105mm C1 howitzer

[rob love]

Thanks to a lucky find by a fellow MLUer in Alberta (he can ID himself if he wishes to do so), I recently came into possession of a Cdn C1 howitzer recoil mechanism. Items like these are normally sent for rebuild to the US, or demilled (cut up) however in this case the recoil mech along with it's history book was released as surplus.

I also lucked in that just days after working out the deal to trade for one of the recoil mechs (while in a tent in Afghanistan no less) another MLUer was able to pick it up in Alberta and drop it at my shop in Shilo, where it was waiting for me when I got home.

[rob love]

I got home on leave in early July, so after getting caught up on tasks like yardwork and roofing, I was able to take a roadtrip to my favorite surplus yard, where I had seen some 105 howitzer stuff. Derk Derin also showed up along with another local collector, and with a bit of digging and searching around, the bulk of the carriage was found. Many parts had sunk several inches into the ground, but with a bit of digging, we found about all we were going to find. In total, there was residue from 3 carriages.

[rob love]

The recoil mech was Otis elevator, while the carriage was made by Sorel Industries in Quebec. Both companies had done wartime artillery work, Sorel primarily with the 25 pdr, and Otis with the 40mm bofors.

One shield showed a CFR number of 34110, while the other shows 13 field battery (Portage la Prairie, which is part of 36 field regiment). I'll have to check the CFR history and see if anything still exists on this gun. Other markings found included the FMC decal, and another artillery marking with the letters "AB"

[rob love]

I return to Kandahar in a few days, so everything is being tucked away for the upcoming winter. Before any of it goes together, the easter egg hunt must begin. While the major parts were there, I will need to find all the little bits and pieces like the various brass bushings, castellated nuts, gear box covers, wheel bearings, brake shoes, seals, hub caps....Oh yeah, of course I will also still need the two things that make it a cannon: the barrel and a complete breech ring. If anyone has a line on any of the above, especially if it's located in Canada, please shoot me a line. Cut barrels or breech rings are fine, I am not trying to make a shooter.

[Dan Martel]

Originally Posted by rob love

The recoil mech was Otis elevator, while the carriage was made by Sorel Industries in Quebec. Both companies had done wartime artillery work, Sorel primarily with the 25 pdr, and Otis with the 40mm bofors.

One shield showed a CFR number of 34110, while the other shows 13 field battery (Portage la Prairie, which is part of 36 field regiment). I'll have to check the CFR history and see if anything still exists on this gun. Other markings found included the FMC decal, and another artillery marking with the letters "AB"

Rob,

While I don't know anything about artillery pieces I can identify all of the tactical markings that you have mentioned.

The '13' on the red-over-blue artillery arm-of-service tactical flash is not for the 13th Field Battery. The number '13' was the number allocated for the senior Field Regiment of an Infantry Division. As all of the brigades in the Canadian Army were non-divisional independent brigade groups, every Field Regiment used the tactical number '13.'

The Mobile Command decal came into use after April 1, 1966, when Mobile Command took control of all the Army field forces in Canada after the demise of the old geographical commands.

The 'AB' refers to which Troop in the Regiment the gun belonged to. The letter 'A' refers to the senior Troop in the senior Battery. The letter 'B' refers to it being the second gun of the Troop. Example, the senior Troop had guns sequentially lettered from 'AA' to 'AD' while the second Troop had their guns lettered 'BA' to 'BD.' The junior Troop of the junior Battery would have had their guns lettered 'FA' to FD.'

As to Sorel Industries, I know that they built all of the 155mm howitzers used by the post-war Canadian artillery and I'm pretty certain they produced all of the 105mm howitzers as well.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Dan.

[rob love]

Dan
Great information. So the gun could have belonged to A battery 1 RCHA, prior to them going over to the M109.

Hopefully a check on the CFR history may lead to more information.

I believe Sorel may have built all the Cdn built 105s, but the Cdn 105 fleet was a mix of Cdn and some American built guns. I have seen a few carriages made by pullman, and recall an article on the C1/C3 project which mentioned US made guns.

[Scott Bentley]

Originally Posted by rob love

Dan
Great information. So the gun could have belonged to A battery 1 RCHA, prior to them going over to the M109.

Hopefully a check on the CFR history may lead to more information.

I believe Sorel may have built all the Cdn built 105s, but the Cdn 105 fleet was a mix of Cdn and some American built guns. I have seen a few carriages made by pullman, and recall an article on the C1/C3 project which mentioned US made guns.

Rob, do you need a CFR check on the EDR Viewer?

[Robin Craig]

Very nice find there Rob.

You have quite the eye for finding kit.

Do you know Rob Nixon in the UK?

R

[rob love]

Thanks for the compliment Robin, but my eye for the exotic kit was greatly aided by others this time. Especially the retired weapons tech that came out to help. Laun knows these guns very well, and could differentiate between some old steel pin and a howitzer pin.

I don't know Rob Nixon: should I?

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by rob love

I don't know Rob Nixon: should I?

He's an artillery collector and goes under the name rnixartillery on this forum.

H.

[derk derin]

It's always interesting to hang around with Rob.You never know what adventures await.I can usually spot CMP or Jeep parts but this time,most of the parts were a mystery to me but had fun helping pull them out of the grass.Looking forward to seeing it done!
Derk.

[maple_leaf_eh]

I haven't seen those in service for twenty years. My guess is that gun was one that was PCC'd in the good old days when the excuse was, 'don't worry there's another one in the line up and that is why we bought so many'.

[rob love]

Originally Posted by derk derin

It's always interesting to hang around with Rob.You never know what adventures await.I can usually spot CMP or Jeep parts but this time,most of the parts were a mystery to me but had fun helping pull them out of the grass.Looking forward to seeing it done!
Derk.

Mark my words Derk, you will regret not having bought one of these. Soon they will all be gone.

Over the years Derk and I have propelled each other on to buy stranger and stranger things. I must say I am amazed at some of his willpower these days.