C1 105-mm Howitzer - Rogers Pass, British Columbia, Canada
Posted by: The A-Team
N 51° 18.066 W 117° 31.247
11U E 463694 N 5683437
This Canadian C1 105-mm Howitzer is located on the side of the Trans-Canada Highway in front of the Rogers Pass Discovery Centre, just north of the summit of Rogers Pass in British Columbia, Canada.
Waymark Code: WMN1EA
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 12/06/2014
Views: 1
This C1 105-mm Howitzer was used as part of Operation PALACI, the Canadian Armed Forces' contribution to Parks Canada's avalanche-control program in Rogers Pass. Every winter, Howitzers like this are used to trigger controlled avalanches high in the surrounding mountains in an effort to prevent potentially-deadly uncontrolled avalanches from coming down on the Trans-Canada Highway.
This Howitzer carries the designation 34040 with the suffix AVCON denoting its usage in avalanche control. 34040 is mounted on a 1956-built M2A2 carriage. At the time it was disposed by the Canadian Armed Forces, the gun was under the custody of 25 Canadian Forces Supply Depot in Montreal, Quebec.
Between this gun and WMN1DD is a plaque mounted on top of eight spent 105-mm shell casings. The plaque reads:
To commemorate the 125th Anniversary of Glacier National Park, the 100th Anniversary of Parks Canada and the 50th Anniversary of the Canadian Forces' partnership with Parks Canada in the operation of avalanche control by artillery fire at Rogers Pass, this gun has been presented by The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery and Canada Command to honour all those who have served to keep Canadians, the Trans-Canada Highway and the Canadian Pacific Railway safe.
Presented on the 10th of September 2011
Just south of here, near the Rogers Pass monument, is a similar Howitzer with an identical commemorative plaque (WMN1DP).