Eric Leaver traces the history of the Royal Tournament

IT HAS been called the toughest team sport in the world - the battle of the men of iron in the Royal Navy's famous inter-port Field Gun Competition which is the thrilling highlight of the Royal Tournament.

Each year, watched by millions on TV and thousands packing the arena at London's Earls Court, two at a time, crews of 18 men from famous naval bases like Portsmouth and Devonport battle against the clock and each other.

They haul old-style 12-pounder field guns, their limbers and carriages - weighing more than a ton - over a 5ft wall, across a 30ft chasm and through the narrow breach in another wall . . . and then turn around and perform this amazing feat of brute strength all over again in under three minutes.

It's an awesome test of muscle and teamwork that, in its day, has even ended up with matelots losing a finger or thumb. But one wonders how many watching the exciting performance stop to wonder why men who sail the sea should be using field guns.

It is all a throwback to an epic incident of naval courage and fortitude that stirred Britain 100 years ago.

For the centenary, a special history of the field gun contest has just been brought out, with the help of an ex-stoker from Blackburn who back in 1938 helped to clip a staggering five seconds off the record time.

The origins of the unique competition lie in the illustrious occasion soon after the outbreak of the Boer War in 1899 when, in the nick of time, the Navy came to the rescue of the Army 190 miles from the sea.

Pinned down by the Boers' heavy guns for which it had no match, the embattled British garrison at Ladysmith in Natal signalled the naval base at Simonstown for help. There, the men of the Senior Service stripped three 12-pounders and two of the 4.7-inch guns from the cruiser HMS Terrible , constructed mountings for them from scrap iron and railway sleepers and in 24 hours were shipping them to Durban along with a brigade of naval volunteer gun crews.

The crews then sped with their makeshift field guns by rail to Ladysmith where, under heavy enemy fire, they raced their guns across rocky terrain into position and helped to save the town from capture.

It was in 1907 that the event was first commemorated in the form of a competition between crews from three of the Navy's home ports, giving birth to a tradition and to the bulldog breed of men who took part.

Among them was the late George Wilby, of Fountains Avenue, Blackburn, who was a 27-year-old in the Devonport Stokers' crew which, out to honour the memory of a crew mate who was fatally injured in training for the event, shattered the existing record of 3 minutes, 53 seconds set only the year before by the Chatham Seamen who had dominated the contest for the previous 10 years.

"The Devonport Stokers' electrifying 1938 record time was to stand for many years. They are still famous to this day in Field Gun folk lore, even though by modern standards their time was painfully slow," writes naval historian Tony Bridgland in his centenary tribute* - in which George is pictured with his mates in the Stokers' crew, together with the Devonport Seamen's crew.

Sadly, 84-year-old George died before Tony's booklet was complete and before the author was able to return his original photograph of the teams and present him with a signed copy as thanks for his contributions, which include an amusing story of the finale of the tournament in which his crew triumphed. "George was one of the 'immortals' in Navy circles and I would like to pass the booklet and photograph to his family, but though I know they still live in the Blackburn area, I have not been able to contact them as they are ex-directory," Tony tells me. If get they in touch with 'Looking Back," I'll pass on both.

Sadly, too, this year's Royal Tournament - running for two weeks at Earls Court from July 20 - will be the last in which the epic contest is featured.

"A lot of it is down to the Navy's manpower problems," Tony explains. "The contest ties up 200 men - the equivalent of the crew of a destroyer - for months."

Field Gun - A Royal Navy Epic, 1899-1999, by Tony Bridgland, price £6, including postage and packing, from P.O. Box 10, Rye TN31 6ZG.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.