The Cambodia Daily
January 28, 2013
As the finishing touches were being put to the Preah Meru plaza in
front of the National Museum where late King Father Norodom Sihanouk
will be cremated on February 4, members of the Royal Cambodian Armed
Forces (RCAF) Special Force Airborne 911 Brigade were on Friday
preparing to send him off with one of the highest military honors—a
deafening 101-gun artillery salute.
Members
of the 911 Paratrooper unit conduct a practice drill of the 101-gun
artillery salute at their headquarters in Phnom Penh on Friday. The
salute will be fired in honor of the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk
on February 1 and again during his cremation on February 4. (Siv Channa)
The ceremony harks back to the days of the imperialist British
Empire, when heads of state or the king would receive a 101-gun
artillery salute.
On February 1, the brigade’s 14 Howitzer artillery guns—using shells
donated by Vietnam—will fire a full salute as the King Father’s body
leaves the Royal Palace for the last time. After it has traveled from
Wat Phnom back to the stupa at Preah Meru, the battery will fire a
second salute. A third will be discharged on February 4, the day the
King Father’s body is cremated.
“The sound of big guns in the ceremony is necessary,” Defense
Minister General Tea Banh said during the practice drill at the
brigade’s headquarters in Phnom Penh on Friday, which was also attended
by RCAF Commander-in-Chief Pol Saroeun, Defense Ministry Secretary of
State Neang Phat and a Vietnamese major general.
“We regard this as a success in preparation, so that we can have good results during the ceremony,” Gen. Banh added.
During the drill, which was ob-served by up to 500 soldiers, 12 of
the 105-mm artillery guns were split into units of three. The guns in
each unit fired simultaneously, followed lastly by the final two, until
all 101 of the Vietnamese-donated shells were spent.
“We were concerned about preparing the armed forces for this event, because we lack these kinds of shells,” Gen. Banh said.
“The state contacted [other countries], and Vietnam replied,” he
added, thanking the Vietnamese for helping to prepare the brigade for
the ceremony.
The artillery guns are to be transported to the Royal Palace, in front of which the salutes will be fired next week.
On Saturday, RCAF troops were scheduled to run through a practice
march ahead of the official ceremony, when at least 1,000 soldiers are
expected to provide an honor guard for the King Father’s body as it goes
on its final procession.
1 comment:
Just to make sure that those guns are not firing toward the direction where the coffin is .
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