Voice of the Guns
The Voice of the Guns gallery has some of the most remarkable guns from the Middle Ages to the late twentieth century.
Highlights
As you enter the gallery, the dramatic bronze Great Turkish Bombard confronts you. Firing huge stone balls, the Bombard was the heavy demolition weapon of the Middle Ages.
The masterpiece was ordered by Sultan Mehmet II (1480 – 81) from Munir Ali and was cast in two pieces, barrel and powder chamber, which screw together.
The gallery is also home to the Iraqi ‘Supergun,’ commissioned by Saddam Hussein in the 1980s. The piece on display is two of the Sheffield steel tubes, which was seized by British Customs before they were shipped.
Designed by Gerald Bull, the finished gun would have boasted 26 such sections, making up a 156-metre barrel.
Rival German and British anti-aircraft guns of the Second World War – the legendary German ’88 and the British 3.7-inch – are also on display downstairs in the Voice of the Guns gallery.