Artillery in Canada (5) Ontario: The Canadian War Museum

The Canadian War Museum

Ottawa, Ontario

The aim of this website is to locate, identify and document every historical piece of artillery preserved in Canada.  Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these guns to provide and update the data found on these web pages.  Photos are by the author unless otherwise credited.  Any errors found here are by the author, and any additions, corrections or amendments to this list of Guns and Artillery in Canada would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author at hskaarup@rogers.com.

For all official data concerning the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, please click on the link to their website:

Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery Website

According to the  1974 edition of ACP 125 Cansupp 1A, "Sheldrake" was the appointment title for the artillery representative in a headquarters.  "GOLF" was the arms indicator to be used by artillery callsigns on nets other than their own, especially those of the supported arms.

Guns and Cannon

Those of us with an interest in old guns and cannon generally have to sort them out by size and purpose.  If the weapon can be transported by manpower alone, and if it relies on direct hits to kill, then it is classed as a gun.  If it takes more than one gunner to operate and is too heavy to be transported by manpower alone, and if its main purpose is to kill via shrapnel or concussion or to destroy obstacles, then it is a cannon.  Even when they are not in action against a target that can shoot back, they can be extremely dangerous, particularly when at sea.

Ottawa, The Canadian War Museum, 1 Vimy Place.

British Artillery

The display includes a selection of guns used from about 1650 to about 1850. During this time, there were few major changes in the general design and manufacture of artillery. The guns used on land or at sea were frequently identical, and would be mounted on a carriage suitable for their intended use. In general, naval and fortress guns would have a wooden carriage with small wheels, while cannon used in the field army would have large wheels for towing by a team of horses.

Guns fired solid shot (cannon balls), grape shot (a group of smaller cannon balls), canister (a tin case containing a large number of musket-sized balls – essentially a large shotgun shell), and some specialised ammunition such as chain or bar shot (two cannon balls connected by a chain or bar to tear down ship’s masts and rigging), and sometimes “common shell” or explosive projectiles.

Weight markings

Cwt means hundredweight, which was used as a common measure until the 1950s. It is equivalent to 112 pounds (50.9 kg). Markings on a gun barrel (eg 2 – 3 – 15) means that the weight of the barrel is 2 cwt, 3 quarters (one quarter = 28 pounds), and 15 pounds, for a total of 323 pounds (146.8 kg).

Artillery was generally divided into:

Cannon. These had long, heavy, cast iron barrels firing a solid shot weighing up to 19 kg(42 lb) (some siege guns fired a heavier shot).

Carronades. These were small guns that fired a large heavy shot with a reduced powder charge. Less powder reduced the stress on the gun, which could be then be made lighter and had significantly less recoil. It had the major disadvantage of having a much shorter range than an equivalent cannon. Carronades were frequently mounted on small ships, giving the ship firepower beyond its expected capability.

Mortars. These lobbed an explosive shell high into the air, for firing over the walls andinto a fort. They used explosive shells with primitive fuses. (Doug Knight)

(Doug Knight Photos)

Wrought Iron Smoothbore Breach-loading (SBML) gun, ca. 1492-1599, 165-cm long.  Found during the excavation for the enlargement of St Peter's Canal in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, near the site of Nicholas Deny's Trading Post, built in 1650. CWM (Artifact No. 19610051-023).

(Doug Knight Photo)

Cast Iron 2-inch Smoothbore Muzzleloading Swivel or Boat Gun on stand, ca. 1750-1825, 2-inch bore, in storage. CWM (Artifact No. 19660058-001).

Bronze 5¾-inch 1-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Land Service Mortar, weight 1-1-13 (153 lbs),  J & H (John & Henry) King, 1807, LXX, crown, King George III cypher.

Cwt means hundredweight, which was used as a common measure until the 1950s. It is equivalent to 112 pounds (50.9 kg). Markings on a gun barrel (eg 2 – 3 – 15) means that the weight of the barrel is 2 cwt, 3 quarters (one quarter = 28 pounds), and 15 pounds, for a total of323 pounds (146.8 kg).

(Author Photo)

Bronze 3-pounder 3-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, weight 2-3-23 (331 lbs), stamped J & H (John & Henry) King, 1807, CCLXIII (263), King George III cypher and Master General of Ordnance cypher, mounted on a replica garrison carriage. CWM (Artifact No. 19610055-002).

I. H. King manufactured the brass cannon in 1807. It has a 75-mm (3 inch) smooth bore and weighs 143 kg (314lb). Smaller naval guns were frequently made of brass to overcome the rust problem on an iron cannon at sea. Colonel H. A. Bate (commanding officer of the Governor General’s Foot Guards 1906-1908) brought the artefact to Canada from the British West Indies in the early1900s. He used the gun to decorate the entrance to his home in Ottawa and the carriage is for display purposes only. (Doug Knight)

King George III cypher.

Cypher of King George III, with a portrait by Sir William Beechey.  (Wikipedia)

General John Pitt, Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) cypher impressed on top of the bronze gun above the King George 3 cypher.  This was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855-1895 and 1939-1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general.  The Master-General of the Ordnance was responsible for all British artillery, engineers, fortifications, military supplies, transport, field hospitals and much else, and was not subordinate to the commander-in-chief of the British military.  (Doug Knight Photo)

(Doug Knight Photo)

Weight 2-3-23 (331 lbs), under the cascabel of the bronze gun.

Cast Iron 4.2-inch Smoothbore Muzzleloading Mortar, No. 1 of 2.

Cast Iron 4.2-inch Smoothbore Muzzleloading Mortar, No. 2 of 2.

(Doug Knight Photo)

Cast Iron 4-pounder 8-1/2-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, weight 8-2-0 (952 lbs), crown over the letter P on the first reinforce, W on the right trunnion.  Possibly a 17th Century Gun, presented to the museum by G.T. Bruce who had received it from the Chief of the Ceylonese Navy in 1962.  Bruce was told that it had been recovered in Trincomalee, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), in 1962.   It is marked with a crown over the letter P on the barrel. The Crown over a “P” engraved on top of the guns is a mark used to show that this gun was proofed at Woolwich in the UK.  This mark is usually preserved for the guns for foreign governments, or for certain institutions such as The East India Company, or the Post Office.  This gun was probably cast some time in the second quarter of the 19th century.  By this period there are not many British companies capable of casting these guns, they are usually either Walker and Company, Bailey Pegg and Co, or Low Moor.  (Ruth Rhynas Brown)

Cast Iron 4-pounder 8-1/2-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, 54-inches long, measured from the muzzle to the base ring. The cascbel is missing.  There are no visible markings.  This gun is associated with the Montmagny House in Joliette, Québec, since about 1900.  Prior to that time, oral history places it in the area to defend against the American invasion.

(Author Photos)

Cast Iron 18-pounder Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun/culverin, weight 32-2-23 (3,663 lbs), (Serial No. 4632), Queen Anne cypher, XII (12), broad arrow mark, 19, ca. 1668.  Cast Iron 18-pounder Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun/culverin, weight >3,500 lbs, (Serial No. 5633), Queen Anne cypher, IXIII (12), arrow, 23, c1668.  One of two, this gun has been returned to the New York State Historical Society. These 18-pounders that were cast about 1650. They were emplaced on Carleton Island in Lake Ontario during the American Revolution. CWM 19960097-001 and 19960097-002.

Historical Note: Although the rose and crown cypher has traditionally been interpreted as representing Queen Anne, it was used not only by the rest of the Stuart Royal family, but, confusingly, also by King George I for iron guns.  King George II guns are recognized by the GR2 cypher.  The difference is between bronze and iron guns.  The bronze guns had monograms for all the different kings and queens.  But most of the cast-iron guns of this period just had a rose and crown, right up to the 1720s.  Some Charles and some William and Mary guns did have a simple monogram, but most British iron guns for government use before 1726 all used the rose and crown.  (Ruth Rhynas Brown)

Portrait of Queen Anne by Willem Wissing and Jan van der Vaardt, and her Royal Cypher.  (Wikipedia)

(Author Photos)

Blomefield 64-pounder 71-cwt Muzzleloading Rifle, Palliser conversion from a Blomefield 32-pounder 58-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, weight 56-0-7 (6,279 lbs).  The trunnion is stamped 6 Gilbert, 1887, King George III cypher, (Serial No. 1850).

When rifled artillery was introduced the British Army had large numbers of smooth bore guns. It was cheaper to convert these guns to rifling than replace them. In 1863, Sir William Palliser developed a successful method of conversion and eventually more than 2,000 guns were converted. The Palliser System consisted of boring out the cast iron smoothbore gun to form a casing, and then inserting a coiled wrought iron barrel, which was kept in position by an iron collar and a screw plug under the trunnions. Most conversions were carried out at the Royal Gun Factory Woolwich. The artefact is a 58-cwt 64-pounder rifled muzzle loader and was converted from the 32-pounder58-cwt smoothbore cannon about 1887. In 1895, there were 25 32/64-pounders in Canada, mostly at the defended ports (Halifax, Quebec, St. John, NB, etc.) The artefact was modified from the smoothbore to the rifled gun by Gilbert and Sons, Montreal – the first time that major modifications were made to artillery in Canada. CWM 19850408-001. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photo)

Homemade wooden cannon, 1838.

(Doug Knight Photo)

Cast Iron 4-pounder Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, John Armstrong pattern sea service Gun, W, commercial 1750 (from tag).

The W mark on the right trunnion of this gun was in use Britain for a long time and may refer to more than one furnace in turn. There are two possible foundries that could have cast this gun.  

1.  Waldron Furnace.  A gun marked W was proved for Harrison and Company in October, 1757 (Hodgkinson, 1993, 58).

Waldron furnace was run at the beginning of the eighteenth century by the Pelham family and later was owned by the Fullers although they probably did not use it themselves.  Instead, it was leased to the Harrison partnership.  John Legas wrote to his partner Samuel Remnant about the shot-casting programme taking place at Waldron in 1745-46.  However in the 1747-48 campaign Waldron was used for casting 6 and 9 pounder guns.  The change may have been caused by the building of a new air furnace at Hamsell and the two furnaces’ uses were exchanged.

In the 1750s Waldron was being operated by Richard Tapsell in conjunction with Gloucester furnace.  In January 1753 John Fuller subcontracted Tapsell to cast guns for him at Waldron for the King of Sardinia which Fuller specified had to be marked IF (Crossley and Saville).  Later in 1757 Harrison had guns marked W proofed at Woolwich.  The furnace at Waldron was rented out for only a pound in 1785 and was closed by 1787.  The W is found on smaller guns up to 12-pounders.

2. Willy Furnace.  Isaac Wilkinson and his son John both were involved in gun-casting using several furnaces.  The earliest mention of Isaac Wilkinson of Bersham in the Board's records is his request to export small calibre guns from Wrexham for the London merchant service in June 1756.  John Wilkinson left Bersham and moved to Willey in Shropshire. His agent John Fawcett offered to cast guns for the Board of Ordnance in 1759.  Thus John Wilkinson's first guns for the Board were cast at Willey.

The form of the W on the gun in the CWM collection favours the later date, ca 1755-ca 1770.   It is most likely to have been cast by either Waldron, a gun furnace in the Weald run by the Harrison partnership, or Willey, an iron furnace in Shropshire owned by John Wilkinson who would become one of the most famous of gunfounders.  (Data courtesy of Ruth Rhynas Brown)

(Author Photos)

Cast Iron 18-pounder 10-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Carronade with a Blomefield pattern breeching ring,  weight 10-0-7 (1,127 lbs), broad arrow mark, mounted on an iron garrison carriage.  Presentation plaque to J.H. Macqueen.  The carronade is a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, which was used by the Royal Navy and first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland.  It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s.  Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range anti-ship and anti-crew weapon.  While considered very successful early on, carronades eventually disappeared as rifled naval artillery changed the shape of the shell and led to fewer and fewer close-range engagements.

The CWM carronade is an 18-pounder mounted on an iron garrison carriage. The barrel is dated 1808, and weighs 512 kg (1,127 lb) and the carriage weighs 484 kg (1,064lb) and contains the serial number 10. Early iron carriages were prone to shattering although they stood up to the weather better than wood. Fortress guns frequently had two carriages – an iron one for daily use and a wooden one that was stored inside and protected from the elements for use in wartime. The elevation scale on the breech is graduated from 0 – 14 (hundred yards?). In 1895, there were eleven 18-pounder carronades in Canada, six at Quebec City and five at Fort Henry in Kingston. This carronade was presented to Major-General J. H. MacQueen, CBE, who was the Honorary Colonel Commandant of the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps 1951/52. CWM 19760331-001. (Doug Knight)

(Doug Knight Photos)

Cast Iron 6-pounder 14-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Carronade with a Blomefield pattern breeching ring, weight 14-1-19 (1,615 lbs), crown cypher, probable commercial manufacture, in storage, unmounted.

During one of our expeditions to find and catalogue guns like these, the author visited Gaspé, where I photographed a 19th century cannon, one of three standing in front of the Town Hall.  It had this same peculiar Crown with the letter P stamped on the barrel.  I added this photo to one of my webpages.  Arnulfo Cadena Maldonado, who identified himself as the collaborator at Museo Regional El Obispado (Bishop’s Palace) in Monterrey, Mexico, saw this photo and noted that there was a cannon in their collection that had a similar marking.  He asked if I knew what it meant.  I did not know, but Doug Knight noted that the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa had this one with a similar marking. Ruth Rhynas Brown from Aberdeen, Scotland, now living in Leeds, England, saw the photos and Arnulfo’s request for information on my web site.  She had formerly been the curator at the Royal Armouries in the Tower of London, England.  Ruth informed us that the Crown over a “P” on top of these cannon is a mark used to show that they had been proofed (test fired) at Woolwich in England.  She noted that this mark is usually reserved for the guns destined for foreign governments, or for certain institutions such as The East India Company, The Hudson's Bay Company, or the Post Office. These cannon were probably cast some time in the second quarter of the 19th century.  By this period there were not many British companies capable of casting these guns, as they were usually made either by Walker and Company, Bailey and Pegg Company, or Low Moor.

