Vimy Ridge gun restored
It’s a trophy from the First World War that Doug Reece used to sit on while eating his lunch at The Commons in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Until he realized just how significant it was.
The old German howitzer was in rough shape, and while it had seen action in its time, no one knew exactly where it had been. That’s when a Niagara historian took the serial number and did some research.
“He came back and says, ‘You’re not going to believe this,’” recalls Reece, a volunteer with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment Museum. “He says, ‘You guys have been sitting on a gun that was captured in the Battle of Vimy Ridge.’”
Suddenly, the relic took on new importance. A fundraising campaign was launched in 2009 to restore the 2,447-pound gun, which could fire 34-pound shells about 10,000 yards.
The original aim was to have it ready in 2014, the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. It took longer than expected, but will be ready for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 9).
It will be unveiled at the Lake Street Armoury in St. Catharines Friday for a ceremony starting at 11 a.m., where details of the new Niagara Military Heritage Centre — the gun’s future home — will be announced.
“It’s like night and day,” says museum volunteer Derek Virgoe of the gun’s new look. “You can’t bring Vimy Ridge here, but we have the trophy.”
The extensive restoration includes new wheels, using 100-year-old wood.
Following the Battle of Vimy Ridge, in which Canadian forces struck a huge blow against German defences over four days in France, the 7th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force captured the gun in the small farming village of Farbus, about a mile south of Vimy. It’s believed to be one of nine enemy guns Canadian troops seized and turned against the Germans.
After the war it was brought back to Canada as a symbol of victory. The Canadian government established the War Trophies Commission to distribute the trophies across the nation. The gun captured at Farbus was sent to Queenston in 1920 or 1921, where it was placed in front of a school. It was eventually moved to the village cenotaph, where it remained until 1992.
The Niagara Artillery Association took ownership, but was unable to restore the rapidly deteriorating trophy. It was placed next to the gun shed at Butler’s Barracks in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which appeared to be its final resting place.
But in 2009, the Lincoln and Welland Regiment Museum took over custody with the blessing of Parks Canada, and started restoration once its significance was discovered. Several volunteers and sponsors joined the effort, says Reece.
“Every time I rub my hand down that barrel … you can actually feel the heat from the gun,” he says. “You know that it’s been fired, it’s been in action.”
Once opened, the new heritage centre will include weapons, vehicles and artifacts from the First World War to the war in Afghanistan.