronts during the First World War. It remained in service during the inter-war period. Starting in 1938, carriages Marks IV and V were converted to 25-pounder Ordnance QF Mark 1 on Carriage Mark 1. 18-pounder Guns served with the British Expeditionary Force in France in the Second World War and were used in other theatres as well as for training or beach defence. Description The 18-pounder was a quick-firing horse-drawn field gun designed to be towed behind a limber and six horses. The gun barrel was wire-wound nickel-steel with a single-motion screw breech with a cartridge extractor. It fired a fixed round of shell and cartridge fixed together, which was known as "quick firing" in British terminology. The lower carriage comprised a single hollow steel trail fixed to the centre of the axle-tree. The limited traverse saddle supported the elevating mass and a shield. Traverse controls were on the left and elevation on the right of the saddle. Recoil was by a hydraulic buffer with telescopic running-up springs to return the barrel to its firing position. The Equipment Committee's conditions required tangent sights (i.e. direct fire) with the option of a telescope. However, the 18-pounder entered service with rocking bar (also called "bar and drum") sights – open sights with the option of a telescope on the