Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps Depot Johnstown
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Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps Depot Johnstown (1942 - 1957) - Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps Depot Johnstown was a large concrete reserve ammunition magazine for the major naval gun batteries in Sydney Harbour and Canso Strait, located at Johnstown, Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Canada, on the southeastern shore of the Bras d'Or Lake. . The station monogram was JO/C (Station Monograms are found marked on military transit cases and packaging as well as on some of the ordnance and may also be found incorporated in various case headstamps). Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps Depot Johnstown HistoryPart of the Harbor Defense of Sydney. World War II (1939-1945)One of the least known projects for Cape Breton's defence was completed in 1942. R.E. MacDonald, a local contractor, built a complex of magazine buildings, including a large, heavily built concrete ammunition store and a brick laboratory building for handling and testing explosives. The sum of $33,780 was allocated for the project. The complex held reserves of ammunition that could be transported readily to both the Sydney and the Strait of Canso defences, but that were safely removed from areas that might come under attack. A detachment of approximately twenty troops of the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps manned the site. The magazines were similar to the ones at Debert, Nova Scotia and McGivney (McGivney Junction), New Brunswick. Post World War II (1946-1957)Post-War, the site was used as a sub-depot of No, 31 Ordnance Depot in Debert, staffed by a single Private. The depot closed on 18 March 1957. Current StatusThe battery site is located on private property, on the west side of Highway 4, south of Johnstown. All that remains is the laboratory building, now a private residence.
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