This was in very bad condition, it had been used as a work horse and to quote the old axiom “it was run into the ground”. Now this vehicle was sent to the same restorer who worked on our gun and this company did a magnificent job of restoration.

Despite this difficult restoration, the gun, ammunition limber and quad were ready for its first parade which was a parade to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of D Day, 6 June 1944 when the allied armies invaded Normandy (France). This gun is dedicated to 9 Field Battery of the 7th Toronto Regiment RCA which fought in Italy in World War II. It also commemorates the 51st Anniversary of the landing of the Canadians at Pachino in Sicily. It also commemorates the Canadian involvement in the Korea War from 1950 to 1953.

Now, all the other arms of the military service have their ceremonial Flags (Regimental Colours) which they can store in repository – however, since the guns are the Regimental Colours of the Royal Regiment of Artillery they cannot be stored away as such and eventually end up ignominiously in the scrap yard when their service is no longer required. The gun is the Colours of the Royal Regiment of Artillery because each gun barrel is inscribed with the Royal Cypher of the reigning Monarch.

The Toronto Artillery Foundation formed the Historic Gun Committee to procure a 25 pdr gun, its ammunition limber and field artillery tractor before this equipment became extinct and the 7th Toronto Regiment RCA, became the custodian and has been tasked to store, maintain, display and parade this famous World War II and Korean War gun as required for various public and/or other functions. This is where the Limber Gunners Association comes into the picture, to relieve the Regiment of these tasks which it is unable to fulfill due to Regimental commitments.

The procurement of our 25 pdr was the first project of the Toronto Artillery Foundation and our gun and limber were located and purchased from 1st Field Artillery Regiment in Halifax, Nova Scotia in early 1994. It required a certain amount of restoration, which was undertaken by a restorer here in Ontario who restored the unit to operational condition.