Sabaton to Fire Historic 25-Pounder Gun After Helping Save WWI Museum

Sabaton has been invited to fire the Ordnance Quick Firing 25-pounder, a gun from WWII after helping save a museum from closing. The Swedish metal band, who have long worn their fascination with the conflicts of the world on their sleeves, is making the trip to the Heugh Battery Museum in England in early March.

When the band found out the Heugh Battery Museum was in danger of permanently closing due to a lack of funding, they helped raise funds by selling a specially designed T-shirt to make sure it didn't.

The Swedish band is now going to visit the British Museum on March 3 and has been invited to do something extremely special during their visit – shoot the Ordnance Quick Firing 25-pounder. The historic gun is an original British field gun from WWII and is only used on special occasions.

Guitarist Chris Rörland, who's a Swedish army veteran who served in the A9 Artillery Regiment, will be firing the gun. The Sabaton band member will be the first-ever non-British army veteran to fire the historic gun.

The Heugh Battery Museum stands on the site of the only First World War Battlefield in the U.K..

The museum's manager, Diane Stephens, said (as reported by Blabbermouth), "Sabaton have been a huge support to us in our fundraising efforts and for that we hope to show our gratitude. We really believe that their music brings history to a wide audience who then become visitors to the museums of the world – so they support many museums, not just us."

She went on to say that "being invited to fire our gun is a gesture of our appreciation of the band and their attitude to keeping history in the mind of those who may not otherwise engage with these momentous historic events and figures."

The museum opened in 2008 and relies on funding from donations, like the one it received from Sabaton, admissions and profits from its cafe. Sabaton will visit the museum on March 3, the day before their album The War to End All Wars is released on March 4.