Historic gun dedicated at Barrack Green Armoury
Published Monday, October 31, 2011
Derwin Gowan, Telegraph-Journal
SAINT JOHN — Arthur Pottle can tell stories about the old gun at the Barrack Green Armoury.
Arthur Pottle, 91, a World War Two veteran, was part of the 3rd Field Regiment that manned this gun on Partridge Island as part of Canada’s coastal defence.
“Part of the reason I’m wearing hearing aids is because I was close to it when it was fired in practice,” the 91-year-old said in an interview Saturday.
That happened on Patridge Island where he served with the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment (The Loyal Company) early in the Second World War. He enlisted in July 1940 following the evacuation of Dunkirk. He later served in France and Italy in the 1st Special Service Force, a Canadian/American commando unit called the Devil’s Brigade.
Lt. - Col. Stephen Strachan with the 3rd Field Regiment speaks at a dedication ceremony for a historic gun that was used on Partridge Island during the Second World War.
On Saturday, he attended the second Atlantic Military Affairs Symposium at Barrack Green Armoury, including ceremonies to dedicate the old gun.
“It helps to remember those who served, and used their time in the service of the country whether it was the navy, army or air force or merchant marine,” Pottle said.
Britain and later Canada listed this gun and another at HMCS Brunswicker as military ordnance for 50 years, from before the Boer War until after the Second World War.
Brig. - Gen. Christopher Thurrott, Commander of Land Force Atlantic Area, who has Saint John family roots, spoke Saturday as did 3rd Field Regiment Commanding Officer Lt. - Col. Stephen Strachan and Honorary Colonel John Irving.
In 1897, the Royal Navy commissioned the 16-gun cruiser HMS Niobe.
“Not as big as a battle ship, but 16 of those on a vessel could do a lot of damage,” Strachan said.
A historic gun that was used on Partridge Island during the Second World War was unveiled at a dedication ceremony held at the Barrack Green Armoury on Saturday.
HMS Niobe served in the Boer War. In 1910 Britain gave her and HMS Rainbow to start the new Royal Canadian Navy.
HMCS Niobe served in the First World War. She was damaged in the Halifax Explosion in 1917. She was broken up for scrap in Philadelphia in 1922.
Canada redeployed her guns to fortifications across the country, including two to Partridge Island—still there when Pottle signed up 18 years later.
In 1947, the two guns were retired. “They were buried after the war, mostly to protect them because there’s nothing worse than oxygen for metal,” Major David Boudreau said.
In 1981, the 3rd Field Regiment sent a group, including Boudreau under Sgt. Ron Wilson, to recover the guns, discovered during historical research. It took two days and a Chinook helicopter.
“It’s hard to believe it was 30 years ago but I’m very, very happy with the way it looks now and glad it’s back here at Barrack Green Armoury,” Boudreau said.
Brig. - Gen. Christopher Thurrott, commander of land forces for the Atlantic area, speaks with Honourary Colonel John Irving at the dedication ceremony.
The gun now at HMCS Brunswicker went to Market Slip, the other to the front of the New Brunswick Museum on Douglas Avenue. When redevelopment started in the 1980s, the gun at Market Slip went to HMCS Brunswicker’s new headquarters on Chesley Drive.
Pottle recalled asking his former student Gary Hughes, at the museum, about the other gun.
“I was wondering when they were going to sand it and repaint it because it started to look a little worse for wear,” Pottle said. “And he said, ‘Well, I can’t tell you. There are plans for it, new plans.’ ”
The plans came to fruition Saturday. “It will be looked after here,” Pottle said.
“The artillery doesn’t have flags like most infantry units,” Strachan said.
“Our colours are our guns,” he said. “Leaving the guns, our colours, on the island, when we left was not really appropriate.”
It suits Boudreau that navy and army units share HMCS Niobe’s guns. “It’s fitting and right that they should have one and we should have one,” he said.
“The duration of a piece of hardware is quite remarkable,” said Thurrott. “We’re going to see the Canadian Army and indeed the Canadian Forces continue to progress in the future, to make sure we meet our security needs, but we need to celebrate our past to look to the future.”
“If you think of the last 100 years, and you think about the people who left Saint John and went away to do terrible things in terrible places to protect their home and country and family, then the least we could do is remember that,” Irving said in an interview.
A historic gun that was used on Partridge Island during the Second World War is unveiled at the dedication ceremony Saturday.
In the 1940s Pottle went to Italy and France. More recently members of the 3rd Field Regiment went to Afghanistan. Pottle was a “Grade 8 drop-out” working at the McAvity foundry when war erupted in 1939. Veterans’ Affairs helped him complete high school then attend McGill University.
He began teaching physical education at 30. He later switched to guidance counselling and history. He retired from Simonds High School in 1984.
Artillery units today work with weaponry more sophisticated than HMCS Niobe’s guns, Boudreau agreed. He will soon train on new LG1 howitzers replacing the old C3s.
“But, pretty much, a tube is a tube, and once you’re a gunner you’re always a gunner,” he said.