Cast Iron 12-pounder 6-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Carronade with a Blomefield pattern breeching ring, dated 1808 (unmounted), weight 6-0-18 (690 lbs), broad arrow mark.

Cast Iron 18-pounder 10-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Carronade with a Blomefield pattern breeching ring, weight 10-0-7 (1,127 lbs), broad arrow mark, mounted on an iron garrison carriage.  Presentation plaque to J.H. Macqueen.

(Author Photos)

Cast Iron 6-pounder 3-cwt Breechloading Rifle, RGF No. 73, 1862, weight 3-0-9 (345 lbs), W, broad arrow, D, Queen Victoria cypher.

The Crimean War debacle forced Britain to improve its artillery. In 1855, after some unsuccessful experiments, W. G. Armstrong, a lawyer turned engineer, demonstrated a wrought iron, breech-loading, rifled gun, known as a Rifled Breech Loader (RBL). Armstrong guns were built by shrinking layers (coils) of metal over an inner sleeve that contained the rifling and propellant chamber, allowing the outer layers to carry a share of the firing stress. The number of layers depended on the size of the barrel. Rifling is a series of spiral grooves in the interior of a gun barrel that give a spin to the projectile as it goes up the barrel. This stabilizes the shell inflight and improves range and accuracy. The concept had been understood since the 1500s, but the necessary technology did not exist until the mid-nineteenth century. Armstrong’s gun was more accurate and powerful than the smoothbore muzzle-loading cannon of the time. Large numbers of Armstrong guns were produced for the British Army and Royal Navy between1859 and 1862. However, there were problems with the manufacture of the ammunition, and in obtaining acceptable obturation (sealing the breech of the gun), and the gun was not satisfactory

in the field. No Armstrong guns were produced after 1864, and many of the existing guns were either converted into muzzle-loaders after 1870, or sent to the colonies. The 6-pounder version was proposed to the British Army in 1858 as a mountain gun, but the Royal Artillery rejected it as too heavy. However, the Royal Navy used it as a boat gun (mounted in cutters, and other small vessels), and the Royal Marine Artillery used it to support landing parties. A “screw and nut” gear, operating through a bed mounted on the trail, controlled elevation. There was no traversing gear. The Halifax Field Battery used the 6-pounder Armstrong gun starting in November 1866. It was the first breech-loading field gun issued to Canadian gunners. It was replaced in the 1870s by the 9-pounder rifled muzzle-loading gun, although six 6-pounder Armstrong guns were still at Kingston, Ontario, in 1895. CWM 19440020-003. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photos)

Armstrong 40-pounder 35-cwt Breechloading Rifle, weight 35-1-0, (3,948 lbs), (Serial No. 419-G), 1871.  This gun with a 4.75 inch calibre, was a naval and fortification gun in use from 1860 to the early 1900s.  The guns were typically employed mounted on high "siege travelling carriages" for use as semi-mobile guns in forts, firing over parapets.  Many were mounted on travelling carriages and used by many Volunteer Artillery Batteries to whom they were issued after 1889.  Most remained in use in this role until 1902. A number were used for some years afterwards as saluting guns.

The 40-pounder Armstrong rifled breech-loading gun was designed as a broadside gun for naval ironclad warships. It was the first breech-loader to be introduced in sizeable numbers in the British navy. Mounted on a field carriage (like the CWM artefact) for coastal defence and garrison artillery, some guns remained in British service until about 1880. The guns were found to be inadequate in field use, because of difficulties in sealing the gas in the breech. In 1865, a committee decided that the rifled muzzleloader was superior to the Armstrong guns and many Armstrongs were converted to muzzleloaders. Many of those that were not converted found theirway to the colonies. Four 40-pounders arrived in Canada in 1882 and were used to train garrison batteries in Toronto and Montreal. Two more guns arrived in 1887 and were assigned to the artillery in Charlottetown, PEI. The CWM artefact is presumably one of the four guns received in 1882. The barrel was manufactured at the Elswick Ordnance Company (England) in 1862, but the carriage is areconstruction – although it may retain parts of the original carriage. CWM 19690031-001. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photo)

7-pounder Steel Mk. IV 200 lb Rifled Muzzleloader Gun (Serial No. RGF No. 440), 1880, weight 1-3-7 (203 lbs), Queen Victoria cypher.  This gun is mounted on an iron boat carriage for ship's landing parties.

Cast Iron 9-pounder 8-cwt Muzzleloading Rifle Mk. II, weight 8-1-13 (937 lbs), RGF No.  2850, 1873, unmounted, stamped Sir W.G. Armstrong and Co., Newcastle on the Tyne.  This gun was a bollard that stood in front of the Ottawa Armouries.  It is corroded forward of the trunnions, and does not have a carriage.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 2993542)

Canadians at the Battle of Paardeberg, South Africa, February 1900.

(Library and Archives canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3300754)

12-pounder 6-cwt Breechloading Mk. I Gun, Ottawa training exercise, 18 Oct 1906.

(Doug Knight Photo)

(Author Photos)

12-pounder 6-cwt Breechloading Mk. I Gun, Boer War “D” Battery.  RGF BL 12-Pr 6 Cwt I, 1896, No. 97. The 12-pounder breech-loading gun that equipped the Brigade Division, Royal Canadian Field Artillery, in South Africa began to enter Canadian service in 1897. It replaced the 9-pounderrifled muzzle loading guns that had equipped Canada's field artillery units since the 1870s. The new gun was the standard equipment of the mounted troops of the British horse artillery, and wasa great improvement over its predecessor. Loading by the breech was quicker and simpler than ramming ammunition into place from the muzzle, and the 12-pounder had a range of 4500metres, 1500 metres better than the earlier gun. Smokeless cordite propellant, moreover, eliminated the thick haze that had previously surrounded artillery pieces in action and thereby given away their location to the enemy. (CWM – Imperial Adventure)The 12-pounder used a forged steel shell with a fuse that could either detonate on contact with an object, or be set to explode at a pre-set time during the flight of the shell. The gun had a lightweight steel carriage, which was easier for the horses to pull. Rapid technological developments, however, had already rendered the 12-pounder obsolete by the time of the South African War. Guns of the British and Boer forces fired heavier projectiles toa still greater range. They also featured hydraulic or mechanical systems to absorb the shock of recoil. In the case of the 12-pounder, which lacked these devices, the gun had to be pushed back into position after every round, thus slowing the rate at which it could be fired. (CWM – Imperial Adventure)Canadian gunners used the 12-pounder in the Boer War. The brigade division of artillery in Canada’s second contingent was grouped together three batteries. Each battery consisted of three sections, each of two 12-pounder breech-loading guns. Although usually out of the limelight, the three batteries saw much action. A section from "D" Battery, Royal Canadian Field Artillery, particularly distinguished itself at the battle of Leliefontein. (CWM – Imperial Adventure). CWM 19730202-001.

(Author Photos)

12-pounder 6-cwt Breechloading Mk. I Gun, left wheel 1871, RCR, T13956, right wheel 1870, RCD, Queen Victoria cypher.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3396064)

3-inch Mortar, 1st Cdn Corps, night fring, Italy, 6 April, 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3256086)

3-inch Mortar, Support Coy, The Regina Rifles, Bretteville-Orgueilleuse, France, 9 June 1944.

3-inch Mortar (in Gallery 3).

3-inch Mortar (on Mortar Carrier).

(Author Photos)

13-pounder 6-cwt QF Land Mk. II Field Gun, VSM, broad arrow, 1911, (Serial No. 279), King George V cypher. ore mechanisation, the horse artillery provided fire support to the cavalry, with the gunnersriding on horseback, or on the gun limbers. This need for mobility was offset by the requirementto have a relatively light gun. When the British Royal Artillery was re-equipped after the BoerWar with 18-pounder field guns and 4.5-inch howitzers, the Royal Horse Artillery received the13-pounder gun.The 13-pounder’s specifications were written in 1901 and the gun was adopted in 1904. By1914, 245 had been produced in Britain and another 21 in India. The pole type carriage allowed ashort turning circle, but limited its elevation to 16 degrees, which in turn limited its maximumrange. The gun was very mobile, but its shell was considered too light (the shell actually weighed12.5 pounds, but the nomenclature was rounded up to 13 pounds) once trench warfare began. Itwas slightly unstable when fired and required frequent relaying. The 13-pounder performed well in the mobile battles in France in August 1914, and also in the Middle East where cavalry continued to be somewhat effective. It was modified for use on ships and also as an anti-aircraftgun. Today in Britain, the Kings Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, continue to use the 13-pounder for ceremonial demonstrations and displays.

The Royal Canadian Horse Artillery was formed in 1905 and was equipped with the 13-pounderin 1906. They took their guns to France in the First World War, but there was little work for thecavalry and their supporting artillery. The 13-pounder shell was too light to be effective in the trenches, and even worse, only shrapnel shells were provided. After the war, the Royal Canadian Artillery standardised on the 18-pounder gun for all field units, and the 13-pounder was removedfrom Canadian service. The CWM artefact (Serial No. 279), was manufactured in 1911. CWM 19890086-919. (Doug Knight)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3395208)

13-pounder 9-cwt QF Anti-Aircraft Gun in action, Oct 1916.

 (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3194240)

Gunners scrambling to man their 13-pounder 9-cwt QF Anti-Aircraft Gun, Oct 1916.

(Author Photos)

13-pounder 9-cwt QF Anti-Aircraft Gun Mk. I, EOC, broad arrow, P, 1917 (Serial No. 1372), on Mounting Motor Lorry RCD IV 1916, (Serial No.  A3414). During the First World War, the increasing use of aircraft created an urgent need for an effective anti-aircraft gun. At first, standard 13-pounder horse artillery guns were mounted on pedestals on a truck. The CWM artefact is an improved version, the 13-pounder 9-cwt, which was an 18-pounder field gun with a barrel sleeve reducing its diameter to fire the 13-pounder projectile. It still used the 18-pounder cartridge and the combination of large cartridge and small projectile gave significantly improved performance. The gun was mounted on a pedestal (Mounting, Motor Lorry, QF 13-pr, serial no A3414, manufactured in 1916), which was carried on the back of a truck. It was the standard British anti-aircraft gun in field use during the First World War. After the First World War, Canada had ten of these guns. At the beginning of the Second World War, eight remained (two in Esquimalt, four in Halifax and two in Quebec City) with only 307 rounds of ammunition. They represented more than half the anti-aircraft guns in the country. CWM 19390002-081. (Doug Knight)

In the First World War, the detection of enemy aircraft was a significant problem. The only possible technical solution was using a sound detector. Tubes connected the bases of two horizontally mounted gramophone-style horns to a pair of stethoscope ear-pieces. An operator moved the detector until the sound was heard equally in each ear, at which point (theoretically) it would be pointed in the direction of the aircraft. A second operator used the vertically mounted horns to estimate the height. The system was rudimentary at best, because this established the location of the aircraft when that the sound was made (not when the sound was detected). The aircraft would have moved in the time that the sound took to reach the detector, and laborious calculations were required to properly aim an anti-aircraft gun. However, until the development of radar in the late 1930s, it was the only method of detecting an aircraft in cloudy or hazy weather. CWM 19440018-001. (Doug Knight)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3336980)

18-pounder QF Mk. I Field Gun, Camp Valcartier, ca. 1914.

(Library & Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN 3405482)

18-pounder QF Mk. I Field Gun, RCA, ca. 1918.

(Doug Knight Photos)

(Author Photos)

18-pounder QF Mk. II Field Gun, weight 9-0-0 (1,008 lbs), (Serial No. 3820), 1915, mounted on carriage OCM C136.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3395092)

18-pounder QF Mk. II Field Gun being trialed against enemy tanks, ca 1918.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3395977)

18-pounders, Ottawa, ca 1920s.  

(Author Photos)

(Doug Knight Photos)

(Author Photos)

18-pounder QF Mk. I (L) Field Gun, EOC 1915, Reg. No. C42073, on loan from Mons, Belgium to Canada for five years, presented on 13 Mar 2018, in honour of the 100th anniversary of the First World War.  (Since Mons expect it to be returned, the CWM saved the shipping crate).  The 18-pounder belonged to the 39th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, and first went into action in 1916, participating in a series of battles in the First World War including the Somme, Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele, culminating in the “Hundred Days” offensive between August and November 1918 that won the war.  It fired the last Canadian shell on the Western front on 11 Nov 1918, the day the Canadian Corps liberated the southwest Belgian city of Mons, and the four-year war came to an end.  On  15 Aug 1919, this Field Gun was presented as a gift from the Canadian military to the city of Mons as a symbol of enduring friendship between the two countries, one forged in tragedy with almost 60,000 Canadian lives lost.  

The city of Mons was also where the last Commonwealth soldier, a Canadian, was killed in the war.  George Lawrence Price, a 25-year-old from Nova Scotia, was shot by a German sniper two minutes before the Armistice.  He is buried in the city’s St Symphorien Military Cemetery.  The field gun is called an 18-pounder because it fired an 18-pound shell, filled with explosives, shrapnel, chemicals or smoke.  Historians believe the guns fired 100 million shells during the course of the war.  

Built in Britain, this piece of artillery also survived the German occupation of Belgium during the Second World War, where older weapons were often captured and repurposed for battle.  Canada gave the Mons Memorial Museum an 18-pounder and 4.5-inch howitzer.  One of these pieces of artillery is on display in the Museum, with the other in storage.

