Service Number:A/2102
Age:37
Force:ArmyUnit:
The Royal Canadian Corps of Signals
Division:1 Div. Sigs.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Thomas Hanson
My name is Tom Hanson. I was born in Montreal and joined the Army in Montreal in early September 1939. I was trained as a commercial telegraph operator before the war, so I joined the Signal Corps, naturally.
I went overseas with 1st Corps Signals, and served with them in England until mid-September of 1943, at which time we were sent to Sicily with the 2nd Contingent, including the 5th Division and a number of core troops, artillery regiments, to reinforce the 1st Division which were already there. To support them and create, in effect, a full Canadian corps.
I served in Italy, coming up as far as Ravenna on the Adriatic coast and taking along the way the action at Cassino. From Ravenna we moved down to Naples and then to Marseille to join the Canadian Army in northwest Europe. I was with them until the end of hostilities, and then volunteered for action in the Pacific. I came home, but the war in the Pacific ended before the proposed 6th Canadian Division was mobilized and could be moved there effectively.
Because my wife and my children have asked me very often about the war, and not willing to be fatiguing about it, I started to write about it, and I've written so far about three particular incidents. The death of a young soldier while he and I were talking. Another one concerns a line patrol to repair a ruptured communication line with my Corporal, who received the Military Medal for that particular action. Also, one about the experience of being bombed out in a soldiers' hostel in London in 1941.
In this one incident, I was a Sergeant in the signals section attached to the 1st Canadian Medium Artillery Regiment, and included in this section was a component known as the 'Line Section'. They were responsible in the signals for laying telegraph lines. One night when we were in Ravenna, and getting a fairly heavy counter battery fire, a Corporal of the Line Section – a chap by the name of Percy Gunn – came up to me and told me that he was out of manpower. His men were all employed, and we had to go out and find break in the communication line to some other artillery regiment, and could I find a man for him. I couldn't find one, so I went with him. While I was senior in rank to him, I was acting under his direction because it was his trade, not mine. Anyway, it was pretty busy. We got caught in fairly heavy shellfire at the point where the line had been burned out, because a truck loaded with ammunition or fuel or something had been hit and burned. It was kind of noisy and very lit up, which gives you the impression the whole German Army are looking over your shoulder. So we got the job done, got it fixed and went back, and a result of that, Perce Gunn got the Military Medal.
Jack Neilson
My name is Jack Neilson. I served in the Canadian Army Signal Corps. And I think that from a very early age I was destined to join the armed forces. My great grandfather served in the British Army. My grandfather in the Canadian Army during 1918. And my father in the army from 1930 to 1951.
My own service runs from 1954 to 1982. I had a desire for travel and adventure and looked on the military as the best way to fulfill that desire. In 1954 I joined the Naval Reserve as a communicator. In 1955 I transferred to the regular Navy, again, as a communicator and I set off for HMCS Cornwallis for basic training. Things went well 'til the end of basic when we were on a final training cruise and it was discovered my eyesight wasn't good enough for my trade. Kind of a funny story on that one. The first incident was I reported a light which ended up being a star just rising over the horizon. The second was reporting an aircraft which turned out to be a seagull. That's when they sent me for the eye test. So my only options given were to transfer to cook or steward or take my leave 'cause all the other trades were full. Even though I'd attempted a career in the Navy, I always wonder if the army should have been my choice.
They released me from the Navy and I was told to report to the Army Recruiting Centre in Winnipeg. In September of '56 I enlisted in the army and I reported to the School of Signals in Kingston, Ontario. And at that time basic training was infantry-oriented, very tough. This was followed by driver training and dispatch rider training. Dispatch riders delivered messages in the field by motorcycles or sometimes by Jeep. On completion of training I was posted to the 1st Canadian Infantry Division Signals Regiment in Camp Borden, Ontario as a dispatch rider.
