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RCA in newfoundland

genesis98

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I was told by someone that there used to be a RCA unit in St. John's Newfoundland, anybody know if there is any truth to this?
 
Newfoundland formed two regiments for the RA in WW2. The 57th and 59th (Newfoundland) Heavy Regiments. The former fought in North Africa and Italy, while the latter defended Britain’s coasts for three years before fighting in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. I don't believe they ever had an RCA unit.

http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/royal_artillery.html
 
http://canorbat.freehosting.net/rcaorbat.htm

Indicates that 25th Anti-Aircraft Regiment was based in Atlantic Command St. John's-Torbay, Newfoundland Defences and disbanded 31 Jul 45.

dileas

tess

 
Tess,

The 25th was a Canadian, not Newfoundland, unit.

One of the heavy regiments petitioned and was converted to field with 25-pounders. It served in Italy as an army field regiment, that is it was a regiment that was moved around the front to thicken up the support for attacks.
 
Old Sweat said:
Tess,

The 25th was a Canadian, not Newfoundland, unit.

One of the heavy regiments petitioned and was converted to field with 25-pounders. It served in Italy as an army field regiment, that is it was a regiment that was moved around the front to thicken up the support for attacks.

True that,

He asked about RCA, hense I why I posted about the anti aicraft unit.

This is way out my lane, so I just looked in my internet favourites and found the site.

I was hoping to have it go from there.

Damn us infantry types eh ;)

dileas

tess
 
Haven't been on the Rock for some 25+ years but, IIRC, the Royal Newfoundland Reg't had a battery of guns under it's wing.....

Not sure if they were ever converted to mortars but, there ya have it....
 
Geo, the guns are taken care of by the Sappers of 56 Field. They fire the salutes on such occasions calling for it.
 
The guns are purely ceremonial in nature, inherited from I believe, the 57th.
 
Which brings me to another question, are they the only non Artillery unit in Canada to use "the guns" ?
 
There was never an actual RCA unit, but during WWII they had the,

# 166 [Newfoundland] Field Artillery Regiement
# 59 [Newfoundland] Heavy Artillery Regiment

And the guns they have now are operated by the 56th Field.
 
And we fire them proudly too. And we fire the C1 105mm Howitzer  now, properly modifed for ceremonial firing only.
 
I errored in my statement, the 166th (Newfoundland) Field Regiment, was actually the 57th (Newfoundland) Heavy Regiment.

More on this link.

http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/royal_artillery.html
 
So how many "Guns" does 56 have? I've only seen 2 down on Station.
 
genesis98 said:
Which brings me to another question, are they the only non Artillery unit in Canada to use "the guns" ?

I believe the PEIR does the same.
 
When I was in the Reserves many moons ago there were only two guns.

My father was part of the First 400 that shipped out to England. He eventually ended up in the 166th when it was formed and sent to N Africa :warstory:

According to his Soldiers Service and Army Book from his WW II days he served five years and 249 days.

 
Ahhh....
Wasn't sure about who had the "keys" to the guns & allowed to take them out for a "spin".
Was Infantry back then... :sigh:  :shudder: - T'was another life.

A sapper's life for me :salute: :warstory:
 
dapaterson said:
I believe the PEIR does the same.

Correct, they have 2 C1's as well.

I'm not sure how much longer these units will be hanging onto those guns, ceremonial or not.
There is a redistribution plan afoot, and if the decision is to sustain C2 live fire use in RCAS, then those 4 C1 guns would be awfully handy for parts (esp hubs and axles if they're serviceable).
 
During the Second World War.  Royal Canadian Artillery units were sent to Newfoundland to defend much the same as Halifax and Saint John NB and other locations throughout Atlantic Canada.  They wore the Moose head were worn on the sleeve of the Newfoundland field force.
 
There is a possiblity that an "RCA" unit did exist in Newfoundland after Confederation in 1949.  I haven't been able to find a link to a reference but I do recall seeing something a few years ago that suggested the possibilty.  It "may" have been on the regiments.org site which is no longer accessible. Therefore, don't hold the following as gospel.

Under the terms of the Newfoundland Act, one of the requirements for the Canadian government was to establish the Newfoundland Regiment as a reserve unit in the Canadian Army (thus making it the only CF unit that would need a constitutional amendment to be disbanded or made inactive).  As the majority of Newfoundlanders in the late 40s/early 50s with recent combat experience had served in the artillery, it made sense that some form of artillery unit be established to make use of that experience when the Canadian Militia was started in Nfld.  From what I recollect seeing (as noted above), there was formed an element called "166th Field Battery".  Whether this was a separate organization badged RCA or was a part of the (Royal) Newfoundland Regiment is unclear.  However, at one time (probably in the 50s and 'maybe' in the early 60s) some elements of the regiment did wear a "166th" flash in addition to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Canada shoulder badge on their battledress.  The designation 166th was to be in honour (continuation) of the 166th (Newfoundland) Field Regiment RA.  I have been told that a photo showing such a flash maybe in a book titled Better Than The Best, The Story of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment 1795 -1995,  Facey-Crowther, David ed.; I haven't had the opportunity to find this book yet to confirm.

One of the things said about the R NFLD R was that it was the only infantry unit with its own artillery so if this had been formed as an independant battery it was probably quickly incorporated into the R NFLD R.  My uncle once remarked to me after I joined the army (in the 70s) that he had been in the Militia as a gunner(?) for a couple of years around the time he was in his late teens or shortly after; that would make it around 1950.   Unfortunately he is no longer available for me to query but I do remember him being very specific that he had not been in the R NFLD R.
 
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