General News
30 August, 2026
Historic restoration underway
A PANMURE duo has fulfil-led their long-awaited dream of securing a 117-year-old German howitzer cannon (scarred with bullet holes from the allied forces) to be refurbished to its former glory.
South Western District Restoration Group Inc (SWDRG) president Brian Cockayne and Panmure Action Group president Ian Wallace were beaming with excitement when announcing they had finally secured possession of the historic piece of military equipment, which was previously on display at Warrnambool’s Cannon Hill.
The cannon was developed in 1909 as a fierce addition to the landscape of World War One, boasting a maximum range of 7000 metres using a 15.8-kilogram shell.
The cannon is a German howitzer long barrel which was captured from German artillery in 1917 before being brought back to Australia as a war souvenir.
“When the war ended in 1918, part of the armistice was that the guns must fall silent,” Mr Wallace said.
“There were thousands of them in Germany and something like 500 came to Australia and New Zealand.
“Two guns were allocated to Warrnambool before going on a carriage all around Victoria to promote the purchase of war bonds.
“They’ve got their own history.”
Mr Cockayne said the cannon had remained on public display at Cannon Hill until it was removed around 20 years ago, having been deemed unsafe for exhibition.
“A car crashed into it, which I think was from hoon driving, and it was deemed unsafe as it was rusty,” he said.
“Instead of doing anything with it they put it in the old pit and it sat there for a number of years before it was found.
“People were not happy about that so it was put into storage at the Warrnambool Saleyards, where it sat for around four or five years.
“They tried to get people to have a crack at taking it on but nobody would because they were quoted at around $150,000 to get it back into reasonable shape.
“Of course, there’s no money for that when they can’t even fix potholes.”
Despite the deteriorated condition of the cannon and the estimated repair bill, Mr Cockayne and Mr Wallace pushed ahead with their attempt, with the support of Warrnambool RSL member Doug Hazelwood, Warrnambool City Council and Corangamite Shire Council.
“I said we were interested so he (Mr Hazelwood) started the ball rolling with the city council,” Mr Wallace said.
“We got a chance to look at the gun at the saleyards but as soon as I saw it I knew it was just too much for our little group – but it’s not too much for Brian’s group.”
The Cobden-based SWDRG will tackle the arduous task of meticulously restoring the cannon over the next few years, which will draw on the talents of a diverse range of members and the pursuit of grant funding.
“We’re going to have a crack over the next few years at rebuilding the gun carriage,” Mr Cockayne said.
“Over the next month or two we’re going to take the barrel off and put it in a molasses electrolysis bath to be de-rusted.
“We’re hoping to have this gun as close to operational-looking as possible, so it can be displayed out at Cobden at our World War One lone memorial tree.
“We’re hoping to have around six-to-10 blokes working on it who can strip it down, get the engineering done, rivet and weld it, put the axel through and restore the elevator.
“Hopefully there’s enough local talent to be able to carry out the works needed.”
The process is expected to cost around $40,000 in total, with SWDRG members giving their time to avoid the otherwise insurmountable labour costs.
When finished, the goal is for the cannon to become an integral part of ANZAC Day services.
“We’ll do our best and hope to have it on display but it can also be used at Anzac Day Services such as at Panmure or if the Warrnambool RSL want it back for the day,” Mr Cockayne said.
“We’re really happy to get it because you don’t get a cannon like this very often.
“We’ve already got $10,000 which came with the cannon, and that will go a long way towards doing most of the work on the subframe.
“Hopefully over the next two or three years we will be successful in receiving grants to fix it.”
Mr Wallace said he had zero doubt the SWDRG members would be able to restore the equipment – proudly telling Mr Cockayne he expected the cannon to be making noise in a year or two.