In 1958, was assigned to 3 Brigade Signals which relocated to Gagetown, New Brunswick. In 1961 I did a partial tour in October to November, with the United Nations operation in the Congo. And I worked out of Leopoldville, which is now Kinshasa in a detachment to provide communications relay functions. Our mandate was to prevent civil war, arrange a cease fire and halt all military operations. Prior to this was the apprehension and detention of all foreign military and para-military personnel not under UN command. And it was specifically related to mercenaries. Use of force was authorized. Maintaining the territorial integrity of the Congo was added to the mandate which led to the UN fighting the ... forces in the Catanga Province, these were led by foreign mercenaries again.
On return from the Congo I was a posted to a newly formed unit attached NORTHAG, the Northern Army Group of NATO. We provided strategic communications at the headquarters level and tactical communications for the British Army of the Rhine. Our role was to act as a first line reaction defensive force in the event of a Soviet invasion.
On return from NORTHAG in 1965 I was posted to Camp Borden Signal Squadron where we provided communications facilities and working in a blast-proof underground bunker. This also had facilities so the Ontario Government could continue to function in the event of a nuclear attack.
And then in 1966 the Canadian Armed Forces Motorcycle Display Team was formed to participate in centennial activities during 1967. I volunteered and, after very rugged testing and evaluation period was selected for their team. We provided a 45-minute show which included high speed precision riding, acrobatic stunts on motorcycles, jumping through fire, etcetera. We also provided two 10-man teams who provided similar services to the Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo.
From May to October in 1967 we did a cross Canada tour performing in 105 locations from BC to Newfoundland.
My own service runs from 1954 to 1982. I had a desire for travel and adventure and looked on the military as the best way to fulfill that desire. In 1954 I joined the Naval Reserve as a communicator. In 1955 I transferred to the regular Navy, again, as a communicator and I set off for HMCS Cornwallis for basic training. Things went well 'til the end of basic when we were on a final training cruise and it was discovered my eyesight wasn't good enough for my trade. Kind of a funny story on that one. The first incident was I reported a light which ended up being a star just rising over the horizon. The second was reporting an aircraft which turned out to be a seagull. That's when they sent me for the eye test. So my only options given were to transfer to cook or steward or take my leave 'cause all the other trades were full. Even though I'd attempted a career in the Navy, I always wonder if the army should have been my choice.
They released me from the Navy and I was told to report to the Army Recruiting Centre in Winnipeg. In September of '56 I enlisted in the army and I reported to the School of Signals in Kingston, Ontario. And at that time basic training was infantry-oriented, very tough. This was followed by driver training and dispatch rider training. Dispatch riders delivered messages in the field by motorcycles or sometimes by Jeep. On completion of training I was posted to the 1st Canadian Infantry Division Signals Regiment in Camp Borden, Ontario as a dispatch rider.
In 1958, was assigned to 3 Brigade Signals which relocated to Gagetown, New Brunswick. In 1961 I did a partial tour in October to November, with the United Nations operation in the Congo. And I worked out of Leopoldville, which is now Kinshasa in a detachment to provide communications relay functions. Our mandate was to prevent civil war, arrange a cease fire and halt all military operations. Prior to this was the apprehension and detention of all foreign military and para-military personnel not under UN command. And it was specifically related to mercenaries. Use of force was authorized. Maintaining the territorial integrity of the Congo was added to the mandate which led to the UN fighting the ... forces in the Catanga Province, these were led by foreign mercenaries again.
On return from the Congo I was a posted to a newly formed unit attached NORTHAG, the Northern Army Group of NATO. We provided strategic communications at the headquarters level and tactical communications for the British Army of the Rhine. Our role was to act as a first line reaction defensive force in the event of a Soviet invasion.
On return from NORTHAG in 1965 I was posted to Camp Borden Signal Squadron where we provided communications facilities and working in a blast-proof underground bunker. This also had facilities so the Ontario Government could continue to function in the event of a nuclear attack.
And then in 1966 the Canadian Armed Forces Motorcycle Display Team was formed to participate in centennial activities during 1967. I volunteered and, after very rugged testing and evaluation period was selected for their team. We provided a 45-minute show which included high speed precision riding, acrobatic stunts on motorcycles, jumping through fire, etcetera. We also provided two 10-man teams who provided similar services to the Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo.
From May to October in 1967 we did a cross Canada tour performing in 105 locations from BC to Newfoundland.