(Colin Stevens Photo)

18-pounder QF Mk. II Field Gun with limber being towed by a 1936 model Ford-Marmon-Harrington half-track used by the Royal Canadian Artillery, Camp Shilo, 1937.

(Author Photo)

1936 model Ford-Marmon-Harrington half-track.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3522087)

Canadian 8-inch Breechloading Mk. VIII Howitzer firing into Lens, France, Jan 1918.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3395340)

Canadian 8-inch Breechloading Mk. VIII Howitzer, Jan 1918.

(Doug Knight Photos)

(Author Photos)

8-inch Breechloading Howitzer Mk. VIII, (Serial No. 1111), carriage (Serial No. C16548), Elswick Ordnance Company, 1918.  After the war, four Mk. VIII howitzers and their firing platforms were brought to Canada with two sent to the 9th Heavy Battery at Halifax (Serial Nos. 952 and 1111), and two sent to the 12th Heavy Battery in Victoria, British Columbia (Serial Nos. 974 and 975).  This gun is from the 9th Heavy Battery in Halifax (Serial No. 1111).

(Library & Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3607969)

Universal Carrier with 2-pounder QF anti-tank gun, Camp Borden, Ontario, ca 1941.

2-pounder QF Anti-Tank Gun mounted on a Universal Carrier.

(Library & Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3613157)

2-pounder AT Gun being hooked up by Canadians training in the UK, ca 1942.

(Library & Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3613158)

2-pounder AT Gun hooked up by Canadians training in the UK, ca 1942.  

(Library & Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3613160)

2-pounder Anti-tank Gun manned by Canadians training in the UK, ca 1942.

(Author Photos)

6-pounder 7-cwt QF Anti-Tank Gun Mk. V (Serial No.  3282), L/114714 on the barrel. The 6-pounder 7-cwt anti-tank gun was designed in 1938 and the design was sealed against the time when the 2-pounder anti-tank gun became obsolete. Unfortunately, the loss of equipment during the evacuation of the British Army at Dunkirk prevented the British production lines being switched over to the 6-pounder until 1941.

In Canada, Dominion Engineering Works produced more than 8,000 guns and as many spare barrels during the war – 10% of the total production in the British Commonwealth. The gun carriages were manufactured by Regina industries in Saskatchewan. The gun was mounted on a towed carriage and was also used as a tank gun in many British tanks and the Canadian Ram tank. The 6-pounder Mk. II (towed) and Mk. III (tank) had a shorter barrel and no muzzlebrake. The Mark IV (towed) and Mark V (tank) were more powerful, and had a longer barrel with a muzzle brake. Tank barrels could be mounted on the towed carriage, but the towed barrels lacked the special flanges for tank mounting. A Universal Carrier or a 15-cwt truck normally towed the gun.

All Canadian anti-tank artillery regiment, infantry, motor, and reconnaissance battalions used the gun during the war, and it remained in service until 1957. Using armour-piercing, discarding sabot (APDS) ammunition, it had a better anti-tank performance than the 75-mm gun in the Sherman tank. Under the right conditions, it could and did destroy German Tiger tanks. The infantry especially appreciated its ability to destroy houses and pillboxes.

The 6-pounder was also mounted on Fairmile “D” motor torpedo boats (used by the Canadian 65th MTB Flotilla) and a variant was mounted in the de Havilland Mosquito Mk. XVIII fighter-bomber for antisubmarine use. A 6-pounder-equipped Mosquito sank U-123 in November 1943. The CWM artefact is a Mk. V. It was manufactured in Canada, and spent most of its life as a test gun at the Proof and Experimental Establishment in Nicolet, Quebec. CWM 19660045-001. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photos)

17-pounder QF Towed Anti-Tank Gun Mk. I, (Serial No.  L23987).  The RCA held 138 of these guns. The 17-pounder anti-tank gun was designed in 1941 and approved for service in 1942. Becauseof a shortage of carriages, it was initially mounted on a 25-pounder field gun carriage and rushedto the Middle East, where it was the only British anti-tank gun capable of defeating the GermanTiger tank.Considered too large to be an infantry anti-tank gun, it served in the artillery anti-tank regimentsduring the Second World War. In 1944, new ammunition – APDS, armour-piercing discardingsabot – was issued, which was capable of penetrating the front armour on Tiger and Panthertanks. The APDS shot is a thin tungsten carbide shot in a light alloy sheath (sabot). Having ahigh propellant charge and a relatively light weight, the shot has a high muzzle velocity. As theround leaves the muzzle, the sabot strips away to reduce drag, and the shot retains its highvelocity over a long range.To increase its mobility, the 17-pounder was mounted on the Valentine tank chassis (“Archer”),which was considered a very successful self-propelled anti-tank gun, and also on the AmericanM10 “tank destroyer”. The gun was also adapted to a version of the Sherman tank, which wasthen called the Firefly. One tank in every four-tank troop in the Canadian armoured regiments inNorthwest Europe was equipped with the Firefly.The anti-tank platoons of the Canadian infantry battalions that served in Korea arrived there withtheir 17-pounders, but because of the low tank threat and difficulty of handing a heavy gun in theKorean hills, they were soon replaced with the American 75-mm Recoilless Rifle. The 17-pounder continued in service with the Canadian Army until 1952, when the primaryresponsibility for anti-tank defence in the Canadian Army was turned over to the Royal CanadianArmoured Corps. The gun was eventually replaced with Anti-tank Guided Missiles and the 106-mm Recoilless Rifle.CWM 19990220-011. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photo)

25-pounder QF Field Gun Mk. I, (Serial No. CA10282). Most Allied gunners considered the 25-pounder field gun, which was designed in the late 1930s,to have been the best field artillery weapon of the Second World War. More than 17,700 were manufactured, with 3,781 of those built in Canada by in Sorel, Quebec. It was the standard field gun used by the Royal Canadian Artillery during the war and continued in service in Canada until 1956, when NATO standardisation forced its replacement by the American 105-mmhowitzer. In action, the gun was mounted on a circular platform, giving 360° traverse. A muzzlebrake was added in 1942 to ease the load on the recoil system while firing anti-tank shot using super-charge. The gun used a system of three propellant charges (plus a supercharge) to vary the trajectory of the shells and hit targets in dead ground behind hills, etc. Other versions of the gun included a narrow version that could be towed by a jeep down jungle paths, an Australian packversion, and a Canadian-designed carriage that was modified to allow higher elevations for mountain use. CWM 1988001-709 and 19990009-002. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photo)

Limber for 25-pounder QF Field Gun. Used by Canada: 1940-1956 (also produced in Canada). British artillery guns were horse-drawn until the end of the First World War. Each gun had a two-wheeled limber that supported the trail of the gun, provided a pole for hitching the horses, and carried ammunition and gun tools. When the 25-pounder gun was developed in the 1930's, even though it was towed by a motor vehicle, British doctrine still required a limber. The Field Artillery Trailer filled this role, although it needed a skilled driver to handle the combination of Field Artillery Tractor, trailer, and gun, particularly when backing up.The trailer carries thirty-two 25-pounder shells and charges. Other equipment, such as camouflage nets, could be carried on top. Canada manufactured more than 6,000 trailers during the Second World War. CWM 19940051-001. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photo)

25-pounder QF Field Gun Mk. II, (Serial No.  L11041).

(Author Photo)

British 105-mm FV433 Abbot Self-Propelled Gun, Quonset Air Museum, Rhode Island.

British 105-mm FV433 Abbot Self-Propelled Gun.

Naval Guns

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3201900)

Royal Canadian Navy sailors training with the .303-inch Lewis Gun, Esquimalt, BC, 15 Mar 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4950803)

.5-inch Vickers Mk. III AA Machine Guns on a quad naval gun mount, ca 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3196183)

Quad AA Gun assembly, Dominion Engineering Works, 1942.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3334449)

Mixed group of Anti-Aircraft Guns on board HMCS Assiniboine with an unidentified Royal Navy destroyer taking over the escort of Convoy HX180 from its Royal Canadian Navy escort, 19 March 1942.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3303867)

Oerlikon 20-mm/70 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun mounted on a Landing Craft Infantry (LCI), RCN, May 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3201902)

Defensively Armed Merchant Sips (DEMS) personnel learning to fire an Oerlikon 20-mm/70 Light Anti-Aircraft gun, Esquimalt, British Columbia, 15 March 1944.

(Author Photos)

Oerlikon 20-mm/70 Mk. 4 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun  on an RCN Mk. V Mounting. The 20-mm Oerlikon heavy machine gun was produced in higher numbers than any other antiaircraft weapon of the Second World War. The US alone manufactured 124,735 guns. Starting in1939, Oerlikons were mounted on almost every class of ship in the British and Commonwealth navies, including many merchant ships, and there were 55,000 guns in service in those navies in September 1945. It was easy to maintain and had a good rate of fire. However, in the Pacific, it was unable to defeat Japanese Kamikaze attacks and was replaced by the 40-mm Bofors gun. The CWM artefact is mounted on a Mk V (RCN) mounting (CAN 452), which was manufactured by Regina Industries Ltd, in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1943. The company manufactured more than 500 twin and 1,200 single mounts during the war. CWM 19590026-002.

(Wikipedia)

Soviet model .303-inch Maxim Heavy Machine-gun being crewed by Canadians serving with the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion in Spain ca. 1938.  "Mac-Paps" were a battalion of Canadians who fought as part of the XV International Brigade on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War.  Except for France, no other country gave a greater proportion of its population as volunteers in Spain than Canada.  The first Canadians in the conflict were dispatched mainly with the U.S. Abraham Lincoln Battalion and later the North American George Washington Battalion, with about forty Canadians serving in each group.  The Lincoln Brigade was involved in the Battle of Jarama in which nine Canadians are known to have been killed.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3407086)

Canadian troops, Company "C" in the South African Constabulary.  The "Messenger Boy", No. 8 Armoured train, named by Devons, showing Maxim Gun, search-light and gun crew.

(Author Photo)

Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd 1-pounder Automatic Gun Mk. I, (Serial No. 2496), 1905, weight (410 lbs), Reg. No. 113, aka "pom-pom", on a Naval deck gun mount. In 1885, the Maxim Gun Company, with the Vickers Company, developed a 37-mm (1.46-in)automatic gun for the Royal Navy for defence against torpedo boats. Although the British only bought a few, Maxim sold many to other countries, including France who later sold them to the Boers in South Africa, who used the gun with devastating effect against the British during the Boer War in 1902. With a rate of fire of 300 rounds per minute, its heavy rapid thumping gave the gun its "pom-pom" nickname, which is still applied to heavy automatic weapons today. Some guns were mounted on high-angle mountings as anti-aircraft defence during the First World War. CWM 19890086-001.

(Author Photos)

Vickers, Sons & Maxim Ltd 1¼-pounder 37/Automatic Gun Mk. III, (Serial No. 6819), London, 1905, aka "pom-pom", from CGS Canada. This Vickers-Maxim 1¼-pounder (gun number 6819) was manufactured in 1905 and mounted on the Canadian Fisheries Service vessel CGS Canada from approximately 1902 to 1914. The Canada was a similar to a fast naval sloop of the period. Vickers Sons and Maxim, at Barrow-in-Furness, built her in 1904. Canada was 200 feet long, could steam at 22 knots, was armed with four small quick firing guns, and carried a complement of 75 officers and men. (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)The Canada marked the transition from traditional wooden schooners to modern steel cruisers, playing a crucial role as Canada formulated its young navy. Canada was the fastest ship in the Fisheries Protection fleet. It was Canada's first successful naval training vessel, and the first Canadian naval vessel to train with the Royal Navy. She was sold to the Florida Inter-Island Steamship Company in 1924, and sank under mysterious circumstances on 2 July 1926. CWM 19440021-001.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3566993)

40-mm/39 2-pounder Mk. I single, V.S.M. (Vickers, Sons & Maxim LL) Automatic Gun, weight (410 lbs), VSM 1905, aka "pom-pom", manned on an RCN destroyer, 1940.

(Author Photo)

40-mm/39 2-pounder Mk. VIII single, V.S.M. (Vickers, Sons & Maxim LL) Automatic Gun, (Serial No. S9463/14786), on Single Mounting, aka "pom-pom", from HMCS Kamloops. Before the Oerlikon 20-mm anti-aircraft gun became available in quantity, the 2-pounder Mk. VIII gun was the Royal Canadian Navy’s main defence against low-flying aircraft. In addition to British production, the Dominion Bridge Co. Ltd, in Vancouver, BC, manufactured 843 guns during the Second World War, starting in September 1942. The Canadian Locomotive Co., Kingston, Ontario produced the 2-pounder Mk VIII single mounting. The mounting was comparatively light, of an orthodox type with riveted carriage and presented no special manufacturing difficulties. A total of 455 had been delivered by 30 September 1943, and production was continuing at the rate of 30 mountings per month. The 2-pounder gun was mounted on the Flower class corvettes. The CWM artefact was mounted on HMCS Kamloops. The ship and the gun appeared in the movie “Corvette K-225” starring Randolph Scott in 1943. CWM 19750084-029.

