During the Second World War an army camp was established
in the the south end of Brandon.
As most young people don't realize this,
we undertook to build a diorama to show its location.
Two of our volunteers,
Mrs. Ainsley (Ranson) Sim and Mr. Les Fraser
both served there at one point in time.

These illuminating rounds were fired at night to light up an area.
Mortars fired the rounds at close range and
most had parachutes
to have the light hang up in the air for a period of time.
This one is 155 mm.

The Vimy display commemorates the first victory
by the allied armies in the First World War -
a battle won by Canadians.
The display shows the book that was published for the
dedication and opening of the memorial in 1937.
There is a piece of chalk from the tunnels as well as
a photo of the names of men with no known graves
carved in the stone.

The sten gun in the display was a Second World War invention.
It was of 9 mm calibre and was often called
a "plumber's dream" or a "plumber's nightmare."
This submachine gun was noted to have caused many accidents
due to its habit of not staying in the safety notch.

Copyright 1996-2001 Bill Hillman