Wetaskiwin District Heritage Museum Centre & City of Wetaskiwin Archives

Here at the Heritage Museum, we’re a big fan of flare! This gun, known as a flare gun, is used to illuminate dark areas for improved vision or send out distress signals. It has a round open barrel, thick body, and large trigger. While this flare gun originated from the Second World War, originally belonging to the donor’s brother-in-law, a WWII veteran, the earliest recorded use of gunpowder with the intent of signaling was “signal bomb”. The signal bomb, used in the Chinese Song Dynasty as early as 1276, was encased in a soft shell and timed to detonate mid-air. Distant troops would be able to receive and understand messages based on these signals! American naval officer, Edward Wilson Very, would later develop the modern flare gun as a single-shot, snub-nosed pistol that fired “Very lights”. Contemporary versions of the flare gun are commonly made out of a durable plastic which may be bright in color. This November, the museum invites you to come and learn more about our local veterans and wartime history!