Michael Gerard Blaise “Chip” Young
I went up around the Annapolis Valley [Nova Scotia], but the camp I finally went to, to take my training, my basic training, and my advanced training, was at the Barriefield [Camp], [in Kingston,] Ontario. And it was good up there, we lived in tents. In fact, I ran into my older brother who was in the army, he was up there at Barriefield waiting on an overseas draft for England at that time. The oldest brother, his name is Cletus, John Cletus, he’s up in Sudbury, up around Sudbury, Ontario or Sault Ste. Marie. He’s in his 90s now.
I believe, from Kingston, Ontario, when the first time, I was up in Barriefield and that and missed the drafts, I think it was after that that I went up to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. And, from Yellowknife, I went to Norman Wells, Northwest Territories. And I went to a place they called Baker Lake, Northwest Territories, as an army radio operator. And that was a four-man [station], there was a sergeant and a cook and three of us operators, by the Baker Lake, there were other [radio stations in the north], not very much. I can remember that, at times, I met Eskimos that had never seen a white man, a white person before, and the caribou herds used to, right on the camp, was right next to the station, right next to the caribou trail. Caribous start marching by, it might take five, six days, or a week for the whole herd to pass through. It was thousands upon thousands upon thousands. You wouldn’t believe it, it’s something you’d have to see to believe.
Read more: Link
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Faces of War
This database features photographs of men and women who served in the Canadian Forces during the Second World War. Taken from the Department of National Defence (DND) collection at Library and Archives Canada, these photographs depict military life during the Second World War.
Visitors can search almost 2500 images from the DND collection, representing each branch of the Canadian Forces: Army, Navy and Air Force.
LinkSignal officers of the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (W.R.C.N.S.), Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, October 1943. Link
Signaller Irene Cheshire of the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (W.R.C.N.S.), H.M.C.S. CORNWALLIS, Deep Brook, Nova Scotia, Canada, August 1945. Link
Signallers Marian Wingate and Margaret Little of the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service at work. Link
Signallers, Royal Canadian Navy Signal Station, Gordon Head, British Columbia, Canada, 17 March 1942. Link
Signalman A. McNeil entering Caen in a captured German halftrack vehicle, Caen, France, 10 July 1944. Link
Signalman F. Roy of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals (R.C.C.S.), 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade, stringing wires for a signals exchange, Normandy, France, 24 June 1944. Link
Signalman F.R.J. Savage of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals (R.C.C.S.) and the 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade reads the inscription on a plaque dedicated to an unknown British soldier buried on 9-10 November 1920. Boulogne, France, 19 September 1944. Link
Signalman J. Bennett of the 1st Canadian Railway Telegraph Company, Royal Canadian Engineers (R.C.E.), installing wire on a pole in the railway yards, Louvain, Belgium, 6 January 1945. Link
Signalman J.A. Knirchk, Royal Canadian Corps of Signals (R.C.C.S.), 4th Canadian Armoured Division, stringing a line on a statue, Eikelenberg, Belgium, 23 October 1944. Link
Signalman J.T. Prime of 1st Canadian Army Signals, Royal Canadian Corps of Signals (R.C.C.S.), operating a local radio receiver and remote unit, Zeddam, Netherlands, 4 April 1945. Link
Signalman N.L. Garrant and G.K. Gree of the 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade digging a slit trench in the Normandy beachhead, France, ca. 8-9 June 1944. Link
Signalman Rusty Forsythe and Captain R.W. Armstrong digging slit trenches during Operation SPRING south of Ifs, France, 25 July 1944. Link
Signalmen Clark and Waters operating a signal projector aboard the destroyer H.M.C.S. ASSINIBOINE at sea, 1940. Link
Signals Centre of the 5th Canadian Armoured Division near Castelnuovo, Italy, 17 March 1944.
