These two artillery pieces were presented as Trophies to the School by the Government of India in 1928 in recognition of the School's contribution to the Great War of 1915-1918, and to honour the twenty-seven Sanawarians who fell in action during the conflict. They are early Turkish, 3.5", (13-pounder) breech-loading field guns reported to have been captured in 1916 in the Dardanelle during the Gallipoli Campaign. The guns with their carriages, were despatched from Ferozepore Arsenal on the 20th of March 1928, and after de-commissioning were installed in their present sites on the quadrangle in time for the opening ceremony of Birdwood School and unveiling of the Cenotaph in September 1929.
The guns remain standing there to this day, still overlooking the Cenotaph and Memorials below - silent sentinels to the memory of Sanawar's fallen.
D.V. Boddington
(LRMS Sanawar 1942-1947)
August 2001
Sources & Acknowledgements:
[1] Civil & Military Gazette, (Lahore) August 1928, (Citation) & September 1929, (article).
[2] Lawrence School Orders No. 261 (NOTICES) TROPHIES, dated 26th October, 1951.
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