Artillery in Canada (7) New Brunswick: St. Charles, St. George, St. Stephen, Sussex, and Woodstock

Artillery preserved in New Brunswick

Artillerie préservée au Nouveau-Brunswick

St. Charles, St. George, St. Stephen, Sussex, and Woodstock

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

Note: Back in the day, artillery in Canada was referred to by its radio call sign "Sheldrake".  It is now referred to by its "Golf" call sign.  (Acorn sends)

Une traduction au français pour l'information technique présente serait grandement apprécié. Vos corrections, changements et suggestions sont les bienvenus, et peuvent être envoyés au hskaarup@rogers.com.

New Brunswick

St. Charles

American 90-mm M1A2 anti-aircraft gun (Serial No. 1857), 1943, wt 2,505 lbs, private owner.

St. George

(Harold Wright Photos)

(Author Photos)

(Harold Wright Photo)

Cast Iron 9-pounder 13-1/2-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, weight 12-2-26 (1,426 lbs), the number 6 is at a right angle to the King George III cypher (dating the gun as manufactured sometime between 1760 and 1820), the trunnions are covered by a wood naval gun carriage, 3.5-inch bore.  No. 1 of 2 at 4 New Street in front of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch No. 40.

Before being installed in the front of the Legion, these guns had been abandoned in the field at the bottom of Fort Hill.  Oral history suggests they were the cannons used in the defence of both Fort Vernon and Fort Carleton.

(Author Photos)

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(Harold Wright Photos)

Cast Iron 9-pounder 13-1/2-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, weight 12-2-26 (1,426 lbs), 2 beside the King George III cypher, trunnions covered by a wood naval gun carriage, 3.5-inch bore, No. 2 of 2 in front of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch No. 40.  Before being installed in the front of the Legion, the cannons had been abandoned in the field at the bottom of Fort Hill.  Oral history suggests they were the cannons used in the defence of both Fort Vernon and Fort Carleton.

105th Anti-tank Battery, 3rd Anti-tank Regiment, RCA.

On D-Day, the 6th of June 1944, the 3rd Canadian Anti-Tank Regiment R.C.A. landed on Juno Beach in Normandy, France as part of the Third Canadian Infantry Division.  The regiment consisted of four batteries: the 4th from Peterborough, Ontario, the 52nd from Weymouth, Nova Scotia, the 94th from Quebec City and the 105th from St. George, New Brunswick, along with a headquarters from Toronto.

Originally trained as field artillery, the regiment had been converted to anti-tank.  Each battery had two troops of four 6-pounder anti-tank guns and one of four M10 Achilles Tank Destroyers, the latter being Sherman tanks with a 17-pounder gun and an open turret with a 50- calibre machine gun mounted on the side.  The troops were identified in the batteries as follows: 4th Battery, ABC; 52nd Battery, DEF; 94th Battery, GHI, 105th Battery, JKL; with C, F, I and L being the M10 troops.

(IWM Photo, NA 19759)

M10 Achilles 17-pounder Tank Destroyer crossing the River Savio on a Churchill ARK which was driven into the river, 24 October 1944.

The regiment was responsible for coordinating the anti-tank defences of the division, and the individual troops were generally assigned in support of an infantry battalion where they supplemented the battalion’s own 6-pounders.  The troop commander worked closely with the battalion commander and anti-tank platoon commander.

For D-Day the usual organization was changed to concentrate all four M10 troops under one battery commander.  This provided a strong, mobile anti-tank force for the early stages of the invasion.  (Medland, Stan (1994) "Confrontation in Normandy: The 3rd Canadian Anti-Tank Regiment on D-Day," Canadian Military History: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 6).

(Author Photos)

M10 Achilles IIC 17-pounder Tank Destroyer, similar to the type used by the 105th Battery.  This one is preserved with the 3rd Cavalry Museum, Fort Hood, Texas.

Fort Hill

In 1866, during the Fenian threat, a new fortification called Fort Carleton was constructed on Fort Hill, the high ground near the water tower in St George.  It consisted of a blockhouse and a two gun battery. This defensive work was built at the initiative of the Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Wetmore, the local militia commander, with donations of material and labour, and with some material and equipment obtained from the earlier fortification called Fort Vernon.  Once located at 35 Carleton St, no evidence of the fortifications at Fort Hill remains today.

