15th (Vancouver) Coast Brigade
The Royal Canadian Artillery
Canadian Active Service Force
1940
The Royal Canadian Artillery
Canadian Active Service Force
1940
as at 26 December 2019
Sub-units
31st Heavy Battery, RCA, CASF
58th Heavy Battery, RCA, CASF
85th Heavy Battery, RCA, CASF
31st Heavy Battery, RCA, CASF
58th Heavy Battery, RCA, CASF
85th Heavy Battery, RCA, CASF
Key Appointments
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Promotions and Appointments
Major Frederic Clare Underhill is promoted Lieutenant-Colonel and appointed Commanding Officer. Lieutenant-Colonel Frederic Clare Underhill was born in Staffordshire, England on 23 September 1890. His family emigrated to Canada in 1894. He served with the 1st Heavy Battery, Canadian Garrison Artillery and was Mentioned in Despatches. He married Irene Anna Creery on 8 October 1919. Canadian Military Honours and Awards Citation Card |
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Captain John Ross http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/john-ross-as-captain-in-15th-field-regiment-artillery |
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Warrant Officer Class II Thrussell
Sydney Thrussell (left) and his father Warrant Officer Class II Thrussell (right) in front of the Bessborough Armouries in 1940 after Sydney had enlisted with the Royal Canadian Navy. http://www.thememoryproject.com/stories/783:sydney-ernest-cruz-sid-thrussell/ I put in for a draft to join the [RMS] Empress of Japan and I was turned down because of my age, I was only 15 and the skipper on the [RMS] Empress of Asia said he couldn’t let me go because I’d have to have my father’s consent. And I couldn’t get my father’s consent because at that time, he was a regimental quartermaster in the 15th Field Brigade [Regiment, RCA] of Bessborough Armoury in Vancouver and he had left for somewhere. So in about three days time, while we were in dry dock, he called me down and they traced my dad down and he said it was okay for me to go. Veteran Stories: Sydney Ernest Cruz “Sid” Thrussell http://www.thememoryproject.com/stories/783:sydney-ernest-cruz-sid-thrussell/ |
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Gunners Want to See Action
"Gunners Want to See Action" read the caption for this 1940 press photo that looks down the muzzle of a 6-inch gun at Point Grey. The men in the pit are operating the traversing mechanism on the pivot mounting. Early in 1940 the Vancouver newspapers ran a series of morale-boosting articles on the airmen and soldiers guarding British Columbia. One month before the fall of France a correspondent was unfortunate enough to describe the Victoria-Esquimalt gun batteries as "miniature Maginot Lines." On February the 14th Peter Stursberg of the Vancouver Daily Province was allowed to observe a firing practice from the flank observation post at Point Grey. See more... |
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Firing of Stopping Rounds
The firing of stopping rounds was never limited to Point Grey and Point Atkinson. Fort Steveston was designated an examination battery though it was nearly useless in this role; the guns were a thousand yards from the main shipping channel and when the patrol boat intercepted craft both vessels were often hidden from view by buildings on the waterfront. The batteries at Stanley Park and Narrows North were also authorized to challenge ships that had not been cleared by the examination service. Identification at the entrance to the inlet was hampered by fog and heavy weather which forced XV-North to take refuge in Caulfield Cove. At the beginning of the war the battery commanders were reluctant to use their guns to enforce the rules and the operators of small craft were casual about observing security regulations. At Narrows North the new order seems to have begun on a Friday night, February 15th 1940 to be exact, when the merchant ship Queen Maud attempted to make port "with an incorrect signal hoisted." A72-pounder on the gantry fired a plugged shell ahead of her bow and though the ship stopped engines at once she was carried under the bridge by the current. Many north shore residents telephoned the newspapers to find out if the shot they had heard had been fired at an enemy craft. Narrows North was notorious for its accidents. The guns were always kept loaded and a block of wood was used to separate the shell's primer from the electrical firing circuit. When a bombardier was explaining the features of the guns to a recruit he removed the block and then, without thinking, slammed the breech shut. The circuits were live and the weapon fired, sending a round whizzing past the Point Atkinson lighthouse.
Vancouver Defended, Peter N Moogk, pg 98
The firing of stopping rounds was never limited to Point Grey and Point Atkinson. Fort Steveston was designated an examination battery though it was nearly useless in this role; the guns were a thousand yards from the main shipping channel and when the patrol boat intercepted craft both vessels were often hidden from view by buildings on the waterfront. The batteries at Stanley Park and Narrows North were also authorized to challenge ships that had not been cleared by the examination service. Identification at the entrance to the inlet was hampered by fog and heavy weather which forced XV-North to take refuge in Caulfield Cove. At the beginning of the war the battery commanders were reluctant to use their guns to enforce the rules and the operators of small craft were casual about observing security regulations. At Narrows North the new order seems to have begun on a Friday night, February 15th 1940 to be exact, when the merchant ship Queen Maud attempted to make port "with an incorrect signal hoisted." A72-pounder on the gantry fired a plugged shell ahead of her bow and though the ship stopped engines at once she was carried under the bridge by the current. Many north shore residents telephoned the newspapers to find out if the shot they had heard had been fired at an enemy craft. Narrows North was notorious for its accidents. The guns were always kept loaded and a block of wood was used to separate the shell's primer from the electrical firing circuit. When a bombardier was explaining the features of the guns to a recruit he removed the block and then, without thinking, slammed the breech shut. The circuits were live and the weapon fired, sending a round whizzing past the Point Atkinson lighthouse.
