40 mm Bofors AA guns made in GB and US

[ramacal]

Hi John

I'd be interested to know what unit the Grandfather served in as well. 102 LAA was converted in 1941 from the 7th Lincolns and Madame-faloola is based in Lincoln. Very remote possibility of a link I know, but stranger things have happened.

Regards - Rob

[madame_faloola]

Hi Rob and John,

Although I'm in Lincoln at the moment, I am infact a ScaleE brat, and my grandad has only been here a few times. He's from Walsall way, he originally was in the South Staffs branch of the TA (I think) and then served in the 114th LAA regiment, landing on Juno Beach on 6th June at Graye-sur-Mer. He told me he was on the beach for about two weeks and he saw Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Montgomery and the likes land on the beach infront of where he was parked (he hates it when I say that!) So with this new info, there is increasing likelihood that this could be the gun my grandad operated? He metioned they only had four mounted on crusaders but I don't know who he was referring to when he said it. Visiting Normandy again with him this year was interesting as we went in to the Pegasus Bridge museum and he was showing me where he stood and what he did with his mates on the gun that's there. He doesn't tell us much, but we get a little bit more everytime we go.

Rachel

[David Dunlop]

Just to add a little complexity to the earlier asked simple question of who built the 40mm Bofors in Canada, it was, indeed, built by Otis-Fensom Elevator Co. Ltd. in London, Ontario. They also manufactured the 40mm gun barrels and mounting assemblies. In addition they also built the 2 and 6-pdr gun barrels and mountings.

As in any well organized war production effort, the following companies supplied 40mm Bofors parts to Otis:

Atlas Steels Ltd - Welland, ON - 40mm gun forgings
Barnes Wallace Co. Ltd - Hamilton, ON - 40mm gun springs
Canada Electric Castings Ltd. - Orillia, ON - gun castings
Ferranti Electric Ltd. - Mount Dennis, ON - 40mm Bofors magslips
Pressure Castings of Canada Ltd. - Weston, ON - 40mm chargers

40mm ammunition cases were made by:

Aluminum Goods Company - Toronto, ON
Pedlar People Ltd. - Oshawa, ON

40mm shells were made by:

Babcock-Wilcox Ltd. - Galt, ON
Goldie-McCulloch Ltd. - Galt, ON
Ingersoll Machine & Tool Co. Ltd. - Ingersoll, ON
Massey-Harris Co. Ltd. - Toronto, ON
W. H. Banfield & Sons Ltd. - Toronto, ON

Probably a lot of other contributers as well, but thought I'd share what I was aware of so far.

[ramacal]

Next time I go to the National Archives at Kew, I'll check the war diary of 114 LAA as it should tell us what equipment they were using. The information I've got is that HQ, 372, 375 Btys of 114 LAA Rgt RA landed on Juno on 6/6/1944. If you can persuade him gently, you could apply for his service records for free as they will confirm which units he served in. If he does not like to discuss the subject of the war too much, then this may be a little difficult.

Originally Posted by madame_faloola

Hi Rob and John,

Although I'm in Lincoln at the moment, I am infact a ScaleE brat, and my grandad has only been here a few times. He's from Walsall way, he originally was in the South Staffs branch of the TA (I think) and then served in the 114th LAA regiment, landing on Juno Beach on 6th June at Graye-sur-Mer. He told me he was on the beach for about two weeks and he saw Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Montgomery and the likes land on the beach infront of where he was parked (he hates it when I say that!) So with this new info, there is increasing likelihood that this could be the gun my grandad operated? He metioned they only had four mounted on crusaders but I don't know who he was referring to when he said it. Visiting Normandy again with him this year was interesting as we went in to the Pegasus Bridge museum and he was showing me where he stood and what he did with his mates on the gun that's there. He doesn't tell us much, but we get a little bit more everytime we go.

Rachel

[madame_faloola]

Hi Rob,

I know he was 372nd Battery, 114th LAA regiment RA - would the service records give us any other information or just confirm this? He does talk about it, although he is a bit vague about some things, and maybe requesting the records might help him remember a bit better.

Thanks Rob!

Rachel