Canadian Army Central Ordnance Depots

[David Dunlop]

I know of two such facilities in Canada: London, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec. I believe the one in Montreal was No. 25. Not sure about the one in Ontario.

Were there/are there any such depots in Western Canada or the Maritimes?

David

[Edwin Wand]

I assume you are talking about the post war 1946 to the 1968 preunification period of the Canadian Armed Forces.

I am not familiar with Central Ordnance Depots but there were Regional Ordnance Depots (ROD) during this post war period. They were part of the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps.

There was 26 ROD at Cobourg Ontario and at Ortona Barracks in Oakville, there was also a ROD, I think it was either 15 or 17 ROD. I don't recall if Hagersville Ont was designated as a ROD but it was a large RCOC installation.

As you mentioned there were RODs at London and Montreal.

During the National Survival Phase of the post war period, the Government established storage facilities at various locations across Canada. I think you will find there were such facilities at Welland Ont., Coburg, Hagersville etc.

The theory was that major cities such as Toronto and Hamilton (steel) and Niagara Falls (power) would be destroyed. In these circumstances equipment and troops from outlying areas would ride to the rescue.

In retrospect and indeed at the time, there seemed little hope that these arrangements would be of much help should a nuclear attack occur.

Fortunately, these supplies were never needed and much of this equipment was surplused. Items such as Deuce and a halfs still in boxes were later sold from Levy's Auto Parts in Toronto.

To my knowledge the National Survival phase of Canada's history has never been adequately documented. Part of the reason might be that the conversion of Canada's army from soldiers to National Survivalists was very unpopular with the Army. Nevertheless our Militia trained for the worst all the while knowing there was very little they could do in the event of a nuclear attack. For example, in the early stages there weren't even dosimeters available, let alone adequate transport and trained military personnel.

The RCOC History would probably be a helpful source of information about our RODs.

Hope this helps.

[Jon Skagfeld]

15 ROD was located in Lakeview very close to the Small Arms site.

There was a 43 COR at Base Borden.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Here are pics of the London Ordnance Depot on Highbury Road in London, Ontario being demolished a couple of years ago. Nothing there now but the concrete floor and weeds. The last pic is the tank repairing facility across the street. I recall going by there when I was a kid and seeing hundreds of what I now know were M series Dodges parked nose to tail.

[David Dunlop]

Thanks for posting the photos, Bruce.

I remember Peter Ford once telling me that on a trip down to Ottawa one year in the early 1980’s he bumped into one of the staff from the London Depot at a nearby diner. The chap told Peter that a couple of years earlier he had been tasked with disposal of a huge allotment of boxes full of unissued WW2 Military Vehicle Manuals. They had done a number of truck loads to the local dump and then word got out a few manuals had turned up at a used book store for sale. The higher ups decided all remaining manuals had to be burned and they did so somewhere on the Depot grounds. The chap told Peter it took three days of near continuous burning to finish the job.

David

[BCA]

From packing slips with surplus vehicle parts:
27 Central Ordnance Depot London, Ontario (March 1955 & Mar.1953)
I'll dig for more slips. … Brian

[BCA]

Nearly all of the automotive parts packing slips in my collection originate from the 27 Central Ordnance Depot, London Ontario. I think this because there must have been a major packaging or inspection and re-packing facility there. The packaged part was usually accompanied by a circular inspector tag with a inspector number. A 1969 engine test log indicates an engine rebuilt by "27 CFSD WKSP BR" so London also had a workshop facility.
Workshop numbers have been discussed in other MLU threads.
Interestingly I have one shipping document for an order going from "27 C.O.D. Hagersville Ont. SPSS" to "No. 27 Central Ordnance Depot, Highbury Ave., London, Ontario" so Hagerville had a connection to 27 C.O.D.
Several WW2 packing slips from Ford and GM refer to Longue Point Ordnance Depot or simply Longue Pointe Depot. No number is assigned.
CFB Downsview (Toronto area) had a very large supply depot which I recall being referred to as No. 1 Supply Depot. It was phased out in the late 1980's to early 1990's (?) and excess probably shipped to Montreal (Longue Point?). The huge Supply Depot building at Downsview is now used primarily as a film studio.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by BCA

CFB Downsview (Toronto area) had a very large supply depot which I recall being referred to as No. 1 Supply Depot. It was phased out in the late 1980's to early 1990's (?) and excess probably shipped to Montreal (Longue Point?). The huge Supply Depot building at Downsview is now used primarily as a film studio.

As a young reservist I was kitted out at No. 1 Supply Depot at Downsview. We drove there in the back of a deuce and spent several hours out in the rain, at night, by a back door wondering if we were even at the right place. Then the door opened and we went in to get a mysterious tangle of '51 pattern web gear, WW2 era mess tins, a melmac plate and cup (I still have the cup) and an M1 helmet with a reversible green/brown cover. Most of us assembled the '51 pattern web, wore it once and went to a surplus store to buy ourselves a set of '64 pattern web. Most of the kit, weapons and vehicles we were issued was made before we were born.

[Dan Martel]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

I know of two such facilities in Canada: London, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec. I believe the one in Montreal was No. 25. Not sure about the one in Ontario.

Were there/are there any such depots in Western Canada or the Maritimes?

As of July 31, 1964, the following existed:

9 Ammunition Ordnance Depot, St. John's, Nfld.

12 Regional Ordnance Depot, Halifax, NS.

40 Camp Ordnance Railhead, Camp Gagetown, NB.

16 Regional Ordnance Depot, Winnipeg, Man.

28 Central Ordnance Depot, Shilo, Man.

7 Ammunition Ordnance Depot, Regina, Sask.

17 Regional Ordnance Depot, Edmonton, Alta.

Doesn't seem to have been any kind of Ordnance facility in BC, either at Vancouver, Victoria or Esquimalt.

