Last week was my nephew’s birthday and my S-I-L had the great idea to book my nephew and F-I-L on Signal Hill to help fire the noon day gun. My nephew seemed pretty excited about doing this on his big day and they both were given special uniforms to wear while they were involved in the canon process. I initially thought the uniforms were just a fun touch, but apparently they are a safety precaution as well, in case there are any sparks from the canon. Either way, it was fun to see them dressed up and looking official.
What made this extra special was that my F-I-L used to work in Cabot Tower on Signal Hill back in the day as a Wireless Radio Operator for the Canadian Marconi Corporation. And although firing the noon day canon wasn’t part of his duties, occasionally he was called to help out in this regard if the regular guy was indisposed (aka had a few too many lol). When he went to change out of his uniform, the current Signal Hill guys made a big deal about him, since he was the first person to help them out, who actually had fired the noon day gun officially.
Below is a photo of my F-I-L working in Cabot Tower. It wasn’t yesterday!
A sweet experience for my nephew and his grandfather.
I found this article which talks a little bit about the Noon Day Gun. Check it out if you would like a bit more information.
You can see the video below of the actual canon firing.
the homing beacon 