25 Pounder Gun to be Fired to Mark 150th Anniversary

The 150th Anniversary of E Battery formation of the Royal New Zealand Artillery in Christchurch takes place over the 1-2 December 2017 in Christchurch at the RSA. As part of 32E Battery’s 150th Anniversary celebrations, a WWII era 25 Pounder Gun will fire five blank rounds to mark the occasion on the Kilmore side of Cranmer Square, Saturday 2 Dec starting at 13:00 hrs.

The 25 Pounder’s were the mainstay of the British Army in WWII with the Royal NZ Artillery using them as well, first in the Second World War, through the Korean War and the then for another twenty-four years.

Among some of the extraordinary people that have been involved in the Artillery over the last 150 years and will be attending, is one of New Zealand’s three (known) oldest gunners – 98 year old Graeme Hutchenson, who holds the world’s record holder of the fastest 100 yard sprint through the dessert with his trousers around his ankles.

“My world record – yes. When nature called, you couldn’t just go on the gun position; you had to go some distance to find some privacy. Jerry usually sent four Messerschmitts over every afternoon around 4:00pm on strafing runs. So long as you were back on the gun position you were OK.

“This particular day, I thought I had to go to the loo and said to my crew that I was off to attend the duties of nature, (well before 4:00pm), when they snuck up on me – early. I had my tweeds down and suddenly, these dammed Jerries (Germans) arrived.

“There was a bit of a lull, so I started pulling my trousers up when they returned again. They were coming overhead and strafing at a hundred feet or so – very low. It gave me a fright. I had to high tail it back to the gun lines as fast as I could with my trousers around my ankles. I never knew it was so hard. I’d been in a three legged race, but with trousers around your ankles with planes firing cannon and bombing me, I had extra incentive to get out of harm’s way.

“I leapt and bounced back to the position and found out later that my crew were cheering me on and said it was quite a sight to watch their Gun Sergeant running and leaping like a kangaroo across the desert with trousers around my ankles. The German pilots must have thought it highly amusing.

Hutchenson says the anniversary will be quite a milestone for him and while he was not a member of 32E, he is looking forward to sharing camaraderie and some more stories around war in another time period.

E Battery was officially accepted by the Canterbury Governor on the 31st December, 1867. Although this formation of E Battery did not survive for many years, it was a very active group and regarded by the city and province as one of the best volunteer groups in existence. In fact, Charles Allison, the first Lieutenant, later became prominent in local body elections and became the Mayor of Christchurch.

The weekend events will be reflecting on the characters and events that have not only shaped military history, but also to a degree, the history of Canterbury. As part of the celebrations being held at the Christchurch RSA on Armagh Street, there will be a walk around some of the early sites where 32(E) Battery was based with a wreath being laid at the Bridge of Remembrance on the morning of Saturday 2 December and the firing of the 25 Pounder around 13:00 hrs. It is hoped that many old gunners will be attending the events to celebrate what has been a significant journey that in some part might have touched all our lives.

ENDS

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