(Foreground, L-R): Signalman C.H. Groat, Corporal W.G. Davenport, Signalman W.D. Lansdell, Lance-Corporal A.B. Mitchell, Signalman C.K. Hillyer. (Rear, L-R): Captain G.R. Kell, Sergeant-Major A.L. Hurst. Link
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Tom Jenkins - NATO, Peacekeeping
Tom Jenkins joined the Artillery Reserves in Brandon, Manitoba while still in high school in 1972. In January, 1974 he was released from the Reserves and joined the regular force of the Canadian Forces. After basic training at Canadian Forces Recruit School Cornwallis in Nova Scotia, he reported for trades training at the Canadian Forces School of Communications and Electronics at Canadian Forces Base Kingston, Ontario. There he was trained as a Communicator Research Operator, working in the signals intelligence field.
Read more Link
Read more Link
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Heros Remembered - James Gratto - When the Belgian People Left
When the Belgian people were taken, fled out of the country, it was just like walking into a villa. Which is a villa, but it's a house like in Bay Ridge but they call them villas right? You walk into a house and the clothes are still hanging in the closet, a jacket might be still on the back of a chair because all they took was their money or valuables and left. If not, they would have been hacked to death. Link
Canadian Forces in Congo
Collection of interviews with veterans of the Canadian Forces recount their experience of military service in Congo. The veterans of this video are: Bob Terry, Fred LeBlanc, Ed Dubinsky, Ron Knapton, Bert Diamond and James Gratto. Link
Heros Remembered - Ron Knapton - First Impressions of the Congo
Mr. Knapton describes the sights when first arriving in the Congo. Link
Raymond LaBrosse - Behind Enemy Lines
Raymond LaBrosse - Behind Enemy Lines
Fighting a rising sense of dread, Lucien Dumais slowed his bicycle. Standing in the bombedout roadway ahead, with a rifle slung over his shoulder, was a German Army sergeant, signalling him to halt. It was late fall 1943. Dumais and his travelling companion, Raymond LaBrosse, had just left the French city of Rennes and were on their way to the Britanny coast to complete a dangerous task. This holdup could easily end their mission, endangering the lives of many people, including themselves.Read more Link
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Jim Hueglin - Memories of the Congo ONUC
Memories of the Congo ONUC, A work in progress
I was born on
15 July 1940 in Stratford, Ontario to Mabel Haines and Eugene Hueglin and I
have one brother who is three years older than me. My early years were spent in
Stratford, Guelph, and Dover Township, Ontario. June and I married on 23 Dec
1961 and we had our first child, Stephen on 22 Dec 1962.
In 1961 I was
unemployed, with a Grade XII education and living with my parents in the
countryside outside Chatham, Ontario. No member of my family had ever been in
the Canadian military, however, for some unknown reason I had a desire to join the Army
so I went on my own to the Recruiting Office in Chatham to inquire about
enlisting.
On 2 February
1961, I was sent to No 7 Personnel Depot in London, Ontario where, after my
first military haircut, I participated in various forms of testing to determine
whether I was mentally, physically and technically acceptable to join, and what
I would be best suited to do.
On 23 February 1961, I was Taken on Strength of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals and underwent six months of basic training at the Royal Canadian Regiment Depot, Wolseley Barracks, in London. My first six months at the Depot involved living four to a room, Kit layouts, frequent inspections, a good deal of marching and saluting and field craft. It was a time when each recruit kept a bayonet and rifle in their clothes locker and, a breach block in their barrack box. My wake up call each morning was a metal pipe being thrown along the terrazzo floor outside my room.
On 23 February 1961, I was Taken on Strength of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals and underwent six months of basic training at the Royal Canadian Regiment Depot, Wolseley Barracks, in London. My first six months at the Depot involved living four to a room, Kit layouts, frequent inspections, a good deal of marching and saluting and field craft. It was a time when each recruit kept a bayonet and rifle in their clothes locker and, a breach block in their barrack box. My wake up call each morning was a metal pipe being thrown along the terrazzo floor outside my room.
On completion
of Basic Training I was shipped off to the School of Signals in Kingston,
Ontario. The initial time in Kingston involved indoctrination training into the
way Signals did things, Technical Preparatory Training, and getting to know the
other seven individuals who shared my one room, double bunked, living space.