Fort Vernon

Fort Vernon was built by Loyalist Moses Vernon in response to the American threat in the War of 1812.  It was constructed in June 1812 on the south side of the tidal basin of the Magaguadavic River, on the left or east bank, still within the town limits of St George at 8 South St.  It fell into disrepair and the remains were dismantled in 1866 during the Fenian threat.

Artillery preserved in Saint John, is listed on a separate page on this web site.

St. Stephen

(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 TBC.  The carriage plate reads: CARR. HOW. 155MM M1A2 CDN. SOREL INDUSTRIES LTD. CANADA (1955), REG. NO. CDN 10 INSP (symbol).   The breech block reads: HOWITZER 155MM M1A1 CDN, CANADA, SOREL INDUSTRIES LTD, Date TBC, 3730 LBS, INSP (symbol).  This gun is located at the corner of Church St and Queens Way across from the Milltown War Memorial, several km North of St Stephen town centre.

Sussex

Blomefield Cast Iron 32-pounder 56-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, weight corroded, left trunnion (Carron Serial No. corroded), King George III cypher, broad arrow mark, No. 1 of 2 Guns, mounted on a concrete gun carriage left of the front entrance to the Royal Canadian Legion.

Blomefield Cast Iron 32-pounder 56-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, weight corroded, left and right trunnions corroded, King George III cypher, broad arrow mark, No. 2 of 2 Guns, mounted on a concrete gun carriage right of the front entrance to the Royal Canadian Legion.

Swan Creek

German First World War 7.92-mm Maxim Spandau MG 08/15 heavy machine gun (Serial Nr. 1596), ccaptured by the 10th Battalion, N.W. of Villers-lez-Cagnicourt, France, on 2 Sep 1918.  Allocated to Williamstown, Ontario.  Now with Jason Meade.

German First World War 7.92-mm Maxim Spandau MG 08 heavy machine gun (Serial Nr. 4326), captured by the 54th Battallion at Bourlon Wood, France, on 27 Sep 1918.  It was allocated to Port Hood, Nova Scotia.  Now with Jason Meade.

Woodman's Point, Fort de Nerepice

A French supply fort on the Nerepis River at Woodman's Point, that was built over an earlier Indian fort.  It was abandoned prior to 1755. Also known as Fort Boishébert.   This fort was strategically located at Woodmans Point on the confluence of the Saint John and Nerepis Rivers in New Brunswick.  Originally a fortified Aboriginal village, a small French fort was built at the original site circa 1749 by Charles Deschamps de Boishébert.  The remains of Fort Nerepis and its precise location have never been found; however, the area on Woodmans Point is marked by a cairn and plaque erected by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. The designation refers to the presumed location of the footprint of the fort at the time of designation in 1930.

Woodstock, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery, 89th Field Battery

(Author Photo)

89th Field Battery plaque.

(Author Photo)

Major John Douglas Winslow, MC, Armoury plaque.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3636763)

Painting of Canadians capturing a German First World War 7.7-cm Feldkanone 96 neuer Art (7.7-cm FK 96 n.A.),  entitled "Taking the Guns", ca 1918, by Forunino Matania.

(Author Photos)

German First World War 7.7-cm Feldkanone 96 neuer Art (7.7-cm FK 96 n.A.), (Serial Nr. 2398), no data.  This FK 96 was likely captured ca 1918 by a Battalion of an Infantry Brigade in a Canadian Division with the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), in France.  In July 1920, T. W. Caldwell, MP for Carleton-Victoria, secured this Gun from the Government of Canada for Woodstock.  It was placed on the county lot in front of the Courthouse in a dedication ceremony on 7 Nov 1921.  It was taken into the 89th Field Battery's Major J.D. Winslow Armoury in 2012, and underwent an extensive restoration.  Kings Landing built a new set of wooden wheels to the specifications of the originals.  This involved an extensive search for the right wood, which was eventually found in Nova Scotia.  BID in Woodstock sandblasted the metal parts and repainted the gun in standard grey, the colour chosen for all non-Allied weapons on display.  The gun was placed on a freshly poured concrete pad donated by Keenan Construction in Bedell, at its display site in front of the Carleton County Courthouse on 31 Oct 2017.

(Author Photos)

105mm, LG1 Mk. II Gun, 89th Field Battery, Woodstock, New Brunswick.  Queen Elizabeth II Cypher, LG 105-mm Howitzer.  This gun is in current service.

