Canadian War Museum, Artillery from pre-Confederation to 1918 on display in Ottawa, Ontario

Artillery on display in The Canadian War Museum from the early years of Canadian history to the end of the First World War

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 [email protected].

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 and into 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.  

(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).