Good Day all !! Haven't checked this means in awhile.
The L5 did come into service with Canadian Gunners, as mentioned, in ' 68. The Airborne Battery and the AMF(L) Battery got them. ( So did the Arty Dept at The Combat Arms School, as well as the newly formed 5 RALC ). After the cracked barrels episode in ' 72, the barrels were replaced and we were restricted to Charge 6.
In ' 88, the L5's were still in use, but only in 2 RCHA. "E"(Para) and "D"AMF(L) were using them. We also managed to scare some up for "F" Bty, which was resurrected when we were authorized a third mission element. The L5's were refitted under the Howitzer Improvement Program. This was a stopgap measure until the C1/C3 thing was completed and the French Light Gun thing was still being beaten about. The improved L5 had a new barrel, a beefed-up recoil mechanism, ( absolutely NO MORE blown gaskets !! ), and an extra baffle on the muzzle brake. We did the "long lanyard" thing with Charge 7 after replacing the contaminated eyetie hydraulic fluid. Everything was good to go for 11km range.
The L5s went out of service in ' 93, as mentioned, and the 2nd Regiment adopted the M 109s from Germany. My last duty in 2RCHA, before going down to Gagetown on the MrGnr Crse, was to oversee the twelve remaining L5's being put into long-term preservation. They sat in a Sprung Shelter outside of Z-104 for the last year I was in Pet'. I noitice that the L5's are now popping up in front of messes around all the remaining Army bases.
Good news for The Guns though. The CLS Directive on sorting out the Artillery's equipment problems was just issued. I read it this afternoon. It would appear that we will drop some guns in the Regular Force regiments as the present configuration changes somewhat. We will receive FSCC elms and STA along with a yet-to-be-decided 155mm gun. Further, this is supposed to be a fast-tracked program. The directive gave orders to every equipment acquisition and doctrine element concerned.
Lastly, for missions ( ie: "Task Force"...the current flavor of the day ), the Reserve Gunners will be involved. They will be tasked to provide two detachments. ( This would mandate cross training on the new equipment, if not a re-equipping of the Reserve Gunners at some future date ).
I mentioned in January ' 05 that there was no mention of The Guns in the new "Task Force" concept that the Army is on to. At the time, the explanation was that it was "under review". Then came the mention of MAVS, the guntaping of a C3 ordnance to an MLVW-like truck. Let's hope that the new 155 project can beat MAVS to the supply depots for timely issue to the Regiments !
Ubique