Following the
aforementioned I commenced a long Group 1 training course, in Kingston, as a
Teletype & Cipher Equipment Technician, a trade that required that I have a
high level security clearance. During the time I was on course June and I
married in Chatham. This was not as easy as it sounds since I had to receive my
superior's permission to marry and live on the economy and, because of the
course I was on, there was some concern that I would be living with someone who
did not have a security clearance. As an aside, at the time we married, an
Other Rank had to be 21 years old to receive, in addition to a monthly basic
pay of $115.00, before deductions, a Marriage Maintenance Allowance of $30.00
and a Subsistence Allowance of $100.00 to help defray the cost of living on the
economy.
On completion
of the course I was posted, within the School of Signals, to the teletype
maintenance organization (X Tp), that operated out of the Genet Building, working
with a memorable group of technicians. Most of this group were solid role
models in terms of work and family, however, ... On completion of a Junior NCO
Course on 28 March 1963, I was promoted Corporal.
22 November
1963, the day JFK was assassinated, I was in the Orderly Room in the Forde
Building at Vimy Barracks in Kingston signing a document that read that should
I not appear for a tour of duty in the Republic of the Congo I would be
classified as a deserter. Before deployment June and Stephen moved to live with
her parents in Chatham and, as was then required I made a mandatory pay
allotment to June of $60.00 per month.
Our contingent
flew via Pisa, Italy in a Yukon, turboprop aircraft, from Trenton, Ontario, to
N'idjili airport in Leopoldville, Congo to join other members of 57
Canadian Signals Unit who were already serving there After takeoff from
Trenton, with this being the first time I had flown, it was somewhat
disconcerting when the pilot feathered the engine as the aircraft reached its
cruising altitude. The change from the noise of the aircraft labouring to gain height, to dead silence when it
leveled off was a shock I will never forget. In Pisa, along with other
tourists, I climbed the Leaning Tower and, later in the day watched others from
our contingent trying to pass Canadian Tire money off as legal Canadian
currency at the hotel where we were billeted. When we landed at the airport in
Leopoldville, the aircraft door opened and the smell and atmosphere of Africa
came wafting in.
In the course of my deployment my time was split
between Leopoldville and Elizabethville. Leopoldville, being a city at an
elevation of 240 m, some 515 km inland from, and East of the Atlantic Ocean and
480 km south of the Equator was hot, humid and rainy. Life there was quite
routine in many ways. I climbed up and down seven flights of stairs more than
once a day since the elevator in our quarters did not work. There were about 12 hours of daylight and 12
hours of darkness. It rained everyday at about the same time. I had access to a
community swimming pool that was always as warm as tea. Off duty life centred
around the wet canteen and its liquor and Polar beer; an outdoor area where
movies were shown at night on a large screen; buying local Franks on the black
market with the Canadian $10 bill June mailed to me in a magazine; an
occasional trip downtown to the ivory market area to buy souvenirs such as a
jewellery box, mask, spear or Katanga cross; or a walk along the Congo River to
watch the locals in dugout canoes or view the statues of King Leopold and
Stanley.
I walked
everyday to and from my quarters to my place of work in the UN Headquarters
Building (Athenee Royale). I stood guard on occasion outside our quarters with
an unloaded weapon. I worked the day shift in a maintenance shop above the tape
relay centre along with some of the same people I had worked with in X Tp and I
mostly chummed around with a fellow by the name of Bob Leckie.
My work dress
was a blue beret, armlets with rank, Corps and Unit designation, an Indian Bush
shirt, khaki shorts, a web belt and buckle, knee high socks and suede jungle
boots. You could tell you had been in theatre for awhile if you had hair on
your knees from not wearing long pants.
Other fond
memories include buying a Phillips tape recorder and short wave radio;
recording Congolese music; listening to CBC Radio International as The Beatles
arrived in North America and the Bonaventure headed for Cyprus transporting
Canadian troops. Other less fond memories include Wally Shannon, the SSM, who
insisted we play what came to be called "Wally Ball" (at one time his
wife was Head Waitress at the Vimy Officer's Mess); only getting milk when the
next Yukon flight arrived; seeing people eating from the kitchen waste area outside
our mess hall; and witnessing the local police arresting young people, throwing
them into the back of a vehicle and carting them off to jail.
