The 7.7cm Field Cannon arrived in Albert County on July 17, 1920 after the long journey across the Atlantic from the battlefields of France. It's arrival in Hopewell Cape came as testament to the courage and sacrifice from the people of Albert County during the war, and was awarded to the county because of the large number of Albert County men who joined the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force). Albert County has the distinction of being the county with the most people per capita joining the CEF in all of Canada. A remarkable achievement!
The 1920 War Trophy Allocation List (click to view larger photo)
The story of the capture of the 7.7 cm field gun serial number 784 is unfortunately shrouded in the fogs of war. In the War Trophy Allocation report of 1920, there is no reference to the time or place of capture, nor any reference to who captured the gun. Further investigation in other sources of war trophies for a recorded serial number has come up empty. The War Diaries of the 26th Battalion is woefully short of information when recording the serial numbers of captured guns.
What we do know for certain was that the gun was captured by Canadians during the war. We don't know with any concrete proof the 3-W's, the who, when and where. The War Diaries of the 26th Battalion mention the capture of a number of guns during the battle of Vimy Ridge including 77mms. Unfortunately, they do not have the degree of detail that the 27th Battalion recorded about the "590". We have only anecdotal evidence passed on to us from local veterans that this was in fact a gun captured at Vimy Ridge by the Fighting 26th. Someday we hope to have someone stumble across reference to a 77mm field cannon with the serial number 784 to confirm what we have anecdotal evidence of.
