Pictured: Queen’s birthday goes with a bang.
And 20 more bangs…

The Army brought out the big guns on Tuesday (April 21) to mark the Queen’s birthday. And photographer Duncan Lomax was there to capture the moment.

Most of York heard the 21-gun salute which took place at noon in Museum Gardens. Three 105mm Light Guns were fired by soldiers of 3/29 (Corunna) Battery of the 4th Regiment Royal Artillery based in Topcliffe, near Thirsk.

The salute consists of 21 rounds being fired at 10-second intervals. York is one of 12 saluting stations in Britain, which include London, Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, and is the only one in the North of England.

Before the guns were fired, the Band of the Royal Armoured Corps marched from Duncombe Place to the Museum Gardens, playing all the way.

The discharge of cannon as a form of salute is almost as old as the artillery itself, although royal salutes are relatively modem.

The first military regulations governing the firing of salutes were created in 1827, when the Board of Ordnance decreed that 41 guns should be used in a royal salute when fired from St James’s Park or
the Tower of London.

This was later extended to include 21-gun royal salutes to be fired elsewhere, and include the birthday, accession and coronation of the sovereign.

York was granted its right as a saluting station to commemorate the 1,900th anniversary of the city in 1971.