15th Field Regiment , Royal Canadian Artillery 15th Field Artillery Regiment , RCA , is a Primary Reserve Royal Canadian Artillery ( RCA ) regiment based in Vancouver , British Columbia , at the Bessborough Armoury . 15th Field Regiment is part of the 39 Canadian Brigade Group of 3rd Canadian Division . The regiment was created in 1920 as one of the recommendations of the Otter Committee . In World War II it manned the coastal defence artillery guns that protected the Port of Vancouver . After the war the regiment reverted to field artillery . While the regiment has not deployed overseas , members have participated in Canadian Forces missions overseas and in Canada . This unit is not the same 15th Field Artillery Regiment ( 4th Canadian Armoured Division ) that served in the Second World War . History . Foundations . The end of World War I saw thousands of Canadians returning home from overseas service with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Europe . In January 1918 Major General William Otter recommended to the Government of Canada that a perfect situation existed in which to reorganize the active militia . This suggestion lead to the creation of the Committee of Militia Reorganization in 1919 . As Major General Otter was the president of this committee it was commonly known as the Otter Committee . On 16 December 1919 , at the request of the Otter Committee , a group of 11 artillery officers , recently returned from Europe , met to discuss the creation of a militia artillery regiment in Vancouver . The results of this meeting were worked into the recommendations of the Otter Committee and on 2 February 1920 the Government of Canada authorized the creation of the 15th Brigade , Canadian Field Artillery . The 15th Brigade was composed of the 31st , 68th , and 85th Batteries of field artillery as well as the Headquarters and an Ammunition Column . The 5th Siege Battery was attached to them for administration purposes . Lieutenant F . T . Coghlan , DSO , a veteran of World War I , was the first commanding officer of the brigade . At their formation the field artillery batteries were equipped with the Ordnance QF 18 pounder while the 5th Siege Battery was equipped with BL 60 pounder gun s . The first home of the brigade was the Vancouver Horse Show Building located on Georgia Street at Alberni Street near Stanley Park . The building was inadequate for the needs of an artillery unit with the exception that it had good facilities for the horses that drew the guns . In March 1934 the 15th Brigade received a new home , the Bessborough Armoury , a modern facility that they shared with the British Columbia Hussars . The next year the militia artillery across Canada was reorganized and the brigade ’ s name was changed to 15th Field Brigade , Royal Canadian Artillery . When the brigade was created they were supplied with guns by the Canadian Army but not with horses to move them . For their first exercises the gunners had to borrow horses to pull their guns . In June 1928 in order to save money and increase their range , the 5th Battery of the 15th Brigade became one of the first Canadian militia artillery units to experiment with towing guns using trucks . The exercise of 9 June , commanded by Major J . G . Chutter , had the four 60 - pounders of the 5th Battery towed by four International truck s . Major Chutter ’ s report at the end of the exercise showed that use of trucks was much less expensive than using horses and that they were able to accomplish three times the training . Throughout the 1920s and 1930s the brigade ’ s training during the year lead towards a summer training camp . The camps where held in different locations , such as Hastings Park in Vancouver and Sarcee Camp in Alberta . World War II . In the mid - 1930s the Government of Canada began to take a serious look at the defence of the west coast of Canada . The Empire of Japan had a growing influence over the Pacific and the idea of a war between Canada ’ s allies , the United Kingdom and the United States , with Japan seemed a likely scenario . In 1936 Major B . C . D . Treatt of the Coast Artillery School in England was asked to make recommendations for the defence of the west coast of British Columbia from an attack by sea . In his report Major Treatt made many recommendations including the creation of four new coastal artillery forts to guard the Port of Vancouver . The forts were located in such a way as to stop any ship or submarine from passing into Burrard Inlet . There was also a fort in the Strait of Georgia to prevent ships from approaching Vancouver from the north . After the war began another fort was built to assist in the inspection of ships entering the Fraser River at Steveston . In 1937 Parliament approved the construction of the forts but had not decided who would man the guns in the event of war . In World War I members of the Naval Reserve and reservists from Cobourg , Ontario , had