(Author Photo)

40-mm Bofors L/60 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun in Mk. VC Boffin Mounting. As aircraft performance increased during the Second World War, the 20-mm Oerlikon antiaircraft gun became less effective and was replaced by the 40-mm Bofors. The Boffin was an adaptation of the Canadian Oerlikon twin Mark V or Mark VC 20-mm mounting to use a single40-mm Bofors gun. The turret-type mounting was shielded, hydraulically powered, relatively lightweight, and could be mounted on small warships. After the war, Bofors were mounted on various RCN ships including the carriers HMCS Magnificent and HMCS Bonaventure. When the ships were scrapped, the guns were put in storage until they were issued to the Royal Canadian Artillery as a low-level air defence weapon in the 1970s.When 4th Air Defence Regiment, RCA, received new twin 35-mm guns in 1989, the Boffins were returned to the navy. Being available (and therefore cheap), they were selected as the main armament on the new Kingston class Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels (MCDV). Twelve MCDV were commissioned between 1995 and 1996 and are proving very successful. All but two members of a crew of 31-37 sailors on each ship are naval reservists, and the Boffin provides a practical method of training them in gunnery. After more than sixty years, the Boffin is still in Canadian service.The CWM artefact, Boffin cradle mounting CAN 111 started life in 1943 as a 20-mm twin Mk. V mounting. It now mounts Bofors barrel LL32594. CWM 19590026-001.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3577106)

40-mm Bofors Light Anti-Aircraft Guns in a Twin Mount with gunners on board HMCS Algonquin.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4951379)

40-mm Bofors Light Anti-Aircraft Guns in a Twin Mount on board HMCS Magnificent, 1952.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3230534)

40-mm Bofors Light Anti-Aircraft Guns Mk. XI in a Twin Mount, practice firing on the aircraft carrier HMCS Nabob, Jan 1944.  

(Author Photo)

40-mm Bofors Light Anti-Aircraft Guns Mk. XI in a Twin Gun RP50 Mk. IV Mount. Recognised as the best light anti-aircraft gun in the Second World War, the 40-mm Bofors was mounted on many classes of British and Canadian warships, including Canadian Tribal class destroyers and some frigates. During the Cold War, it was mounted on Prestonian class frigates. Both the Germans and Japanese used variations or copies of the design during the war, and Bofors 40-mm guns are still in service with some countries today. In 1940, Dominion Foundries and Steel Ltd, and Atlas Steels Ltd. of Welland, Ontario, started producing Bofors gun barrels in Canada, eventually reaching a peak production of 1,500 barrels per month in 1943. By October 1941, nearly 2,500 barrels had been shipped overseas. The Otis Fensom Elevator Company began producing complete Bofors mountings in 1942, with a total of250 being produced by late 1943. In 1944, the British Admiralty ordered 500 twin mountings, which were manufactured by the Dominion Bridge Co. Limited in BC.In the Pacific campaign, the smaller 20-mm guns were not adequate against the Japanese Kamikaze attacks. On the other hand, the twin Bofors could put up a curtain of projectiles at a height sufficient to prevent any hostile aeroplane from getting into position to dive-bomb a ship. In anticipation of action in the Pacific, late in the war, some River class frigates of the RCN were refitted with the Mark V twin mounting, and in the early years of the Cold War, the twin RP50Mark V mountings were standard equipment on the Prestonian class frigates. CWM 19680076-001.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 4950884)

4-inch QF Mk. IX Gun on board HMCS Nanaimo, ca 1945.

(City of Vancouver Archives CVA 1184-3365)

4-inch QF Mk. IX Gun on board HMCS Nanaimo, ca 1945.  (Jack Lindsay Photo)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3201273)

4-inch/40 QF Mk. IV Naval Gun training, HMCS Hamilton, 10 Aug 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3196181)

4-inch naval gun, Dominion Engineering Works, 1942.

(Author Photos)

4-inch/40 QF Mk. XXI Gun on the High Angle Single Mk. XXIV Mounting, CAN 42. The Naval 4-inch Mark XXI gun was a lighter version of the Mark XVI naval gun, and approximately 238 guns were manufactured in Britain, with another 135 in Sorel, Quebec. The guns were intended for British Castle class corvettes and Loch class frigates, and for refitted Royal Canadian Navy corvettes. Canadian Pacific Munitions Department Ogden Shops in Calgary produced the Mark XXIV mounting. When the war ended, the order was cancelled, leaving 60 mounts in various stages of production. This artefact, CAN 42, was completed, but was sold to Com Dev Ltd., in 1961 for use on their experimental air ballistic range near Stittsville, Ontario, in support of NASA’s Apollo programme. It was presented to the CWM in 1974.CWM 19740508-001

(Author Photos)

4-inch/45 QF Mk. XVI* Twin Guns  (Serial No. S/15025), L, left, and (Serial No. S/14512), R, right, on a Mk. XIX High Angle mounting (Serial No. unknown), from HMCS Victoriaville. During the Second World War, the 4-inch Mk. XVI naval gun, in a twin Mk. XIX high-angle mounting, was the main armament of many British and Canadian destroyers and frigates. They were also the secondary, anti-aircraft guns used on British battleships and cruisers. Canada manufactured over 600 of the 2,555 Mk XVI guns produced during the war. This particular gun mounting was a product of Trenton Industries Ltd., in Trenton, Nova Scotia.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3394508)

4.7 inch QF Mk. V Naval Gun aboard an unidentified defensively equipped merchant ship (DEMS), 1943.  

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3576681)

Depth Charge Thrower, HMCS Saguenay, 30 Oct 1941.

(Author Photo)

Knebworth Corvus eight-barreled chaff launcher.  The eight barrels are mounted in two rows of three crossed at right angles with an additional two above and angled between the lower ones.  The barrels are 102-mm in diameter and 1.6 mm long, fixed at 30 degrees.  The Corvus was primarily used on ships of the Royal Navy.  (It is unknown as to whether ships of the RCN ever carried them).  The RCN was equipped with the Mk. 36 SRBOC and then the Plessey Shield and now utilizes a MASS (Multi-ammunition soft kill) system after the FELEX (Frigate life extension) programme on the Halifax class frigates.  (Data courtesy of LCdr Neil S. Bell)

(LCdr Neil S. Bell Photo)

Squid Anti-Submarine Mortar Mk. IV, (Serial No. C1185), (Depth Charge Thrower).  This Squid is mounted on board HMCS Haida in Hamilton, Ontario. The Squid 3-barreled 300-mm (12-inch) mortar was the best anti-submarine weapon of the Second World War. Ordered directly from the drawing board in 1942, it was first installed in the corvette HMS Hadleigh Castle in September 1943. In July 1944, HMS Loch Killin sank the first submarine (U-333) to be destroyed by a Squid. Many RCN destroyers, destroyer escorts, and frigates were equipped with one or frequently two Squids. Normally fired ahead of the ship, the Squid could be aimed up to 30° either side of the bow. The elevation of the tubes could be varied to produce different impact patterns. The pattern was intended to encircle the target and the simultaneous explosions would crush the pressure hull of the submarine. CWM.

(Alex Comber Photo)

FMC 3-inch/50 Twin Gun Mk. 33, HMCS Qu’Appelle McKenzie class destroyer.

Canadian Artillery

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3607616)

Polsten 20-mm Quadruple Anti-Aircraft Gun Mk. I, mounted on a CMP truck.

(Author Photo)

Polsten 20-mm Quadruple Anti-Aircraft Gun Mk. I on a wheeled Mounting C Mk. I, (Serial No. 15939). The John Inglis Company designed the quadruple mounting for the Polsten 20-mm cannon in1942. After firing trials and road, tracking, and movement trials in 1943, the prototype was sentto the UK, where the British trials were very successful. The mounting was adopted for use by the Canadian Army and entered production in 1944. In the final analysis, however, the 20-mmgun was not widely used during the Northwest Europe campaign, because of the Allied air superiority. The gun was used in the ground role.

The mounting was powered by a 5-horsepower gasoline engine and could be operated using hydraulic power or manually. Using hydraulics, it could rotate one complete revolution in six seconds. Each gun was fed from a 60-round drum magazine weighing 29 kg (64 lb). Magazines could be changed easily. The armoured shell formed the frame structure of the mount and protected the gunner. The whole assembly was mounted on a wishbone trailer. The sights were either reflecting or tachymetric (speed measuring). Approximately 441 of the mountings were manufactured. The Polsten cannon was a simplified version of the Oerlikon 20-mm cannon and fired the same ammunition. Canada manufactured 10,000 Polsten cannon during the war. The 20-mm gun was removed from service after the war because of its low hitting power, the short firing time (8 seconds) which was limited by the 60-round magazines, and the frequent stoppages of the Polsten guns that were never really eliminated. CWM 19600010-001. (Doug Knight)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3193087)

Sexton 25-pounder C Mk. 2 Self-propelled Gun assembly, Montreal Locomotive Works, Quebec, Aug 1944.

(Author Photos)

Sexton 25-pounder C Mk. 2 Self-propelled Gun (Serial No. 613).

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3204964)

Projector, Rocket, 3-inch, No. 8, Mk. 1 - The Land Matress, Multiple Rocket Launcher (MRL), being loaded by Gunners of the 1st Rocket Battery, RCA, Helchteren, Belgium, 29 Oct 1944.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3601142)

Projector, Rocket, 3-inch, No. 8, Mk. 1 - The Land Matress, Multiple Rocket Launcher (MRL), 1st Rocket Battery, RCA, Helchtgeren, Belgium, 29 Oct 1944.

(Author Photos)

Land Mattress 3-inch Multiple Rocket Launcher (MRL), No. 8, Mk. 1 - AC Cars 1945, (Serial No.  108). Officially known as the Projector, Rocket, 3-inch, Number 8, Mark 1, the Land Mattress was aunique Canadian weapon. A British officer invented it, but when the British Army took nointerest, the Canadian Army in Britain took over its development. In nine weeks, the first tenlaunchers were constructed “for trials” using research funds and 10,000 rounds of ammunitionassembled. They were then used in operations.The rocket was a combination of surplus 76-mm (3-inch) Royal Air Force rocket motors, surplusRoyal Navy warheads, and an army fuse that had been scrapped for safety reasons. CanadianBase Workshops constructed the adapters to fit the pieces together. The rockets were handassembled by the gunners in the firing battery, mixing parts until they found ones that would fittogether. In terms of effectiveness, each rocket was roughly equivalent to a medium artilleryshell from a 5.5-inch gun. A salvo from one launcher had the equivalent impact of two mediumregiments, and the battery equalled 16 medium regiments. Each launcher fired its 32 rounds in 8seconds, followed by about 15 - 30 minutes to reload.

The launcher was used by 1 Rocket Battery, RCA, which was a small cadre of officers and NCOs who were superimposed on an existing under-employed light anti-aircraft battery who carried out the work. The battery carried out their first “operational trial” against open-topped gun positions at Flushing on 1 November 1944. They supported every major offensive carried out by the 1st Canadian Army for the rest of the war. The infantry were very happy with the results. The First Polish Division credited the Land Mattress with the success of their attack on Breda-Moerdijk from 6-8 November 1944. Several full battery salvoes (up to 382 rounds each) were fired into the German positions during the attack. The Germans had 150 killed and 400 captured, while the Poles had twelve casualties. The “trial” launchers had 32 tubes. A second production batch had only 30 tubes, and the CWM artefact is one of this group. CWM 19940001-019. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photos)

155-mm C1 (M1A2) Medium Howitzer on M1A2 Carriage, aka M114, manufactured at Sorel Industries Limited in Quebec, Queen Elizabeth II cypher.  CFR 0034400.  The carriage plate reads: CARR. HOW. 155MM M1A2 CDN. SOREL INDUSTRIES LTD. CANADA (1956), REG. NO. CDN 166, INSP (Symbol).  Breech block SIL 179.  This gun was in service with “Z” Battery, RCHA. The C1 155-mm Towed Howitzer is an American M1 howitzer on M1A2 carriage manufactured under licence in Canada by Sorel Industries in Sorel, Quebec. The howitzer uses separate-loading ammunition (the projectile is loaded and rammed into the chamber, after which the propellant charge is loaded and the breech is closed). A small primer (that looks like a blank rifle cartridge)is fitted into the breech and the C1 is ready to fire. On firing the barrel recoils through the sleeve– the outer part of the barrel is a machined surface. It can be fired from the wheels, but normally, it is raised onto the firing jack at the front under the shield. Canada manufactured at least 180 C1s in the mid-1950s for the Canadian Army and for other NATO nations. The howitzer was removed from service with the introduction of the M109 self-propelled howitzer in late 1968.The CWM has two artefacts. Howitzer 00-34414 (manufactured in 1955, carriage number CDN5, breech block number SIL 12)was proof-fired at Nicolet, Quebec, on 3 September 1956, and served with the 3rd Independent Medium Battery (Militia) in Kingston, Ontario, until 1964.Howitzer 00-34400 (manufactured in 1956, carriage number CDN 166, breech block number SIL179) was proof-fired at Nicolet, Quebec, on 8 November 1957 and served in “G” troop, “Z” Battery, from 1958 until 1966 when the battery was disbanded. During this time, it fired morethan 1,600 rounds. The battery was part of 2 RCHA and later 3 RCHA in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1964-65, Doug Knight was the Gun Position Officer in “G” Troop, and 00-34400 was one of his guns. CWM 19960020-001. (Doug Knight)

American Artillery

(Author Photos)

.45-calibre Model 1883 Gatling Gun (one of three). Richard Gatling invented the Gatling gun in 1861,and the first gun was produced a year later. It had six barrels and could fire at a rate of 200 shots per minute. The gun was used during the American Civil War, and was sold to a number of other countries including Russia, France, and Britain. The gun was produced in a number of calibers from half-inch to 1 inch, but by 1883 the majority were chambered for the standard American army .45/70 cartridge. A Gatling gun was used against Louis Riel’s Métis at the Battle of Batoche in 1885. Captain A.L. Howard, an American army officer who was under contract to the Colt Firearms Company, manned the gun. The gun was a model 1883.

(Author Photo)

75-mm M20 Recoilless Rifles. The CWM has three, similar to this one on display outside the PPCLI HQ, CFB Edmonton, Alberta.

75-mm M4 series cutaway gun, (Serial No. 1885), mounted on an iron dolly for training.

