Bringin’ out the BIG GUN

By David F. Rooney 

Revelstoke’s Rocky Mountain Ranger cadets received a real thrill of the military kind on Tuesday when soldiers from the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery detachment that had been posted in Rogers Pass this past winter brought their big gun, a 105 mm howitzer, to the Big Eddy on Tuesday.

“This was a real surprise,” Capt. Miken Rienks said as she and her young cadets watched the regular army soldiers discuss their gleaming green artillery piece.

As a general rule you don’t see artillery in town but you might not have guessed that judging by the serious looks on the cadets faces. They looked as though it was old hat.

“The C3 105 mm howitzer is used for reserve and regular training,” Sgt. Corey Rein told the cadets who gathered at the old Big Eddy School to see the weapon.

Here are some photos of the cadets and the howitzer:

Here's something you don;t see every day — a 105mm howitzer in the Big Eddy. Soldiers of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery who had been stationed in Rogers Pass this past winter brought their big gun to Big Eddy School as a surprise treat for local Rocky Mountain Ranger cadets. David F. Rooney photo
Bombardier Nathan Betz shows off one of the shells used in the this piece of artillery. The 105, which is used for reserve and regular army training as well as domestic fire missions such as avalanche control in the pass (the army deploys larger, but similar 155 mm howitzers for combat missions). David F. Rooney photo
Capt. Miken Rienks (left) and the cadets pose with RCHA Sgt. Corey Rein (second from the right), Bombardier Nathan Betz (right) and Bombardier Shastan Beaumonth-Smith (second from the left). Capt. Kelly Rienks photo