Vancouver Defended, Peter N Moogk, pg 98
Walter Harrington's story
Walter Harrington, who became an officer in the regular army found life as a gunner in the Vancouver defences "deadening." His father's service in the British and Canadian armies impelled him to come north in May 1940 from San Diego, California, to enlist in Canada's armed forces. Harrington's past association with the coast artillery of the American National Guard led him to the Bessborough Armouries. "I went in there," he remembers, "and asked the adjutant about getting into the field artillery. 'Oh yes,' he said, 'join us.' I should have known better. So I went and joined the 15th (Vancouver) Coast Brigade." See more...
Walter Harrington, who became an officer in the regular army found life as a gunner in the Vancouver defences "deadening." His father's service in the British and Canadian armies impelled him to come north in May 1940 from San Diego, California, to enlist in Canada's armed forces. Harrington's past association with the coast artillery of the American National Guard led him to the Bessborough Armouries. "I went in there," he remembers, "and asked the adjutant about getting into the field artillery. 'Oh yes,' he said, 'join us.' I should have known better. So I went and joined the 15th (Vancouver) Coast Brigade." See more...
Yorke island - 85 Heavy Battery
Unknown ship. January 1940 - L-R in front of #4 bunkhouse: Bob Luney, Chuck Ketching, Murray Barker, Jim McGerigle, Bob Spring, Jack Mills, Mel Cooper, George Darby, John Larsen, Jimmy Blackburn, Bob Kitching, Harry Willoughby.
Out in February sun- first day of new battle dress issue. L-R: Art Harman, Pete Wright, Percy Fox, Denny Mackie, Jimmy Blackburn, Jim McGerigle, Bob Luney, ?. Front Row: Murray Barker, Walter Chelowsky, 'Cowboy' Emerson, and Harry Willoughby. Taken at the "mini bay" behind searchlight #3 See more...
Unknown ship. January 1940 - L-R in front of #4 bunkhouse: Bob Luney, Chuck Ketching, Murray Barker, Jim McGerigle, Bob Spring, Jack Mills, Mel Cooper, George Darby, John Larsen, Jimmy Blackburn, Bob Kitching, Harry Willoughby.
Out in February sun- first day of new battle dress issue. L-R: Art Harman, Pete Wright, Percy Fox, Denny Mackie, Jimmy Blackburn, Jim McGerigle, Bob Luney, ?. Front Row: Murray Barker, Walter Chelowsky, 'Cowboy' Emerson, and Harry Willoughby. Taken at the "mini bay" behind searchlight #3 See more...
Recruiting
It is evident from these extracts that the officers were using the carrot as much as the stick to motivate the private soldiers. The officers were no longer dealing with the keen volunteers of 1939 who would accept discomfort with a small amount of grumbling. Nelson Darling, who was regimental adjutant from December 1939 to June 1941, said of those first years "morale was excellent, subject to the usual problem of disciplining Canadians." By 1944 most of the original members of the 15th Coast Brigade had gone overseas. Some were held back by health or family ties and a good number of experienced officers and NCO's were deliberately retained as a reliable core for training recruits. The untrained recruits who replaced those gunners who had left were increasingly conscripts and not volunteers.
See more...
It is evident from these extracts that the officers were using the carrot as much as the stick to motivate the private soldiers. The officers were no longer dealing with the keen volunteers of 1939 who would accept discomfort with a small amount of grumbling. Nelson Darling, who was regimental adjutant from December 1939 to June 1941, said of those first years "morale was excellent, subject to the usual problem of disciplining Canadians." By 1944 most of the original members of the 15th Coast Brigade had gone overseas. Some were held back by health or family ties and a good number of experienced officers and NCO's were deliberately retained as a reliable core for training recruits. The untrained recruits who replaced those gunners who had left were increasingly conscripts and not volunteers.
See more...
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Former and Future member
Lieutenant Richard Walkem, now a member of 111th Battery 6 Canadian Field Regiment, weds in Edmonton. Lieutenant Alfred Hood goes to court in Victoria. |
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Coastal Battery Observation Post
Also known as the BOP, the Observation Post shown in the photo was taken at a coastal fortification somewhere in the United Kingdom and details some of the equipment used. |
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Obituary
Gunner John Robertson Wilson
Gunner Robertson was taken on strength as a Gunner with 85th Battery 15th (Vancouver) Coast Brigade RCA on 4 September 1939. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on 15 July 1940 enroute to Yorke Island and is buried in Mountain View Cemetery. He was awarded the War Medal for his service.
See more...
Gunner Robertson was taken on strength as a Gunner with 85th Battery 15th (Vancouver) Coast Brigade RCA on 4 September 1939. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on 15 July 1940 enroute to Yorke Island and is buried in Mountain View Cemetery. He was awarded the War Medal for his service.
See more...
Lists
The following pages contain additional information relating to the 15th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA
Honours and Awards
Trophies
Commanding Officers and Regimental Sergeants Major
Honoraries
Battery Commanders and Battery Sergeants Major
Band Appointments
Nominal Roll
Guns of the Regiment
Memorial Page
The following pages contain additional information relating to the 15th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA
Honours and Awards
Trophies
Commanding Officers and Regimental Sergeants Major
Honoraries
Battery Commanders and Battery Sergeants Major
Band Appointments
Nominal Roll
Guns of the Regiment
Memorial Page