(Author Photo)

American 90-mm M1A1 Anti-Aircraft Gun, (Serial No. 29012).  America designed the 90-mm anti-aircraft gun in 1938 and approved it for production in 1940.By the time of the North African landings in 1942, more than 2,000 guns had been issued. It became the standard American mobile medium anti-aircraft gun during the war. It was used with the M33 fire control system that include a radar to locate and track the target, a predictor to estimate the future location of the aircraft, and an automatic fuse setter and rammer to speed up the loading process. Canada bought 400 “slightly used” M1A2 guns in the early 1950s to replace the aging 3.7-inch guns, which had been produced in Canada during the Second World War. The 90-mm gun remained in service until 1960, and was the last medium/heavy anti-aircraft gun used in Canada. When the Canadian Army received the CWM artefact (#29012) in 1964, the gun was assigned to128 Heavy Anti-aircraft Battery, RCA, in Picton, Ontario, and probably remained with that unit until the gun was removed from service. CWM 19660030-001. This AA gun was transferred on long term loan to the Lincoln and Welland Regiment Museum. (Doug Knight)

(IWM Photo, H 36315)

British Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) officers-in-training operate a searchlight in Western Command, 28 February 1944. Second Subaltern (2/Sub) Janet Holland is nearest the camera with 2/Sub Eileen Eteson behind. The ATS officers were required to spend six weeks at a searchlight site in order to have first hand experience of the work and conditions of the women under their future command. This is a 90cm projector. The operator moves the light using the wheel at the end of the long arm, in the foreground. This arrangement allowed the operator to stand outside the glare of the lamp. (Wikipedia)

American Dynamotor SD4 6ABB Type D 60-inch Searchlight. Also produced in Canada. Used by Canada: 1939 – 1960. Shortly before the Second World War, the Canadian Army ordered 80 American-designed 60-inch searchlights from Canadian General Electric in Peterborough, Ontario. Delivered in 1940-41, the lights were used as part of the harbour defences on both coasts and in Newfoundland. The lights were mounted on a trailer with a beam concentrator to give greater range. They put out 800,000,000 candlepower, and on a clear night, they could illuminate a ship at a distance of 8 kilometres (5 miles). The CWM artefact was used as an experimental unit at Shirley’s Bay, near Ottawa. CWM 19680056-001. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photo)

106-mm M40A2 Recoilless Anti-Tank Gun, (Serial No. 9611), mounted on an M38A1 CDN3 Jeep. The 106-mm Recoilless Rifle is a lightweight recoilless gun, which can function in either the anti-tank or anti-personnel role. The calibre of the rifle is actually 105-mm, but it was designated106-mm to distinguish it from an unsuccessful predecessor. The M79 mount can be carried on a vehicle or deployed on the ground. The M-8C spotting rifle on top of the barrel fired projectiles that matched the ballistic trajectory of the 106-mm ammunition. The gunner fired the spotting rifle until he hit the target, and then fired the main gun.

In Canada, the 106-mm Recoilless Rifle came into service in the mid 1950's, mainly to cover the zone inside the minimum effective range of the SS-11 anti-tank guided missiles. It was retired from the Regular Force in 1976 with the introduction of the TOW missile system and was replaced in the reserves in 1988 by the Carl Gustaf gun. The CWM artefact is mounted on an M38A1 CDN3 jeep.

When a recoilless rifle is fired, it vents some of the propellant gases out of the breech (similar toa rocket). This eliminates the recoil, but creates a significant blast signature, which extends in acone-shaped fan 68 m (75 yd) deep and 136 m (150 yd) wide. This gives away the gun’s positionand forces a “shoot and scoot” tactical doctrine. It also prevents the gun from being used undercover, such as in a bunker or building. (Doug Knight)

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762-mm M31/M50 Honest John Rocket (replica), hanging from the ceiling.

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105-mm C2 M2A5 Howitzer, CDN 80, 1942.

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155-mm M109 Self-propelled Howitzer, (Serial No. 77249), 1985, AC: TX, ECC: 119205 HUI C: 2184, SAUI C: 2184, VMO No. DLE26843, VMO Date: 13 May 2002.

A self-propelled (SP) gun or howitzer supports the infantry with indirect fire – the target cannot be seen from the gun. However, unlike a towed gun that needs a truck to move it from one gun position to the howitzer is permanently mounted on a mobile chassis – normally tracked, but there are exceptions. Light armour gives the gun detachment some protection from shell splinters and small arms. A limited amount of ammunition is carried on the chassis, and an ammunition vehicle normally accompanies the howitzer.

After a long development process, the M109 entered production in late 1962, and eventually 3,786 howitzers were manufactured for the US and other countries. It entered service in the USA in 1963. A longer barrel was fitted starting in 1970, which increased the normal maximum range to 18,000 m (19,700 yd). The range could be increased to about 30,000 m (32,800 yd) using rocket assisted projectiles. In addition to its normal ammunition, the M109 could fire improved conventional munitions (flechettes, cluster bomblets, and mines) and a small nuclear warhead.

The Royal Canadian Artillery took delivery of 76 M109 howitzers in 1968, and used them in Germany and in Canada. It replaced the 105-mm C1 and 155-mm C1 towed howitzers, although the 105-mm howitzer remained in service. Over the years, the guns were upgraded to their final M109A4 version. RCA regiments normally used the M548 Cargo Carrier as an ammunition vehicle. The First Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery was the first Canadian unit to fire the gun in Germany in 1968, and on 25 February 2005, at the end of a two-day exercise in Shilo, Manitoba, fired the last round by a Canadian M109 (an illumination shell), ending a thirty-seven year career. CWM 20030358-019. (Doug Knight)

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20-mm M61A1 Vulcan Cannon, 1959.

60-mm Mortar.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3191580)

4.2-inch Mortar fired by Canadians of the Kensington Regt, British 49th Div, Zetten, Netherlands, 20 Jan 1945.

4.2-inch Chemical Mortar No. 1.

4.2-inch Chemical Mortar No. 2.

French Artillery

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French Cast Iron 13-inch Mortar, C, 4338, on the barrel, (Serial No. 22) on the right trunnion, 1, 30-48-cm bore, ca. 1758, from the Fortress of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia,.

(Doug Knight Photos)

Bronze Smoothbore Gun, 42-mm bore, (Serial No. 738 on trunnions), unmounted, marked “Des Indes Compagne de France”, “Fait par GOR a Paris 1732”.  An old CWM Ledger from 1910 noted that this gun was used in the war between the English and French East India Companies 1746-1766.  Unfortunately, there is no record of how it came to the Archives before it came to the CWM.  (Data courtesy of Doug Knight)

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French 75-mm M1897 Field Gun (Canon de 75-mm modèle 1897), (Serial No. 14391), mfr ABS 1917. The “French 75” was the first fully integrated quick-firing gun, and in 1897, it was definitely world-class. Its design incorporated many innovative features. It had a recoil mechanism that absorbed the energy of the gun on firing and returned the barrel to its firing position without the carriage moving to the rear. With previous guns, the whole carriage moved to the rear on firing, and had to be pushed back up into position for the next shot. This made consistent aiming between rounds almost impossible and was a major source of exhaustion for gun crews. TheM1897 had a special safety mechanism that prevented the breech from opening in the event of a hang-fire (the propellant not being ignited). Its quick-acting breech and fixed ammunition (the shell and propellant were fixed to a brass cartridge case) allowed fast loading and gave a good rate of fire. It had an automatic fuse-setter for shrapnel shells .But despite considerable mythology, by the beginning of the First World War, it was outperformed by its competitors, such as the British 18-pounder and the German 77-mm 96nA,which both out-ranged the M1897 and fired heavier shells. By the end of the First World War, France had manufactured more than 17,000 M1897 guns. Some were upgraded in the 1930s, and it remained the main field gun in the French, American, Polish, and a number of other armies until the 1940s.The French 65th Field Battery used the CWM artefact. This type of gun was captured by the Germans in 1940 and used against the Canadians at Dieppe in 1942.The bulky attachment at the muzzle was to support the gun during recoil. The barrel has a long recoil, putting great weight on the elevating system at full recoil. To support the barrel, the muzzle has a roller system that slides under a flange to support the barrel and relieve the load. The rollers are covered by a sliding cover when the gun is in battery. CWM 19390002-083. (Doug Knight)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3607690)

Canadian Army T30 Howitzer Motor Carriage halftracks equipped with a 75-mm M1897A4 howitzer, aka "French 75" in Italy ca 1944. While engaged in the fighting at Anzio, Italy in April 1944, the First Special Service Force (FSSF) acquired a Gun Company from an American Ranger  unit, "Darby's Rangers".  This unit was equipped with four T30 Howitzer Motor Carriage halftracks equipped with a 75-mm M1897A4 howitzer, aka "French 75".

(Author Photo)

French 80-mm M1878 Mountain Gun, Puteau AC 1879.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No.  4235904)

SS.11B1 Nord Aviation MCLOS wire-guided anti-tank missile, mounted on a 3/4-ton truck.

First fired in 1960, the SS-11 was a wire-guided anti-tank missile that was designed to be launched from a vehicle, a helicopter, or the ground. France eventually delivered more than 330,000 SS-11 missiles to more than 20 countries. The anti-tank warhead was capable of penetrating 60 cm (24 in) of armour plate, which could destroy any tank of the period. An operator, looking through a telescope, used a joystick to control the missile until it reached the target up to 22 seconds after being fired. Accuracy depended heavily on the skill of the gunner, who required continuous training to maintain his proficiency.

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British Hotchkiss 1.65-inch (42-mm) Light Mountain Gun mounted on a German Boer War Gun carriage. Benjamin B. Hotchkiss (1826-85) was an American inventor, whose guns were manufactured in Britain, France and America. This artefact has not been completely identified, but the gun is definitely a Hotchkiss 6-pounder, but the carriage is not associated with the gun, and the gun could not be fired from this carriage. Canada used the 6-pounder from the early 1900s until the Second World War, when it was still in use as a “bring to” gun for the Examination Service at defended ports on both coasts. The carriage is a Boer War trophy that originally mounted a 9-pounder muzzle loading rifle. CWM 19660045-003. (Doug Knight)

German Guns

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German Boer War 75-mm Krupp QF Field Gun, Boer War Trophy, (Serial Nr. 1888), stamped 1892.  British forces captured this gun at the November 1900 Battle of Bothaville.  It was one of six guns imported for the Orange Free State Artillery Corps in 1892.  It was given to Canada as a war trophy, and was displayed on Parliament Hill in 1906. Just as the Spanish Civil War provided a testing ground for German and Italian equipment before the Second World War, so did the South African War provide a similar opportunity for proving contemporary French and German Artillery. These guns were superior to those in use at the timeby the British Army. At the beginning of the war, Boer guns frequently outranged British Artillery, and British gunners were surprised at the way in which the Boers moved their heavyguns about the countryside. The Krupp guns were identifiable by their horizontal sliding block breech mechanism. The sliding block method allows a rapid rate of fire, and is still in use inmodern QF equipments. The Krupp ammunition was said to be reliable. Shrapnel was of cast iron and held 103 bullets.The Boers used the CWM artefact during the Boer War in South Africa. After the war, the gun was brought to Canada and was displayed on Parliament Hill until 1906. CWM 19830573-008. (Doug Knight)

The Oranje Vrijstaat Artillerie Corps made use of the “export model” of the German horse artillery’s 8-cm leichtes Feldgedchütz Material C/73. Officially it was denoted as: 7.5cm Krupp: Feldkanone L/27, but during the Boer War it became known as the “Free State Krupp”.

In 1890 Captain Albrecht, Prussian CO of Free State Artillery, persuaded the Free State Government to order their first guns from Krupp and by 1893 the Corps had six of these, numbered 1 to 6 and dated 1892. In a report Albrecht noted: “not only can they be handled rapidly and safely by the men, but they are extremely accurate and have a highly desirable effect.” After the Jameson Raid, in 1896, the Free State Volksraad realised that their existing armament was still not sufficient. So, during 1897 a further eight guns, numbered 7 to 14 and dated 1897, as well as nine ammunition wagon/limber combinations were imported from Germany. The only difference between the two batches that are discernable on contemporary photographs is the design of the wooden brake beams of the gun carriages. The first six guns were equipped with curved brake beams, while the second batch had straight beams. The second batch also carried a large Free State coat-of-arms engraved on top of the barrel, just behind the trunnions.

The gun was of a steel construction, strengthened by a steel jacket at the breech end. The breech opening was closed by means of a sliding cylindrical wedge breech block, which opened to the left and was locked by a half turn screw process. It was made gas-tight by means of a steel Broadwell ring in the breech end of the chamber and a steel removable plate on the face of the breechblock, which fitted against the expanding steel ring.

The gun was mounted on a sturdy steel carriage which adapted well to the South African veldt. Maximum elevation was 24° achieved by means of a two-part telescopic screw turned by a horizontal hand wheel. Wheel brakes were used to control recoil, but these were not really adequate. The brakes were applied by turning a hand wheel on the front, centre of the gun, between the axletree mounted seats.

Ignition was by means of friction tube, which fired through a channel constructed transversally through the wedge (or breech block), the housing projecting above the breech. As with the three guns described before this, a bagged black powder charge was used to drive the shell, the shell employing the double copper drive/stabilising band principle. When fired the black powder caused an extremely visible smoke cloud, which made concealment almost impossible. Ring segment, shrapnel and case shot were used with percussion and time fuses, but shrapnel range was short compared to newer guns of the Anglo-Boer War. To lay the gun a right trunnion mounted front sight and tangent rear sight were used.

Although semi-obsolete by the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, these guns were the Free State Artillery Corps’ mainstay weapons and they took part in most of the Free State’s battles.  14 guns were captured, abandoned or surrendered, and of these, gun No. 3 (including its carriage and limber), was allocated to the Minister of Militia & Defence, Ottawa, on 17 Sep 1904.

Source: Oranje Vrijstaat Artillerie Corps historical study and re-enactment group.

