War Trophies

The 60th Battalion would claim seven artillery pieces as War Trophies during the battle for Vimy Ridge.

1 – 8” Howitzer Serial Number 473
4 – 5.9” Howitzer Serial Numbers 849, 895, 1001 and 1061
1 – 4.1” Gun Serial Number 2057
1 – 4.2” Gas Shell Gun Serial Number 352

The 8” Howitzer, serial number 473, turned out to be a 5.9 inch howitzer, the Germans called it a 15-cm schwere Feldhaubitze 1902 (15-cm sFH 02). It fired an 89 pound shell a distance of 7.45 Kilometers. It was moved to Quebec City after the war and placed along Ontario Avenue facing the river.

Serial 849 another 5.9 was moved to Westmount, Quebec

2057 a 4.1 inch gun was displayed at the 100th Winnipeg Grenadiers armoury in Winnipeg until it was scrapped.

Serial 352, a 4.2 “gas shell gun” was delivered by the Canadian National Railway to Stewiacke, Nova Scotia on April 8, 1921. Its current location/fate is unknown.

The other three guns, all 5.9 howitzers, claimed by the 60th were eventually credited to other units; serial number 895 by the 43rd Battalion was displayed at Selkirk Manitoba and serial numbers 1061 and 1001 by the 58th Battalion. 1061 was delivered to Lockwood, Saskatchewan by the Canadian National Railway on December 27, 1920. The whereabouts of serial number 1001 is unknown.

Many of the First World War trophies were scrapped during the Second World War; the metal was used to make new weapons.