The Sebastopol Cannons Of Victoria Park

The first military commemorative display in Victoria Park is also one of its most interesting - The Three Cannon.

The Three Sebastopol Cannon were brought to London Ontario soon after the capture of Sebastopol in 1855.

Each cannon sits on its own brickwork block, in a semi-circle facing outward from the Boer War Monument that was added five years after they were installed.

The three cannon consist of two captured Russian cannons and one British cannon, all with markings still visible.

They were turned into a monument at Victoria Park in 1907.

Affixed to the British Cannon is this plaque:

The royal seal "GR" is still visible on the British cannon:

This cannon has serial number 164:

The Imperial Russian seal is visible on both the Russian guns:

Foundry markings on the Russian cannon indicate both were made at the same foundry and their serial numbers are still legible:

It says, made at the Alexander Foundary. Other markings are in Old Russian and hard to decipher, but appear to be weight or shot loading abbreviations.

Some further research indicates that these are 24 pounder guns,as indicated by the 24 # symbol at the top. The second line is the weight of the gun in poods, an old Russian measurement equivalent to 36.11 pounds. The last line has the date of manufacture which can't be fully made out in the picture but looks like 1849.

Today one of the Russian Cannon has the Kiwanis Memorial Bandstand at pointe blanc range, but the touchhole is sealed, lest anyone wish to re-fight the Crimean War in Victoria Park.

Finding cannon from the Battle of Sebastopol in London Ontario was quite an enjoyable and unexpected find.

Victoria Park's Boer War Monument

There was more than just Holy Roller at Victoria Park to commemorate London Ontario's martial past.

London was the center of the Western Ontario military district, and the park had originally been the site of the British garrison and was a muster point well through the Second World War.

Long before the arrival of the tank, there was a monument placed to honor those who served in the Second Boer War.

Built in 1912, it commemorates London's and Western Ontario's contribution to that war.

The battles the Canadians participated in are listed on the Monument:

As are the local dead:

With Long Lee rifle in hand, the Canadian soldier still stands ready to deliver Rule .303.

The Second Boer War was the first time Canadian troops fought on foreign soil. In 1899, a battalion of volunteers left Canada, the first of 8,300 Canadian troops to participate in the war. The battalion consisted of eight 125-man companies, each raised in a different region. One was from West, three from Ontario and two each from Quebec and the Maritimes. The Battalion would be in action against the Boers at the Battle of Paardeberg less than three months after they arrived in South Africa. Some of them were then badly chewed up with 18 dead and 63 wounded, in Lord Kitchener's ill-advised charge of the Boer position. The Royal Canadian Regiment was then instrumental in forcing the Boer's surrender of the position on February 27, 1900.

In Canada's first foreign war as a Dominion of Great Britain, 282 Canadians were killed or died of disease and 252 were wounded.

Holy Roller

Victoria Park in London, Ontario has a tank.

Holy Roller is an M4A4 Sherman tank. Not just any M4 Sherman tank mind you, it is one of but a handful that survived and fought from D-Day through the Northwest campaign until the end of the World War 2 in Europe. After World War 2, Canada left all its Sherman tanks in Europe to be given to the Dutch and Belgian armies except for 4 notable tanks, and Holy Roller was one of them.

Bullet and non-penetrating artillery strikes to the tank are still visible today:

A view of the other side:

The rear of the tank:

Plaques are affixed to the tank to both tell the passer-by of its significance and to commemorate the heroism of those who served in World War 2.

Holy Roller is in good shape. Her hatches are all sealed up, the machine guns removed and the cannon plugged, but there's easy access to both look closely and to climb up on the tank.

Hodie Non Cras - Today Not Tomorrow.

May their valor never be forgotten.

A Most Excellent Mother's Day

For Mother's Day this year, we traveled to London, Ontario to meet up with my Mother-in-law, sister-in-law and niece.

We met up for brunch at Garlic's of London restaurant and to say it was fantastic would be to understate the experience.

The food and service was beyond outstanding.

As the name suggest, Garlic featured prominently in many dishes, from the amazing garlic frites accompanying the awesome and perfectly done steak and frites, to the garlic ice cream. Yes, garlic ice cream - much tastier than it sounds.

They also had perhaps the best Crème brûlée I've ever had.

If you're ever in London, Ontario, you must go eat at Garlics of London.

After the lunch we went to a local park in downtown London and had a nice relaxing time together before heading back home.

We also saw some interesting sights at the park that deserve their own posts.

All mothers who attended agreed it was a great Mother's Day celebration.

Canadian Travels - Londonistan Ontario

Traveling through Ontario making our way Up North to hang out with the folks.

We stopped at a London Tim Horton's to make a pit stop and get some of their very good coffee.

We noticed a couple London Police cruisers parked up front.

Something on the rear panel caught my eye:

Very interesting, and I daresay taking multiculturalism a little too far, especially as no other languages were evident and Arabic is not an official language in Canada...not yet, at least.