A Boer 37-mm Krupp/Gruson QF (Schnellfeuerkanone L/30) gun (Serial No. 41001), captured near Pretoria, was shipped to Canada in 1904.  This trophy gun, possibly one identified as the Transvaal Gruson, is located in Brimfield, Massachusetts in the USA.  The present owner bought the gun from an iron monger, but it was imported to South Africa in 1891 and after its capture, was issued to Canada in 1904.   The breech carries the number 41001, while the trunnions are marked 49 kg and 1889.  It is currently mounted on a 60-mm Krupp BL mountain gun’s carriage.

Source: Oranje Vrijstaat Artillerie Corps historical study and re-enactment group.

Not found in the CWM, but of significance in relation to the guns captured during the Boer War and sent to Canada, is a Broadwell 65-mm Rifled Breech Loading Mountain Gun, Model 1873, mounted on an 1890 Nordenfelt 3-pounder Carriage on display at Fort Frontenac, Kingston, Ontario.

This gun is known locally as "the Kirby Gun" because it was rescued from Petawawa by then Colonel “Kip” C de L Kirby after being sent there for the ranges from storage at Fort Henry.  It was presented to the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College at Fort Frontenac, Kingston by Brigadier-General Kirby in 1979 when he was the Commandant of the college (1977-1979).  (BGen C de L Kirby, PPCLI, born 16 Oct 1924, died on 17 Mar 2011 in Kingston).  The gun is probably a war trophy allocated to Canada after the Boer War.  (Note: There is no QF 3Pdr Nordenfelt in Kingston, although the 65-mm Broadwell has a plaque on it identifying it as a 3Pdr Nordenfeldt).

In the 18702, four breech loading guns were purchased in Germany for the Boers.  On 15 July 1873 these four guns and some other equipment were shipped from Hamburg, Germany to the Transvaal, South Africa.   The guns that were supplied carried the inscription “Patent von Broadwell & Co.” and “Carlsruhe” engraved on their breeches.  Broadwell & Co. was founded by the American/Russian inventor of the Broadwell ring, Lewis Wells Broadwell, in Karlsruhe in 1866 to manufacture breech loading guns with his own patented expanding ring gas check.  Krupp may have supplied the steel for these guns.  They were the first rifled breech loading guns imported by the Transvaal and they formed the backbone of its first official artillery unit, the Batterij Dingaan.

The guns were equipped with rectangular, horizontal sliding breech blocks, which opened to the left. Some of the guns have an inscription on the breech noting the guns make use of a Broadwell ring, probably manufactured from copper, to affect gas sealing.  Ammunition consisted of lead coated shells, with bagged black powder cartridges and friction tubes to fire the gun.  A centre mounted rear sight and a raised front sight at the muzzle, which was cast integral with the barrel, were used to lay the guns. Originally the guns were imported mounted on light steel carriages with small wooden wheels, but later the same guns also appeared on larger wooden field carriages.  

When Britain annexed the Transvaal a year later all four guns were confiscated. In British hands one or more were used during the Sekukuni and other campaigns of 1878, while Col. Rowland’s No.5 column had one gun at the beginning of the Anglo-Zulu War, but it does not appear to have seen any action.

During the 1880-81 Transvaal War the four Batterij Dingaan guns were used against their former owners in defence of the British garrison besieged in Pretoria. One gun, mounted on a wooden carriage, was stationed at Fort Tullichewan, while the remaining three guns were used by other sections of the garrison to defend the Convent Redoubt, Fort Commeline and Fort Royal. After the Boer victory at Majuba the four guns were handed back to the Transvaal Government and became part of the newly formed Staatsartillerie.

Ammunition listed in the magazine book of the 1882-1883 Njabel campaign indicates that some of the 65mm guns were present in the Boer laager during this campaign. In March 1887, Zboril proposed that the guns should be converted to faster moving field guns by the addition of horse harnesses. Mounted on their small steel carriages they would have been liable to overturn when towed at higher speeds and this is another possible explanation for the appearance of the large-wheeled wooden field carriages. No mention of the 65-mm guns seeing action during any of the other native wars could be found, but annual defence reports of the 1890s stated that the republic still had the four guns and that common shells with percussion fuzes, shrapnel with time fuzes, incendiary shells and case shot were in use.  After the Jameson Raid in 1896 two of the guns were stationed in Krugersdorp for use by the Krugersdorp Volunteer Corps.  

A few weeks before the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War Capt. Thomas Kroon of the Staatsartillerie reported that two of the “old 65-mm Krupp guns” were standing in the Johannesburg Fort. On 31 May 1900 British forces advanced into the abandoned Johannesburg and found the two guns still standing in the fort. A list of “Guns, ammunition etc. in the Fort Johannesburg” compiled by General Marshall of the Royal Artillery in June 1900, identified them as: “Two 65mm (about 6 pdr) Krupp guns with old wooden carriages + limbers. Both guns are marked Patent Broadwell, Carlsruhe, 1873 on the face of the breech, and 1 and 3 respectively on the chase.” There were also “about 500 shells in very bad order for these”.  At least one of the 65mm guns, mounted on the larger wooden field carriage, saw active service during the war and was photographed outside Mafeking.

After their capture, two Johannesburg guns (No. 1 & 3) were shipped to Woolwich, in May 1901 aboard the Templemore.  No.4 was shipped from Durban aboard the SS Inyati on 10 October 1903.  In 1904 No. 1 was donated to the Superintendent of Parks, Queens Park, Glasgow, while No. 4 went to the Chief Ordnance Officer in Belfast. No.3 was allotted to the “Minister of Militia and Defence” in Ottawa.

Source: Oranje Vrijstaat Artillerie Corps historical study and re-enactment group

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3403104)

German First World War 7.92-mm Maxim Spandau MG 08 Machinegun being assembled by German Prisoners, Camblain-l'Abbé, France, May 1917.

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German First World War 7.92-mm Maxim Spandau MG 08 Machinegun (Serial Nr. 4943), 1917, mounted on a Schlitten stand.

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German First World War 7.92-mm Maxim Spandau MG 08 Machinegun (Serial Nr. 2685), unmounted, part of a battlefield diorama.

German minenwerfer (trench mortars) were considered infantry weapons and were issued to infantry regiments and battalions in the First World War. They could be broken down into easily carried loads. The minenwerfer sat on a platform (or base plate) and could be emplaced in a narrow trench. They were fired at a high trajectory, and their shell dropped almost perpendicularly, so fire could be delivered close to friendly troops. However, their short range forced the minenwerfer to be placed close to the front lines. The ammunition supply then became a problem because the carriers could be interdicted by enemy fire – especially from machineguns. Germany produced a number of minenwerfer in calibers ranging from 76-mm to 240-mm. The CWM has several minenwerfer in the collection.

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German First World War 7.58-cm leichtes Minenwerfer neuer Art (7.58-cm leMW), (Serial Nr. 18328), AEG M1916, mounted on an iron carriage.  12 Can MG Coy on the box trail. The 7.58-cm leMW held by the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa is painted a dark olive green.  Unlike modern mortars, the German minenwerfer in the First World War had a recoil-absorbing mechanism. They were muzzle loaded, and the propellant charge was contained in the base of the projectile, with the gas expanding through the bottom of the shell. The short barrel and the resistance imposed by the rifling did not allow loading the projectile to generate enough force to ignite the propellant so a simple firing mechanism was fitted. The trigger had to be cocked and fired by hand after loading. On its original platform mounting, the M1916 New model Light Minenwerfer could not fire at an angle of elevation of less than 34 degrees. Early in 1917, the Germans modified the carriage to allow flat-trajectory fire. This was an attempt to replace the heavier (and more expensive) field guns that were needed to fight tanks in the front trenches. Because of the need to move the trail, traversing the weapon was more complicated than on its original base plate. The CWM has two M1916 minenwerfers. The flat-trajectory carriages are of different construction, but are of similar design and function. CWM 19390001-650 and CWM 19930039-001.

Other 7.58-cm leMWs across Canada, like the one with the RCA Museum at CFB Shilo, Manitoba, are painted in a field gray colour.  One in the Charlottetown Armoury is painted in a combination of grey and black. (NB – German practice was to use cm instead of mm to identify the calibre of guns).

The official paint schemes for German First World War artillery can be complicated:   In 1914, the standard scheme used on all German Guns was Feldgrau Overall.  The exact shade of this Feldgrau - literally: “Field Grey” - was investigated in the 1990-ies when a replica A7V was built in Germany: a large number of surviving First World War equipment was examined for traces of colours, and it was found out that what is called "Feldgrau" was in reality a pretty wide spectrum of colours, ranging from Green to Grey.  This means that it is hard to go really wrong on "Feldgrau".  If one is to recommend one colour, however, to use for Feldgrau it is the Humbrol #31 Slate Grey.   Guns painted in Feldgrau could be seen all through the war.

In 1915-16 the first real camouflage schemes started to appear.  The plain Feldgrau colour was supplemented by other colours – the Feldgrau was not over-painted per se. What colours to use and in what patterns, was left to the units themselves. This in turn often depended on what front the equipment was employed.  A gun used in Champagne, were the earth was very bright, almost white, was camouflaged with a much lighter colour, than a gun used, say, at the Somme, were the ground was more yellow in hue. Anyway: the Feldgrau base were given blotches or bands, or patches AND bands, of Green, Brown, Yellow, even Blue and/or White.  There were wide variations.

In 1917 the Army started to regulate the camouflage schemes used on the Guns.  After tests (using observers in planes) some colours used earlier were ruled out as ineffective: namely White, Bright Yellow ("hellgelbe") and Bright Blue ("hellblau").  The colours that was to be used henceforth, in this so called Buntenfarben Anstrich was Sand, Green and Brown (two hues have been observed: Mid-Brown and Brick-Red), painted in irregular blotches and separated by thin Black lines.  This was basically the standard scheme up until the end of the war.

(Author Photos)

German First World War 7.58-cm leichtes Minenwerfer neuer Art (7.58-cm leMW), (Serial Nr. 5160), AEG M1916, rifled, stamped 2108625, jk, 2660, 5169, mounted on wooden carriage wheels.  Captured by the 20th Battalion at the Cité St. Emile, North of Lens, France, on 15 August 1917.  This leMW n.A. is marked “captured and claimed by the 3rd Can TM” on the rotator/base plate (most likely the 3rd Canadian Trench Mortar Battery).

German First World War 5-cm leichtes Granatwerfer 36 (5-cm lGrW 36) (Serial Nr. unknown).

German First World War 5-cm leichtes Granatwerfer 36 (5-cm lGrW 36) (Serial Nr. unknown).

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3397826)

German First World War 9.15-cm leichtes Minenwerfer System Lanz, captured at Vimy Ridge by the Canadians, being examined by Prince Arthur of Connaught May, 1917.

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German First World War 9.15-cm leichtes Minenwerfer System Lanz, (Serial Nr. 4785JP).  Captured by the 18th Battalion at Vimy on 9 April 1917. The Lanz Minenwerfer was a crude pattern of trench mortar that quickly became obsolete. Its main advantages were simple construction, and light weight. The entire weapon platform had to be lifted and turned in order to traverse the mortar. CWM 19940001-018.

The 9.15 cm leichtes Minenwerfer System Lanz (Trench mortar) was a light mortar used by Germany and Austria-Hungary in the First World War.  It was a smoothbore, breech-loading design that used smokeless propellant.  It was chosen by the Austrians as an interim replacement for their 9 cm Minenwerfer M 14, pending development of a superior domestic design, which eventually turned out to be the 9 cm Minenwerfer M 17.  The older Austrian design had a prominent firing signature, a less effective bomb and shorter range than the Lanz.  Over 500 were ordered with deliveries beginning in April 1917.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3797870)

German First World War 24-cm Flügelminenwerfer ‘Iko’, Albrecht, captured by Canadians. September, 1917.  

(Author Photo)

German First World War 24-cm Flügelminenwerfer ‘Iko’, Albrecht, (Serial Nr. unknown), no markings. The Albrecht mortar is unusual in that the main structure is wood, with a thin metal liner inside the barrel and reinforcing metal wires and bands wrapped around the barrel. The mortar can be traversed about 30 degrees right and left by sliding the front support on a rail. Elevation changes are accomplished using a hand wheel on a threaded rod. Once laid, the mortar would be locked in position by tightening nuts on the frame. Accuracy was probably very low and the range was limited from 50 to 550 m (54 to 600yd). CWM 19390002-138. (Doug Knight)

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German First World War 7.7-cm Feldkanone 96 neuer Art (7.7-cm FK 96 n.A.), (Serial Nr. 204). Captured by the 72nd Battalion on 9 Oct 1917 near Vimy on the Sunken Road 250 yards SW of Givenchy, France.  This gun has a blown barrel.

German First World War Beobachtungswagen fűr feldartillerie (observation wagon), reference David Nash, GermanArtillery 1914-1918, London, Altmark Publishing Company, 1970, page 22. The wagon carried a tripod structure, on which was mounted a stand with an armoured shield for an observer. The stand could be mounted on the ground, or on the wagon itself, in several different heights depending on the situation. Field telephone equipment was carried in the wagon and telephone line could be paid out from the rear of the wagon. The reference has several good photographs. Each battery of German field artillery had one observation wagon. Six horses towed the wagon.CWM 19390002-102

(Author Photo)

German First World War 7.7-cm Feldkanone 96 neuer Art (7.7-cm FK 96 n.A.), (Serial Nr. 13224), 1918, Krupp Ehrhardt, converted to QF 77-mm.  Captured by the 3rd Battalion near the Arras-Cambrai Road, North of Bourlon Wood, France, on 27 September 1918.  This gun is mounted on a British Naval/Coast Defence Mounting. The 77-mm Feldkanone 96 n/A was introduced into German service in 1896, modified in 1905 and 1906 and was the main gun in the German Field Artillery until replaced in 1916. The CWM artefact’s gun barrel was manufactured in 1906, and was probably the 635th gun made in that year. The crest on the barrel is German. The CWM artefact was either captured by the British or supplied to them as apart of the reparations after the First World War. It was taken into service as the QF 77 mm Mk I gun, and was been mounted on a pedestal for naval or coast defence use. Markings on the gun indicate that it was taken into service in 1918. CWM.

