‘Yesterday’s trash is today’s treasure’: Weapons dating back to 19th century unearthed at PNE fairgrounds

More historic military weapons have been found during construction work on the new PNE amphitheatre.

The construction site of the new PNE amphitheatre has become a treasure trove of military weapon history.

Weeks after excavating crews discovered an early 20th-century German howitzer, more weapons, some dating back to the 19th century, have been pulled from the ground.

“In terms of historical artifacts, I don’t think this will ever be topped,” said Geordie Howe, an archeologist who calls this discovery a highlight of his near-50-year career.

“What I find amazing is the preservation.”

The recent haul included four German First-World-War-era machine guns, which were captured by Canadian forces and brought back as war trophies. Two Canadian military guns, dated 1875 and 1874, which fired 9 lb shells, were also discovered. Those weapons are believed to be from CFB Esquimalt.

“It’s not every day that you find stuff from the 1870s buried in British Columbia,” said James Calhoun, curator and archivist for the Seaforth Highlanders.

Plans are in place to restore the weapons and put them on displace at the Seaforth Armoury.

How did the weapons end up there?

In the 20th century, a nine-metre-deep ravine used to run through Hastings Park. Calhoun says weapons were stored in the area.

A news article from 1940 reads that weapons on display at city parks will be “discarded in an out-of-the-way corner of Hastings Park.”

“Our attitudes changed in the 1920s and ‘30s and we ended up getting rid of this stuff,” said Calhoun, adding that Canada had seized thousands of German weapons following the First World War.

“Yesterday’s trash is today’s treasure.”

Calhoun believes there are many more weapons buried in the site, including a 16,000-pound German howitzer called the 210 MM Morser.

“The gun used to be at the entrance to Stanley Park, and we know it was there until the 1930s,” said Calhoun.

“We think it might be buried in the ravine at the PNE.”

Calhoun is now exploring using ground-penetrating radar to see what other weapons are underground.