The teletype equipment we maintained were electromechanical in design and included the Teletype
Corporation Model 15 teleprinter and the Model 28 teleprinter,
perforator/reperforator combination; and the Kleinschmidt TT-4 teleprinter.
These were all mid 1900's pieces of equipment that were widely used in the US
and Canadian military and that, for the most part, were easy to maintain. The
Model 15 and Model 28 lent themselves to static installations in message
centres whereas the TT-4 was a portable piece of equipment that was well suited
to field use. I, however, can remember one instance when it took me a great
deal of time to repair a singularly frustrating TT-4. The Typex cipher machine
used was a variation of an electromechanical device, with changeable rotors,
that first came into use with the British military prior to WW II. It was big,
bulky and, I believe, weighed about 120 lbs. To the best of my knowledge it
required a good deal of operator maintenance and was time consuming to operate.
After my return I heard a tale that for security reasons, and since there was
no value in bringing them home, all the in-theatre Typex machines were dropped
out of an aircraft into the Congo river.
Quarters were
primitive as I lived on the seventh floor of an apartment building with no
operating elevator, no laundry facilities, cots with tin cans filled with
liquid to deter creatures from climbing in to bed with you and ants
continuously streaming up and down the building, foraging for everything they
could carry away. Our laundry was collectively stomped on in a bath tub by a
houseboy and sun dried on the roof of our quarters. There was no need for
starch when they were ironed because of the residual salt they contained.
Elizabethville,
being a city at an elevation of 1208 m, some 1570 km by air inland to the East
of Leopoldville, and 1300 km south of the Equator, was cooler and drier than
Leopoldville. Life there was quite different and getting there and back was
hair-raising. On the flight to Elizabethville it took the pilot three tries to
get the plane airborne; that is to say he roared it down the runway, realized
that he could not lift it off, aborted the takeoff and taxied back to his
starting point and tried again. On the
return flight some months later, on a stop at one of the other detachments, the
plane came in to land, bounced when it hit the runway, took off again and
circled around before making a safe landing. As I recall, the plane was a
Douglas DC-3 flown by civilian pilots hired by the UN.
Once in Elizabethville
life became routine once again, but in a different way. I lived with other
detachment members in a ground level villa. We had our own French Canadian cook
and the houseboy, and his family, lived in a small dwelling behind the villa.
The local UN Headquarters building was a short walk away and getting there and
back offered an opportunity to interact with the local community and practice
basic Kiswahili such as Jambo, habari gani, habari nzuri, misouri kapisa, umke
na watoto howa jambo. The houseboy was not adverse to inviting me into his
family home and introducing me to a local dish of manioc and beef in Pili-Pili
sauce. Since practising my trade did not occupy all my time, my secondary duty
was to assist our cook on ration runs. This involved trips with him to the
local market to buy fresh food using our own transportation, and dealings with
Indian and Pakistani troops who collectively ran the local UN Rations Depot and
provided transportation to the Depot and back. What was most interesting about
this situation was that, notwithstanding the hostility that then existed
between India and Pakistan, the troops got along very well. Often, after a
ration run our cook would wind up bartering the UN supplied food, e.g. canned
bully beef, for local produce. Local sights included giant ant hills, malachite
mines, and the local zoo and its chain smoking chimpanzee.
I arrived back
in Trenton on Thursday, 28 May 1964. Rather than quarantine us for the weekend at Sunnybrook Hospital in
Toronto, Ontario we were told to report back on the following Monday for post
deployment medical examination for, among other things, parasites. I think we
all welcomed the chance to immediately see our family, however, It made no
sense then, and it still doesn't. At the time, June and Stephen were staying in
Preston, Ontario with my brother and his wife so I hitchhiked there for the
weekend. When I was dropped off on the highway outside Preston I was hungry so,
before heading off on foot to find my brother's house, I stopped at a
restaurant and bought a piece of cherry pie to satisfy a craving I had.
During my post deployment leave,
June, Stephen and I stayed with June's parents in Chatham. Shortly after we
started staying with them my barrack box arrived at the local Customs Office.