German First World War Beobachtungwagen für feldartillerie, Artillery Observation Wagen.

(Author Photos)

German First World War 8.8-cm L/30C U-boat Deck Gun from U-91, (Serial Nr. 1972), Fried. Krupp AG 1916, 488KG stamped on the breech, 1972L on the trunnion, 510 F.N. 532, 1972.0 on the barrel.  SM U-91 was a German First World War Type Mittel U submarine launched in 1917.  SM U-91 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) during the First World War.  U-91 served with III Flotilla from 13 December 1917 to 11 November 1918.  During its service, this submarine conducted eight patrols and sank 37 ships and damaged two.  U-91 took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic and remained in service until it was surrendered to France on 26 November 1918.  U-91’s deck gun likely came to Canada before the submarine was broken up at Brest, France in July 1921.

The 88-mm/30 Ubts L/30 was designed at the end of the nineteenth century for use on coastal and river gunboats. It was later adapted for use in First World War U-boats. The CWM artefact was originally installed in the Type UB III coastal U-boat UB 91. The boat was laid down on 23September 1916, and commissioned on 11 April 1918. Commanded by Wolf-Hans Hertwig, UB91 carried out two patrols, sinking five ships of a total weight of 16,448 tons. UB 91 surrendered on 21 November 1918, and was broken up at Briton Ferry in 1921. UB 91 displaced 516 tons on the surface and 651 tons submerged. She was capable of 13.6 knots on the surface (8 knots submerged), and had a range of 14,464 km (9,040 miles) at 6 knots on the surface (88 km (55miles) at 4 knots submerged). She carried ten torpedoes, and could dive to a maximum depth of75 metres (246 ft). UB 91 had a crew of 34 all ranks. (Source: U-boats.net). CWM19390002-558.

(Author Photos)

German First World War 15-cm schwere Feldhaubitze 1902 (15-cm sFH 02), (Serial Nr. 877), no data, Fried Krupp AG, 1916.  1182 on the carriage.  This gun was originally allocated to Hamilton, Ontario. The 150-mm schweres Feldhaubitze m/02 (s Fh m/02) began life in 1893 as a rigid-mount gun(on a field carriage with no recoil system). In 1899 Krupp used the barrel as the basis for a gun with a modern recoil system, resulting in the s Fh m/02. It was the first gun in the German Armywith a modern recoil system. It entered service in June 1903. At the beginning of the First World War, Germany fielded 416 of these heavy howitzers. It took an average of 17-18 minutes for a battery to deploy from the march to firing the first round. The gun could be converted into two loads for mountain use. The CWM artefact was manufactured in 1916, was shipped to Canada as a war trophy in 1919 and spent 75 years in Dundurn Park in Hamilton, Ontario. CWM 19940038-002. (Doug Knight)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3397960)

German First World War 21-cm Mörser blown on its side from an explosion of a nearby ammunition dump destroyed by Canadian Artillery fire, Arras, Oct 1918.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3406014)

Canadian troops with captured German First World War 21-cm Mörser.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3397919)

German First World War 21-cm Mörsers being inspected by General Currie.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3397820)

German First World War 21-cm Mörser Heavy Mortar damaged by shellfire, being examined by a Canadian Officer, May 1917.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3397825)

German First World War 21-cm Mörser Heavy Mortar damaged by shellfire, being examined by a Canadian Officer, May 1917.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3397851)

German First World War 21-cm Mörser, Vimy Ridge, captured by the 27th Bn, Aug 1917.  Although Germany called the 21-cm Langer Mörser a mortar, it was closer in design to a heavy siege howitzer. Based on an 1898 mortar, it was redesigned by Krupp in 1910 and again in 1916to increase its range while limiting the increase in weight. Because of its weight, at first it was divided into two loads for horse transport. The CWM artefact is a later carriage intended to be towed by a vehicle or tractor. The large pads on the wheels reduced the ground pressure and eased the load. The 1910 and 1916 versions were among the most important German heavy howitzers of the First World War and together fired more than seven million shells. Some were modernized in 1934-35, but only 28 remained at the beginning of the Second World War. CWM 19940038-001. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photos)

German First World War 21-cm Mörser 1910 neuer Art Heavy Mortar, (Serial Nr. 679), Krupp AG, Essen, 1916.  Captured by the 18th Battalion.  Originally allocated to Hamilton, Ontario.

There aren't very many of these 21-cm 21-cm Mörsers left in the world.  Of the three that survive in Canada, there is this 1910 model in the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, another 1910 model in Battlefield Park, Quebec City Park) and a 1916 model in the Quebec Citadel.

In the UK, there are three 1910 models, with one each at Bovington, Duxford, and Inniskilling.  Australia has two 1910 models with one each at Childers and Melbourne, and three 1916 models, with one each at the Australian War Museum Canberra, another at Hobart and the third (with a blown barrel) in the Australian War Museum at Mitchell.  Another 1916 model is with the Peter Jackson collection at Omaka, New Zealand.

In the USA, there are four 1910 models with one each at Bloomington, Illinois, Clackamas, Oregon, Hickory, North Carolina, and Lowell, Montana).  There are ten 1916 versions, with one each at Waterbury, Connecticut (Serial Nr. 1233), Kennedy Park, Fall River, Massachusetts (Serial Nr. 839), Fort Meade, Maryland, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Columbus, Kansas, Harrisonburg, Virginia, (Serial Nr. 913) Newport News, Virginia Wars Museu, Virginia (Serial Nr. -82), Victoria, Virginia (Serial Nr. 883), Corporal Willis S.Cole Military Museum, Kirtland, Washington, and Spring Green, Wisconsin (locked in full recoil position, damaged).

One is located at Spandau, Germany, one 1916 model is with the Musée Royal de l'Armée (presented with the tube in transport position on a Rohr Wagon) in Brussels, Belgium, and one 1916 version is with the Finnish Artillery Museum at Hameenlinna, Finland.

(Author Photos)

German Second World War 7.5-cm leichtes Infanteriegeschütz 18 (7.5-cm leIG 18), short-barrelled Field Gun stamped with German emblem, 2682, (Serial Nr. R1285), 1927. The infantry gun was operated by infantrymen, providing them with fast, guaranteed, fire support. The German army retained their infantry guns throughout the Second World War, although they were gradually replaced with mortars. The IG 18 was one of the first guns issued to the German army after the First World War. It was mechanically unique, in that the rear end of the barrel lifted clear of the breech for loading, similar to the mechanism of a shotgun. The wooden-spoked wheels indicate that this gun was normally horse-drawn. A lighter version could bebroken into six mule-pack loads or ten man-pack loads for use by mountain troops. CWM 19390002-080G. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photo)

German Second World War 8.1-cm Schwerer Granatwerfer 34 (s.Gr.W.34) (Serial Nr. unknown).

(Author Photo)

German Second World War 7.92-mm MG 42 Machine Gun.

(Author Photo)

German Second World War 2-cm FlaK 30 Anti-Aircraft Gun, 1936, (Serial Nr. 466). The 20-mm (0.79 in) Flugabwehrkanone 30 anti-aircraft(AA) gun was designed in the 1920s and 1930s and entered service in 1934 in the German Navy, and in 1935 with the Luftwaffe. The gun was really a heavy machinegun, fed from a 20-round box magazine, and was capable of single shot and automatic fire.

The 20-mm (0.79 in) Flugabwehrkanone 38 anti-aircraft (AA) gun replaced the Flak 30 that had been used in the Spanish Civil War. The earlier gun was redesigned to provide effectively double the rate of fire. Most of the changes were internal and, since the Flak38 kept the same mounting, there were few visible differences. By the end of the Second World War, Germany had more than17,500 2-cm AA guns in use. The Flak 38 was also mounted on a light-weight tubular frame for use by mountain and airborne troops. Late in 1940, a four-barrelled mounting, the Flakvierling 38,entered service. Later versions were fitted with radar. CWM 19450034-001.

The mounting was on a highly mobile trailer, and the gun could easily be detached and placed on the ground. The gun was also mounted on railroad cars and trucks. Its first sight was complex and difficult to manufacture and maintain and was replaced by a simple open sight. Although some Flak 30 remained in service throughout the Second World War, the Flak 38 replaced most of them early in the war. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photo)

German Second World War 2-cm Flakvierling 38, FlaK 38 Anti-Aircraft Gun, Rheinmetall (Serial Nr. 10660), W646, W648, mounted on a wheeled trailer.

(Author Photos)

German Second World War 8.8-cm FlaK 37 Anti-Aircraft Gun, (Serial Nr. R534), Gallery 3. Originally designed in 1931, the German 8.8 cm Flugabwehrkanone (Flak) was one of the best known weapons of the Second World War, with more than 10,700 being produced. It was widely used as a heavy anti-aircraft gun for the defence of German cities and industry. In the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930's, the Germans realised that the Flak 37's high muzzle velocity and heavy projectile made it an outstanding anti-tank gun. Although it was difficult to conceal, it could penetrate the armour of any Second World War allied tank. The gun had such a legendary and notorious status with allied soldiers that any loud noise was liable to be labelled an "eighty-eight". The CWM gun is the Flak 37 version, and differs from earlier models by having a three-part barrel and an improved gun-laying mechanism for anti-aircraft use. CWM 19890086-698.

(Author Photos)

German Second World War 60-cm Anti-Aircraft Searchlight. The 60-cm (23.5 inch) light searchlight used a 60-cmdiameter glass parabolic reflector that provided a 250-mm focal length. Powered by an 8-kilowatt generator, its high current density arc lamp produced 135 million candlepower. This gave a focussed beam range of 4,500 mat 1,500 m height (5,000 yd at 5,000 ft), or a dispersed beam range of (3,500 yd). A Venetian blind type shutter covered and exposed the light. The light was mounted on a two-wheeled trailer, similar to the 20-mm Flak mounting. A light truck carrying the crew and generator towed the searchlight. The five-man crew consisted of the section commander, controller (who aimed the light), attendant (who focussed the beam), generator attendant, and driver. Searchlights were used in the anti-aircraft role, but normally in the rear areas and not in the frontlines. They could also be used to support attacks and provide general illumination by reflecting the light off clouds. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photo)

German Second World War Rheintochter Anti-Aircraft Missile.

(Author Photos)

German Second World War 2.8-cm schwere Panzerbüchse 41 Anti-Tank  Gun (sPzB 41), (Serial Nr. BpK 1333), stamped 9/277, MEL 600.  This Gun was collected in Northwest Europe before 12 Oct 1944 and shipped to Canada from CMHQ in the UK after 7 Nov 1944. The barrel of the Schwere Panzerbüchse 41 (s PzB 41) tapers from a diameter of 28 mm (1.1 in)at the breech to 20 mm (0.79 in) at the muzzle. The ability of a solid shell to penetrate armourdepends on the muzzle velocity of the gun. In a tapered bore, as the projectile moves down the barrel, it is squeezed to a smaller diameter, increasing the muzzle velocity and the armourpenetration of the shell. Officially named a heavy anti-tank rifle, the s PzB 41 was the first gun with a tapered bore to enter service in the Second World War. It was effective against the relatively lightly-armoured tanks at the beginning of the war, but its small calibre was inadequate against the heavier armour of the later Allied tanks. Because of a shortage of tungsten, which was needed for its ammunition, the gun was phased out by 1944.It was normally carried on a wheeled trailer. The wheels were only for manhandling the gun into position. Once in the firing position, the wheels were removed and the gun stood on a pedestal for firing. It could be broken down into five loads for man packing or for mule transport. There was an airborne version with a light tubular frame carriage. Some people consider the s PzB 41 to be the first German secret weapon, because the British were totally unaware of its existence until it was encountered in the Western Desert in 1941. At first, British experts did not believe the reports because they did not think that the technology was feasible. CWM 19500010-007. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photo)

German/Austrian Second World War 4.7-cm Böhler Da 44/32 M35 Anti-Tank Gun, (Serial Nr. 35447). The Böhler Model 35 was first produced in 1935 and was widely used in Austria, Poland, Italy, Russia, Romania, and the Netherlands. Despite its export success, it was not a good gun, because it lacked both hitting power and a protective shield for the crew. Germany captured and used a number of guns early in the Second World War. Because of its light weight, it was issued to mountain troops. There were many variants of the gun with different barrel lengths, and some were fitted with muzzle brakes. In action, the wheels could be removed to lower its silhouette. Most versions could be broken down into separate loads for pack transport. CWM 19450034-014. (Doug Knight)

(Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-299-1831-26)

German Second World War 3.7-mm PaK 36 Anti-Tank Gun in service in Northern France, summer 1944. The invasion of the Soviet Union brought the Pak 36 face to face with large numbers of T-34 and KV-1 tanks, which were invulnerable to its fire. However, 91% of the Soviet tank forces in 1941 consisted of lighter types that lacked sufficient armor to defeat the gun, and the Pak 36 knocked out thousands of such tanks.  The Pak 36 was replaced from late 1940 onward by the 5 cm Pak 38 anti-tank gun and from November 1941 by the 7.5 cm Pak 40. This process was accelerated by the engagements with the modern Soviet tanks, and Pak 36 production ceased entirely in early 1942.  (Wikipedia)

(Author Photos)

