Canoe River Memorial Park Monuments
The RCA Museum has many monuments around CFB Shilo, including some at the Canoe River Memorial Park. The park is situated at the center of Shilo and is open to the public all year round. In the museum archives, we have references to the base park from the 1950s.
The RCA Museum is responsible for three monuments at the park, with the artifacts on our registry. We also have signage at the park for each artifact.
The oldest are two 25 Pounder Guns – one is a non-converted 25 Pounder without the muzzle brake, and the other has the muzzle brake. Shown above, the two 25 Pounder flank the Canoe River Memorial, presented to CFB Shilo by the School of Artillery in 1970. The plaque says, “In memory of the seventeen soldiers of Second Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery who died en route from Camp Shilo Manitoba to Fort Lewis Washington in the tragic railway disaster at Canoe River British Columbia,” 21 November 1950.
The second monument shown above is a German Leopard 1 Tank, produced from 1965 to 1979. From 1973 to 2000, over 140,000 German Army soldiers trained in Shilo. Most years they sent approximately 4,000 soldiers for training and the monument recognizes this partnership.
The third monument is a decked-out LAV III – A light armoured personnel vehicle used during Operations in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014 by Canadian Forces. Base Shilo added the LAV III, with the assistance of the RCA Museum, back in 2018. It includes a plaque: “In recognition and memory of the efforts of approximately 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces personnel who served and the 162 Canadians who died in the cause of bringing peace and freedom to the people of Afghanistan 2001 – 2014.”