Firing shell during the Battle of the Somme

this gun is one of the light guns used in the week long bombardment of the German frontlines, and the reason for the slaughter on the first day of the battle of the somme, as these shells were never heavy enough to destroy the barbed wire belts fronting the german trenches, and had no effect on the well dug down German Infantry waiting for action. also due to poor quality control in the British Munitions factories up to one third of the shells fired by british guns at the Somme Battle were duds, also this photo is of a gun in a quiet period as the surroundings are very spick and span certainly not in battle action.During the week long British artilery barrage onto German frontlines at the Somme battle the shells were stacked in heaps near to the gun and the discarded shells were thrown in a pile to the rear as nothing could stop or hinder the firing, with the guns in action 24/7