Cheers,
Dan.

[BCA]

Check out Militarybruce.com All sorts of good info on Canadian military bases.

[rob love]

Originally Posted by Dan Martel

28 Central Ordnance Depot, Shilo, Man.

I think this was primarily for the para school here or later in Rivers. It moved in May 1970, to Griesbach from CFB Shilo. to support the jump school there.

[David Dunlop]

Just revisiting this thread as another question came to mind.

Back in the 1970's, when restoring several CMP's and early M-Series vehicles, I agree with Brian Asbury that the bulk, if not all vehicle related parts in NOS status seemed to come out of COD London, Ontario.

At the same point in time, while trying to complete small arms displays for the various vehicles, spare STEN and Enfield parts seemed to be coming from stocks formerly held at a COD in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Today, while working on wartime wireless sets and related signals equipment, most NOS packaging shows up coming from 25 COD in Montreal.

So the new question is whether each COD across Canada was specialized in the ordnance for which they held stock, or did each hold a standard supply of all available items that might be required by the Military Districts/areas they supported?

If the latter situation was the original norm within the supply system, then perhaps the three situations noted above are merely a reflection of the overall supply system shrinking over time with surviving CODs becoming 'specialized' as a result.


David

[David Dunlop]

I was looking at the Govt of Canada Websites this afternoon for something I have now forgotten already, and found a copy of an April 1945 CATM. A lot of topics were covered but on one section, there was a brief history of the Central Ordnance Depots. No numbering system references were included but it was interesting, none the less.

According to this publication, when World War Two broke out, there were two major CODs in Canada, one in Ottawa and the second in Montreal (Longue Pointe). The one in Ottawa apparently had a bias towards supplying parts for mechanized equipment. Montreal did not. In addition, each Military District across Canada also maintained smaller CODs, but no locations were provided.

As war production rapidly ramped up, the supply system was adjusted. A new COD in London, Ontario was opened which also had a bias towards mechanized equipment. In addition, new CODs were established in Halifax, Amhurst, Toronto and Saskatoon. No information was provided regarding the fate of the pre-existing depots in the 10 Military Districts across Canada.


David

[Dan Martel]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

According to this publication, when World War Two broke out, there were two major CODs in Canada, one in Ottawa and the second in Montreal (Longue Pointe). The one in Ottawa apparently had a bias towards supplying parts for mechanized equipment. Montreal did not. In addition, each Military District across Canada also maintained smaller CODs, but no locations were provided.

The 1936 Defence Forces List, the one I have dated closest to 1939, shows that the RCOC had 12 Detachments across the country. One in each of the 11 Military Districts with the exception of MD 3 in Kingston which had two; No. 3 in Kingston and No. 9 in Ottawa. Unfortunately, there are no exact locations or addresses given for them.

Detachment No. 4 was, as you said, at Longue Pointe. It had stored within a complete set of saddlery and tack for a full cavalry division, along with the personnel to maintain it (oiling and cleaning the leather). I read somewhere that it was all sold to Argentina after the war.

I have some information on the post-war RCOC organization and locations which I'll (hopefully) be able to post tomorrow.

[Dan Martel]

The following is a list of the RCOC installations with their postal addresses from July 31, 1959:

Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps
The Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps School 6560 Hochelaga St, Montreal 5, Que
No 4 Area Ordnance Depot 440 King Street West, Kingston, Ont
No 6 Area Ordnance Depot Wolseley Barracks, Elizabeth Street, London, ON
No 7 Area Ordnance Depot National Defence Building, Winnipeg Street and 8th Avenue, Regina, Sask
No 8 Area Ordnance Depot 4050 4th Avenue West, Vancouver 8, BC
No 9 Area Ordnance Depot Buckmaster’s Field, St John’s, Nfld
No 12 Regional Ordnance Depot Willow Park, Windsor St Extension, Halifax, NS
No 14 Regional Ordnance Depot 6565 Notre Dame Street East, Montreal 5, Que
No 15 Regional Ordnance Depot Cawthra Road, Lakeview, Ont
No 16 Regional Ordnance Depot Fort Osborne Barracks, Winnipeg 9, Man
No 17 Regional Ordnance Depot Griesbach, Alta
No 25 Central Ordnance Depot PO Box 6109, Montreal, Que
No 26 Central Ordnance Depot Cobourg, Ont
No 27 Central Ordnance Depot Highbury Ave, London, Ont
No 28 Central Ordnance Depot Camp Shilo, Man
No 31 Ordnance Ammunition Depot Debert, NS
No 32 Ordnance Ammunition Depot McGivney, NB
No 34 Ordnance Ammunition Depot Ste Therese, Que
No 36 Ordnance Ammunition Depot Dundurn Military Camp, Dundurn, Sask
No 37 Ordnance Ammunition Depot Battle Street, Kamloops, BC
No 40 Camp Ordnance Railhead Camp Gagetown, Fredericton, NB
No 41 Camp Ordnance Railhead Camp Valcartier, Que
No 42 Camp Ordnance Railhead Camp Petawawa, Ont
No 43 Camp Ordnance Railhead Camp Borden, Ont
No 44 Camp Ordnance Railhead Camp Shilo, Man
No 45 Camp Ordnance Railhead MPO 500, Camp Wainwright, Alta
No 14 Company, RCOC Camp Takhini, Whitehorse, YT
No 18 Company, RCOC Fort Churchill, Man