M109A4+ Self-Propelled Howitzer Memorial Monument

Kemptville, Ontario

Type

Other

The M109A4+ Self-Propelled Howitzer Memorial Monument and Gate Guard were made available through the Guns for Monuments Program offered by the Department of National Defence. The decommissioned and demilitarized Howitzer bears the number CFR# 68-34837, and serial number 2487. It was donated to the Municipality of North Grenville and the Veterans Way Memorial Committee by the Department of National Defence, and is dedicated to the memory of those that have served, and to those that continue to serve, the noble cause of Freedom and Democracy as members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

This Howitzer was part of a fleet of 76 guns that served with the 1st and 3rd Regiments of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, as well as with the 5^e Régiment d'artillerie légère du Canada. The Howitzers were deployed at military bases in Canada and Germany from 1968, until they were declared surplus to the needs of the Canadian Armed Forces and withdrawn from service in 2005. The M109A4+ Self-Propelled Howitzer was placed in the park on July 16, 2015. The storyboard was added on September 27, 2015, during the Veterans Way Park dedication ceremony.

Inscription

[storyboard/scénarimage]

North Grenville Remembers

M109A4+ Specifications

Length: 9.1 metres
Width: 3.1 metres
Height: 3 metres
Weight: 24, 948 kilograms (loaded)
Weight: 23,586 kilograms (empty)
Speed: 56 kilometres per hour
Crew: 6
Primary Armament: 155mm cannon
Rate of fire: 1 – 2 rounds per minute
Range: 18,000 metres
Secondary Armament: .
50 calibre M2B machine gun
Used by the Canadian Armed Forces
between 1968 - 2005

Memorial Dedication

This Memorial Monument was donated to the
Municipality of North Grenville and the Veterans
Way Memorial Committee by the Department of
National Defence, and is dedicated to the memory
of those that have served, and to those that
continue to serve, the noble cause of Freedom and
Democracy as members of the Canadian Armed
Forces.

M109A4+ Self-Propelled Howitzer

While it looks like a tank, this self-propelled gun
remained behind the front lines, providing mobile
artillery support to tanks and infantry.

The M109 was designed to keep up with the forces
it was supporting, while protecting its crew from
shell fragments, small arms fire, and nuclear,
biological, and chemical contamination.

While it carried some ammunition for its gun, the
M109 was usually accompanied by a separate
carrier vehicle that helped supply this need.

Canada acquired 76 M109’s in 1968, eventually
upgrading them to the M109A4+ version seen here.

Text provided courtesy of the Canadian War Museum