Some pictures from IWM Manchester

A highlight for me during our holiday in Manchester was a visit to Imperial War Museum North. Although it's nothing like the size of the IWM in London, it houses an extensive collection beginning at the Great War and continuing on to present day.
I was really pleased to find a British 13 pounder, the likes of which would have been manned by my ancestor who was in the Royal Horse Artillery and saw action at the famous artillery rear guard action of Mons at the start of the war. This particular gun fired the very first British shell of the war. These guns are still used whenever there's a 21 gun salute and on other state ceremonies. It's funny to see one of these again up close as the last time I was this close to one, I would have been about 11, at the Royal Tournament at Earls Court!

It was also really good from a reference point of view to find this great example of a German mortar.