https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=81273
--- Comment #5 from LdB <ldeboer at gateway dot net.au> --- Okay I understand all that and accept my apology and I will try to follow the rules exactly in future. I had to change the alignment command slightly to be valid on ARM 6.3.1 struct __attribute__((__packed__,aligned(__alignof(uint32_t))))TimerRegisters { volatile uint32_t Load; //0x00 volatile uint32_t Value; //0x04 }; I am getting viable code with that, so it's undeniable it is an alignment issue. I am happy to have that as the solution and I understand it is the most technically correct. It probably needs to be added to the manual because I suspect it is going to come up a lot. I have never had the compiler spit unaligned code as the most optimized code before.