Woodstock

(Author Photo)

American 90-mm M1A1 Anti-Aircraft Gun, Connell Park.  This gun has been moved and is being restored by Dean and Andrew Draper and Aaron Boumas at Debec.

Woodstock Blockhouse

A British blockhouse was constructed overlooking the Houlton Road ca 1837 - 1840's.  The exact location is not known.

I would imagine that many of you who are reading this book are very likely familiar with the standard routine of military training exercises and the rigours of being in the field in all seasons, not to mention the conditions found on deployment these days. Whether or not you have experienced it, I am sure you can well imagine what it is like to train and work in the heat, the dust and the mosquitoes in summer, the wind, the rain and the mud in the spring and fall, the snow and the cold in the winter and of course the routine day-to-day challenges of combat exercises in the training areas of the Canadian Forces. For most in the Army, this includes CFB Gagetown, CFB Valcartier, CFB Petawawa, CFB Kingston, CFB Shilo, CFB Edmonton, CFB Wainwright, CFB Suffield and all the fields and exercise areas of LFAATC Aldershot and LFCATC Meaford and their environs.

As an Army Officer in the Canadian Forces, it has been my privilege to have served alongside a tremendous number of highly professional military men and women of our nation while taking part in training in Germany, the UK and the USA and while on operational deployments to Cyprus, Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Afghanistan. During my training and military professional development, I have learned much about our long military history. My interest in our multi-faceted historical record has led me to write about it and to seek out the stories about Canada's military servicemen and women and the tools and equipment they used to preserve our security when warclouds darkened our horizons.

As a military history enthusiast, I have learned over the years that there are many with similar interests in preserving our story. We have all seen the odd old gun or retired tank placed on display outside a Militia Drill Hall, War Memorial, city park site or Royal Canadian Legion Hall, and many will have enjoyed visiting a number of our military Museums. The vast majority of retired wartime combat equipment used by members of the CF have dwindled in number, many being scrapped, others being shot up as targets, while a few have been sold to overseas operators and collectors. Fortunately, a handful of important examples of retired CF guns and war machines have been preserved and may be found in a wide variety of locations throughout Canada.

Curators, docents and volunteers working in Canada's military museums have been successful in preserving a good number of retired military weapons of war and many are still being sought after and in some cases, being restored to running condition again. As an artist, photographer and military history enthusiast, I have attempted to keep track of where historic Canadian military equipment has survived and is presently located and to make that information available to others with the same interest. For those of like mind, the purpose of this handbook is to provide a simple checklist of the classic Great War and WWII artillery that is part of our military heritage and a location guide to where they can be found in Canada. The book includes a number of photographs to illustrate an example of each gun wherever possible, and lists the locations of the survivors by province.

The numbers of restored Canadian guns is actually increasing as a few rare examples are being recovered from scrapyards and monument sites and salvaged for restoration. (Ultra rare items such as Skink AA gun turrets come to mind). One of the aims of this book is to help an enthusiast track down these monuments and museum artefacts and to have a simple reference book on hand with more detailed information about them such as a serial number, a Museum location and contact information which might be helpful in learning a bit of the history of a particular vehicle. The guns detailed in this handbook are listed alphabetically by manufacturer, number and type in the order that they came into service with the CF. The data is also appended with a list of most of the current guns found in the various collections and Museums in Canada. The book is also meant to serve as a companion volume to "Ironsides", Canadian Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicle Museums and Monuments, also available online.

It is my sincere hope that more of the guns and artillery found in this list will one day be added to the record of historically important military armament survivors that have been recovered and restored.

Shelldrake can be ordered online in softcover or e-book at these bookstores:

http://www.amazon.ca/Shelldrake-Canadian-Artillery-Museums-Monuments/dp/1469750007/ref=sr_1_44?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331231081&sr=1-44

http://www.amazon.com/Shelldrake-Canadian-Artillery-Museums-Monuments/dp/1469750007/ref=sr_1_45?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331231130&sr=1-45

http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-000542288/Shelldrake.aspx

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shelldrake-harold-a-skaarup/1109124375?ean=9781469750002&itm=46&usri=harold+skaarup

Photos and technical data on artillery preserved in Canada may be viewed by Province on separate pages on this website.

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