Anti-tank gun adds to atmosphere
It was a Finnish anti-tank gun with a calibre of 37mm that added to the atmosphere at the Anzac service at Athol.
Steve Kieft, of Mossburn, is the owner of the gun, which is a wheeled artillery piece.
‘‘It was manufactured in 1941, with only 355 made in total at two factories, with 300 made at one site and 55 at the other,’’ he said. ‘‘In the early 1980s, they were sold off to museums and collectors by the Finnish army as surplus stock.’’
The one he owns came via Canada, with a lot of paperwork having to be completed over two years before it landed in New Zealand.
‘‘Then it took me about a year to restore it and I managed to get it in to firing condition using blank rounds for re- enacting in Anzac parade salutes,’’ he said.
‘‘We were at the dawn service at Lumsden again this year making it four years in total and we have been to Tuatapere previously but this year we have taken in Athol’s 10am service.’’
There is other field artillery that goes to different parades throughout Southland. It adds to the atmosphere at the parades.
‘‘We fire three rounds as we would do to simulate a 21-gun salute, when there are usually seven guns,’’ Kieft said.
‘‘I have a friend in Oamaru who custom-makes the blank shells and I load the shells up with the black powder myself to make sure there is a bang and some smoke so it is quite realistic.
‘‘I tow [the gun] on a trailer behind an ex-NZ Army Landrover, and Jason Tidey, from Lumsden, who also owns one of these Landrovers, joined the convoy to Athol.’’
The Landrover was a military contract vehicle, bought in England for the New Zealand Army in the mid 1980s. They bought theirs through the army tender process in the early 2000s.
‘‘There are other people across Southland with similar vehicles and a keen interest in other military vehicles,’’ he said.
‘‘They have restored them and put them back on the road with both Lumsden and Athol people appreciating this significant restored piece of history today.’’