German Second World War 3.7-cm PaK 36 Anti-Tank Gun , Rheinmetall, (Serial Nr. 1937), RMB 14182. The 37-mm Panzerabwehrkanone (Pak) 36 was first issued in 1936, and was field-tested in the Spanish Civil War. the standard German anti-tank gun at the beginning of the Second World War. More than 20,000 guns had been issued by the middle of 1941. Although weak in penetration, it more than made up for this by its mobility. It was also sold to the Soviet Union in reasonable quantities (before 1940). Normally towed by a light truck, its crew could manhandle the gun with special leather straps. Later, as it was outmatched by improvements in Allied tanks, a spigot bomb was issued. Its armour penetration with standard AP ammunition was 49 mm (1.9 in) at 30° at 365 m (400 yd), and 180 mm (7.09 in) with the spigot bomb, which had an effective range of only 300 m (328 yd). The Pak 50 replaced the Pak 36 starting in 1941. CWM 19700094-002. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photos)

German Second World War 5-cm PaK 38 (L/60) Anti-Tank Gun, Rheinmetall Borsig, (Serial Nr.  R8453), 1942, stamped BS FL549csh, Mr Fl 860csh. The 50-mm Panzerabwehrkanone (Pak) 38 was developed in 1938, but not issued until late 1940.It was first used in the Greek and Libyan campaigns of 1941.The gun was conventional pattern and was fitted with a muzzle brake and a semi-automatic breech (on recoil, the breech opened automatically, ejecting the spent cartridge casing and staying open to receive the new round). Although normally towed by a half-track or small truck, it had a castor wheel that could be attached to the trail to assist in manhandling. It had a 5-mmarmour shield with a bottom flap. Later in the war a hollow charge stick bomb was developed to improve its performance. It weighed 2.33 kg (5.14 lb), could penetrate 180 mm of armour, and had a maximum effective range of 150 m (165 yd).The gun was also used by the Luftwaffe as a stop-gap anti-aircraft gun (Flak 214) and continued in use with the Bulgarian army after the war. CWM 19450034-012.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3394488)

German Second World War 15-cm Nebelwerfer 41, six-barrelled Multiple Rocket Launcher, captured by Canadian troops near Fleury-sur-Orne, France, 20 July 1944.

(Author Photos)

German Second World War 15-cm Nebelwerfer 41, six-barrelled Multiple Rocket Launcher (Serial Nr. unknown).

(Author Photo)

German Second World War 21-cm Nebelwerfer 42 five-barrelled Multiple Rocket Launcher, 1944, BEQ 43, (Serial Nr. 988), FeH 43. The five-barrelled 21 cm "Nebelwerfer" 42 rocket projector entered service in 1943. The five barrels are mounted on a split trail carriage with a supporting leg at the front to improve stability on firing. All five rockets could be fired in eight seconds, and three salvos could be fired in less than five minutes. In flight, the rockets made a distinctive sound, resulting in the system being called "Moaning Minnie" by Canadian troops. CWM 19500013-001. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photos)

German Second World War 7.5-cm Leichtgeschütz 40, (LG 40) Recoilless Rifle, Airborne Forces, stamped FL 390, BWO, Eagle and swastika, (Serial Nr. R287JT0), stamped  4116/R287JT/F1390. A recoilless rifle vents propellant to the rear of the gun on firing, removing the need for a complicated system to absorb the recoil. However, this results ina large blast of debris behind the weapon, which makes concealment difficult. The 75-mm Leicht Geschütz 1 (LG 1, also known as the LG 40) was the first recoilless rifle to be introduced into German service. It was built in four parts for easy dropping by parachute, but most of the guns were used by mountain troops. Approximately 450 guns were produced. CWM 19500032-030. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photo)

German Second World War 8.8-cm Raketenwerfer 43 “Puppchen” (hollow charge rocket launcher), 1943, (Serial Nr.  RW 3935). The 88-mm (3.5-in) Raketenwerfer (rocket grenade thrower) 43, also known as the “Püppchen”, fired a rocket projectile from a closed breech to get increased range. The Püppchen was mounted on a two-wheeled, single-trail carriage with protective shield with no recoil mechanism. The recoil was completely taken up by the trail and spade. It has a simple hinged breechblock with striker mechanism. No traversing or elevating wheels are provided on the carriage; the gun must be held at the required elevation by a spade handgrip and manually traversed on a traversing slide. The weapon has a front sight and an adjustable rear sight mounted on the barrel. The rear sight is graduated from 180 to 700 m (195 to 765 yd). The wheels could be removed to lower the weapon, and skis could be fitted for operation in snow. It was not widely used because it wasexpensive, and did not significantly increase the range of the earlier launchers. Approximately 100 were produced and issued to troops. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photos)

German Second World War Sturmgeschütz StuG III Ausf G SdKfz 142/2 Assault Gun, Barrel (Serial Nr. R5453). The StuG III was designed as an armoured close support vehicle with a low silhouette. To reduce the height, the gun was mounted in the chassis, rather than in a turret. This restricted the traverse of the gun and required close co-operation between driver and gunner. At first the StuG III mounted the short-barrelled 75-mm gun, but this was later upgraded to the long-barrelled 75-mmgun that was mounted in the Panzer IV tank. Some variants mounted a 105-mm howitzer. The StuG III was based on the Panzer III tank chassis. It was popular with its crews and especially with the infantry it supported. More than 10,500 StuG III were built. CWM 19880069-939 Located in Gallery 3.

(Author Photos)

German Second World War Jagdpanzer IV/70 (V) 7.5-cm Tank Destroyer.  Early 1945 production vehicle, captured by the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division near Wilhelmshaven, Germany in May 1945.

Italian Second World War 45-mm 45/5 Modello 35 Brixia Light Trench Mortar.

Italian Second World War 81-mm Mortaio da 81/14 Modello 35  Mortar.

(Author Photo)

Howitzer, Pack, 105-mm, L5, (Serial No. 057734). The L5A1 was designed and built in Italy as a lightweight 105-mm howitzer. It is manuallyoperated, and fires standard NATO 105-mm artillery ammunition. It can be broken down into twelve loads for transportation by air or by mules. It was air-portable, air-droppable and could beslung underneath the Bell UH1 Iroquois helicopter. It could be towed by a jeep or carried as a portee in a 2½-ton truck. The wheels can be fitted in two positions, the normal field position with the wheels over-slung, and the anti-tank position with the wheels under-slung. Production began in 1957 and ceased in 1984 with some 4200 weapons delivered. The weapon has seen action in many combat areas, including by the British in South Yemen and Borneo, and New Zealand in South Vietnam. Argentina used the weapon in the 1982 Falklands campaign. Canada purchased the L5 in 1968 to equip light artillery batteries and the airborne battery. Being lightly constructed, the gun had more than its share of maintenance problems (like shedding the wheels and shooting the muzzle brake off the end of the barrel). The CWM artefact was serialno. 70-34900 and is missing its muzzle brake. CWM 19990197-001. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photos)

Japanese 20-mm Type 98 Anti-Aircraft Machine Gun/Cannon, (Serial No. 177/836) (1). The Type 98 20-mm anti-aircraft/anti-tank cannon was a light dual-purpose weapon. It was the standard mobile anti-aircraft gun used by the Japanese Army in the Second World War. Armour piercing ammunition was available, but it was too small calibre to be effective as an anti-tank gun. The 2-wheeled mount could be towed by a vehicle, manhandled, or broken down into mule or horse-pack loads. It could be fired from its wheels, but normally the outriggers were deployed to give a more stable platform with complete 360-degree traverse. An experienced crew could prepare the gun for anti-aircraft firing from its travelling configuration in less than three minutes. The gun was fed from a 20-round box magazine. CWM 19500001-001. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photos)

Japanese 75-mm Type 41 Mountain Gun, 1908, (Serial No. 10441), 799. The Type 41 was patterned from a pre-1914 German Krupp gun, and issued in 1908 as amountain or pack gun. In 1935, the Type 41 was issued to Japanese infantry regiments as a direct support weapon. A trained crew could easily disassemble the gun into six 90 kg (200 lb) loads in three to five minutes. Each load could be carried by a two-man team using a pole. CWM 19500010-009. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photo)

Russian 14.5-mm Vladimirov ZPU-4 Quadruple Anti-Aircraft Gun wheeled mounting, (missing the guns). The ZPU-4 is a quadruple anti-aircraft version of the basic Soviet 14.5mm machine gun. Introduced in 1949, it was used in Korea and was later considered the most dangerous opposition to U.S. helicopters in Vietnam. Iraqi forces used it during Operation Desert Storm. The CWM artefact was captured from the Iraqi army during the Gulf War of 1990. It is missing the machineguns. CWM 20000103-001

(Author Photo)

Russian 76.2-mm ZIS-3 M1942 Divisional Field Gun, (Serial No. 766104). Design of the 76.2-mm ZIS 3 Model 42 field gun began in May 1941. The gun consisted of anew barrel on the ZIS-2 gun carriage, with a muzzle brake that absorbed 30% of the recoilenergy. The prototype passed its trials in July 1941. After the German invasion, Stalin orderedpriority production of anti-tank guns, effectively prohibiting production of the ZIS-3, but thedesigner was able to secretly get an order placed. Officially, the ZIS-3 was accepted for serviceon February 12, 1942, and named the 76-mm Divisional Gun Model 1942, but because of thesubterfuge, by that time, the Red Army already had at least 1,000 guns. Eventually, about 48,000ZIS-3 were manufactured. After the Second World War, it remained in service in the WarsawPact and other countries. It was still in service in Yugoslavia in 1990. CWM 19660016-005. (Doug Knight)

Russian 82-mm M1937 Mortar (three).

Russian 82-mm B-10 Recoilless Anti-Tank Gun.

(Author Photo)

Russian 107-mm B-11 Recoilless Anti-Tank Gun, (Serial No. 1195). The B-11 is a smoothbore recoilless anti-tank weapon, normally used in infantry battalions. Easily towed by a jeep-type vehicle, such as the Soviet UAZ 4x4 truck, the gun can be fired withits wheels attached, or on the ground with the wheels removed. The B-11 was widely used in bythe Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact and Soviet-allied nations. Egypt used this particular gunin the 6-day Arab-Israeli war in 1967. CWM 19760347-001. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photo)

Russian 120-mm M1943 smoothbore Heavy Mortar, also known as the SAMOVAR. The 120-mm Model 1938 mortar was one of the best mortar designs of the Second World War. It combined a heavy projectile with a good range, and a system that was mobile and easy to put into action. The Germans were sufficiently impressed that they copied the design. It was towed on a two-wheeled limber and normally accompanied by a two-wheeled ammunition cart carrying 20 rounds of ammunition. The 1943 version was similar to the 1938 version, except that it used only a single shock absorber on the bipod mount. CWM 19660016-008. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photo)

Russian 122-mm M1938 M30 Howitzer (Serial Nr. 2669), designated 12.2-cm FH 396(r) in German service.  This gun came to the CWM from the Canadian School of Military Intelligence (CSMI) in 1966. The 122mm howitzer M-30 (M1938) was introduced into the Soviet Army shortly before the Second World War to replace the many obsolescent howitzers that were still in service. The Soviet Union produced more than 17,800 M30 howitzers during the Second World War. After the war it became the standard divisional howitzer in the other Warsaw Pact nations and was sold to many other countries. Some remain in service today. CWM 19660016-006. (Doug Knight)

(Author Photo)

Russian 122-mm M1931/37 (A-19) Field Gun, (Serial No. N463). The A-19 guns were used in Soviet corps artillery and in supreme command reserve formations during the Second World War. At the beginning of the war more than 1,200 A-19s were in Soviet service, and almost 600 remained at the end of the war. Approximately 200 were captured and used by the Germans, including some in France that were used against Canadian troops. The North Koreans also used the A-19 in the Korean War. CWM 19660016-007. (Doug Knight)

Swiss Artillery

(Author Photo)

Oerlikon 35-mm twin cannon towed anti-aircraft gun system.

References (compiled by Doug Knight)

Barnes, Leslie W. C. S. Canada's Guns, An Illustrated History of Artillery. Canadian WarMuseum Historical Publication No. 15. National Museums of Canada, 1979.

Blackburn, George G. Where The Hell Are The Guns: a soldier's eye view of the anxious years, 1939-44. McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, Ontario, 1997.

Blackburn, George G. The Guns of Victory: a soldier's eye view, Belgium, Holland, andGermany, 1944-45. McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, Ontario, 1996.

Blackburn, George G. The Guns of Normandy: a soldier's eye view, France, 1944. McClellandand Stewart, Toronto, Ontario, 1995.

Chamberlain, Peter and Gander, Terry. Anti-tank Weapons. London, MacDonald and James, 1974.

Chown, John. The 9-Pdr Muzzle Loading Rifle. Museum Restoration Service, 1967.

Clark, Dale. British Artillery 1914-19. Osprey Publishing, Botley, 2004.

Hogg, Ian V. Allied Artillery of World War I. Ramsbury, Crowood Press, 1998.

Hogg, Ian V. Anti-aircraft Artillery. Ramsbury, Crowood Press, 2002.

Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War II. London, Greenhill Books, 1997.

Hogg, Ian V. British and American Artillery of World War II. London, Greenhill Books, 2002.

Hogg, Ian V. Tank Killing. New York, Sarpendon, 1996.

Knight, Doug. The Land Mattress in Canadian Service. Ottawa, Service Publications, 2003.

Knight, Doug. The 6-pounder Anti-tank Gun in Canadian Service. Ottawa, Service Publications,2004.

Knight, Doug. The 25-pounder in Canadian Service. Ottawa, Service Publications, 2005.

Nash, David. German Artillery 1914-1918. London, Altmark Publishing Company, 1970.

Nicholson, Lt-Col G. W. L. The Gunners of Canada, the History of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, 2 Volumes. Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1972.