>> Big guns were already being replaced by missiles of various sorts.
Those big guns were fascinating to a nipper though. The shell was rammed up the breech to the place where the rifling started, followed by bags of so-called gun cotton, the amount calculated for the required range, which needed a detonator to set it off.
I was present when small at a test-firing of some detonators. They made a terrific bang, and I foolishly closed my mouth at the wrong moment failing to follow the instruction to keep it open (to equalize pressure on both sides of the eardrum). I don't think my hearing has ever fully recovered. The old man meant no harm, knowing I was interested in that sort of thing, but my mother wasn't best pleased when I went home with my ears still singing.
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