manned the coastal defence batteries in Vancouver . In spring 1938 it was decided that members of the Canadian Militia would man them and the 15th Brigade was reroled as coast defence artillery becoming the 15th Coast Brigade , RCA . A year later in May 1939 the 68th Battery and the 5th Battery were detached to become the 1st Anti - Aircraft Regiment , RCA , to protect Vancouver from attacks from the air . Both the coast defence and anti - aircraft guns were supported by the 1st Searchlight Regiment , RCA , formerly the British Columbia Hussars . They were tasked with operating the ten 800 - million - candlepower searchlights , for the coast artillery batteries to target ships at night , as well as manning searchlights for the anti - aircraft guns . The 15th Coast Brigade was mobilized on 25 August 1939 before war was declared on Nazi Germany . None of the forts were complete when the soldiers arrived for duty so they had to help finish the construction . The batteries of the 15th Coast Brigade were sent to the following forts : Apart from their primary role of repelling attacking enemy submarines and ships , most of the forts were also responsible for assisting with the examination of ships approaching Vancouver . Examination areas were set up where ships requesting entrance to the harbour had to stop and submit to an inspection by the Royal Canadian Navy . If a ship failed to stop for inspection the Navy would signal the artillery batteries to fire a round in front of the offending vessel and if necessary sink it . If a stopping round was fired at a ship , the ship ’ s owner was required to pay for the round at a cost of $ 42 . 50 . In the summer of 1942 the Japanese attacked the Aleutian Islands and various locations along the west coast of the United States . On 20 June the only attack of the war on Canadian soil took place at Estevan Point . This combined with the loss of thousands of Canadians at the Battle of Hong Kong seemed to justify the creation of the Pacific coastal forts in the minds of Canadians . After the Battle of Midway the Japanese Navy lost much of its offensive power and was no longer considered a significant threat to the west coast of Canada . This combined with the need for manpower in Europe , after the invasions of Sicily and Normandy , lead to the decision to shut down Vancouver ’ s coast defence forts . On 1 September 1944 all the forts , with the exception of the York Island fort , were reduced to maintenance manning and the gunners of the 15th Coast Artillery were reassigned to other duties . A team of 20 soldiers conscripted under the National Resources Mobilization Act were left to maintain the forts . By October 1945 , two months after the Japanese surrender , all but one of the forts were deactivated . 1945 to present . After the war the regiment returned to reserve service and remained coastal artillery , training with the guns at the Point Grey Fort . In 1948 they reverted to field artillery with the new name of 15th Field Regiment , RCA . A new regiment , the 102nd Coast Regiment , was formed and trained on the coastal guns on Vancouver Island until they were absorbed into the 43rd Medium Anti - Aircraft Regiment in 1954 . The 43rd Medium Anti - Aircraft Regiment was created in 1946 from the 1st Anti - Aircraft Regiment and was absorbed back into the 15th Field Regiment , RCA , in 1959 . While the regiment has not deployed overseas , individual members have deployed on operations in Germany , Egypt , Cyprus , the Former Republic of Yugoslavia ( Croatia , Bosnia and Serbia ) , Haiti , Sudan , and Afghanistan . Members also participated in Operation Podium , the Canadian Forces mission to assist with security for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver , British Columbia . Lineage chart . Lineage of the 15th Field Artillery Regiment , RCA : 15th Field Regiment , Royal Canadian Artillery Museum and Archives . The museum collects , preserves , interprets and exhibits artifacts related to the 15th Field Artillery Regiment , RCA , its predecessors and other artillery units which have been located in the Vancouver area . The museum is affiliated with : Canadian Museums Association , Canadian Heritage Information Network , Organization of Military Museums of Canada and Virtual Museum of Canada . 15th Field Regiment ( RCA ) Band . The 15th Field Regiment ( RCA ) Band is a military brass and reed band that is part of the 15th Field Regiment R . C . A . The band has 45 members that are all reservists and are trained as soldiers as well as musicians . The Band plays for a variety of events including military funeral s , parade s and Mess events . Cadet unit . 15th Field Regiment , RCA has one affiliated corps of the Royal Canadian Army Cadets , 2472 RCACC . 2472 receives support from the regiment for its activities and its members are entitled to wear the traditional regimental accoutrements of the 15th Field Regiment on their cadet uniforms .