Hi all, I know I would probably get more responses asking on a Canadian forum, but canadaatwar.ca seems to have gone down again, sadly, so I'm not sure where else to ask. The CPR Angus facility was responsible for producing Valentine tanks which were mostly sent to the USSR under lend-lease. Has anyone heard of vehicles produced by that facility AFTER the order for Valentines was finished? I gather (?) that Rams and Sextons were not produced there, but I'm not sure about that.
The war effort During the Second Great War, the workshops employed 12 000 workers and were manufacturing war material . It's from Angus shops that 1700 tanks Valentine, engines of corvettes, detectors of submarines and the other electronic devices of precision were built. Angus Shops CPR transformed major portions of its shops in Montreal and Calgary to build munitions, naval guns and tanks. By V-J Day, CPR shops had turned out 1,420 Valentine tanks; 75 main engines for corvettes, frigates and landing craft; over 600 naval vessel power equipment components; 3,000 naval guns and 1,650 naval gun mounts; 2,000 anti-submarine devices; and 120 range-finding and fire- control equipment. https://www.cpr.ca/en/about-cp-site/Documents/cpr-and-war.pdf During World War II the CPR, at its Angus Shops in Montreal, produced a large number of Valentine tanks. Production began in 1940 and ended in 1943. The end of tank production did not end the war work done by CPR shop facilities. Many other items of war supplies, such as equipment for the navy and air force, as well as various types of munitions and other equipment continued until the end of the war. https://www.exporail.org/can_rail/Canadian Rail_no447_1995.pdf In June, 1940, the first order for the construction of 18-ton Valentine tanks was placed with Angus Shops by the Department of Munitions and Supply, acting on behalf of the Canadian Government. In all, over 1,400 of these tanks were constructed. In addition to this job, orders were placed with the shops for the building of marine engines to power Canadian naval frigates and corvettes, range finders for naval guns, delicate ASDIC (Also known as Sonar. It is claimed that the name ASDIC is derived from "Anti-Submarine Detection Investigation Committee", but there is no trace of such a committee in the British Admiralty's archives.) equipment for searching out German U-boats under the swelling surface of the Atlantic. CPR Set-off Siding - Foundation Library Article And just to let you know, a “replacement” website for Canada at War has been open for a couple of years now, called Wartimes.ca.......at www.wartimes.ca
Yes, thanks, I know - I'm ccamfield over there and you have graciously answered a number of my questions!