After clearing customs, and bringing It to June's parent's house, I opened my
barrack box and, lo and behold, out wafted the smell of Africa. From the money
we saved during my deployment to the Congo June and I purchased a used
Volkswagen Beetle and a Vilas kitchen table and four chairs. We still have the
table.
So endeth the story.
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Monday, April 25, 2016
Thursday, March 24, 2016
William “Bill” Hitchon
Dispatch riders from William Hitchon's unit in Holland, 1945.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
William Stuart Metcalfe
METCALFE, William Stuart (#A/50101)
William “Bill” Metcalfe was born in Sarnia on February 21, 1921, the son of Karl Steadman Metcalfe and
Julia Stuart Metcalfe, of Port Huron, Michigan. His grandfather was Lieutenant Colonel W.W. McVicar. William
attended public school in Petrolia, Central High School in London, and then finished his education at Sarnia
Collegiate Institute. He was a member of Central United Church and also of the Central Century Club, serving as the
club’s pianist on Sunday afternoons. After high school, William obtained first class honours in his second year at
Toronto Conservatory of Music. When William enlisted, he recorded his place of residence as 309 North College
Street, Sarnia and his occupation as a grocery clerk.
William joined the Canadian Army on August 13, 1940, in Sarnia, with the Kent Regiment. He trained at
Chatham, Wolsey Barracks in London, and Kingston where he took a P.T. course. William was then transferred to
the trade school at Hamilton, where he took a special course in Wireless. From there he was sent to Camp Borden
with the 5th Canadian Armored Division, going overseas in October 1941. Overseas with the Royal Canadian Corps
of Signals 5th Canadian Armored Division, he had the rank of Signalman. He trained in England and while there he
married Helen R. Appleby on February 17, 1943 at Chelsea, Middlesex. The new Mrs. Helen Metcalfe was originally
from Petrolia, Ontario. William and Helen would have one son together. Later, at the time of William’s death, his
wife Helen and son resided in England.
William went on to serve a year and a half in Italy, with the British 8th Army in the Central Mediterranean
Forces, and was also in Belgium and Holland. In late 1943, not long after his arrival in Italy, William wrote a letter to
his grandfather in Sarnia, Lt. Colonel W. W. MacVicar. The following are portions of that letter:
I never saw so much filth and poverty anywhere. These towns are beyond all imagination. The first few days here
were beautifully warm, and we thought there was something to this “Sunny Italy” business, despite the fact that the
nights almost “did us in”. Don’t know when I ever ran into such bone-biting coldness. You can put on everything you
own, and still shake like a model T Ford.
Then came the rains, and believe me, it has everything that England ever showed us in the way of rain beaten by a
mile. We are bivouacked in a vineyard, using pup tents as a home. They aren’t too bad except that every time you
touch the canvas when it is raining, the water pours through in torrents, and being so low we are always touching
them, so, there being no room upward, we decided to go down, and now are sleeping some three feet below the
surface of the ground in something that is a cross between a tent and a dugout. It is not bad, though, and actually it
is comparatively dry and quite warm. We are thankful that conditions are no worse than they are. They definitely
could be very much worse. The food is good and can be supplemented with all kinds of oranges, apples and nuts.
The one thing here worth mentioning is the music one can hear anywhere in the streets. It seems to be the only thing
these people can do properly, and they do it under the least provocation. Some poor broken specimen of humanity
shuffling along will suddenly burst forth in a flood of song that would put Nelson Eddy to shame, and when they get
about half “vino-ed” up you should hear them.
Speaking of “vino”, it is no wonder these people got licked at every turn of the wheel if they have been drinking that
brew ever since they were infants. It’s vile! About the only thing I can say for it is that it would make good ink.
Approximately one month after VE Day, marking the end of war in Europe, on June 4, 1945, William
Metcalfe would lose his life in Groeningen, Holland. In mid-June of 1945, Lt. Col. W.W. McVicar in Sarnia would
be notified of the death of his grandson, Signalman William Stuart Metcalfe, which occurred in Holland on June 4.
William Metcalfe would later be officially listed as, Overseas casualty, in the field (Holland), cause of death
drowning. Twenty-four year old William Metcalfe is buried in Holten Canadian War Cemetery, Netherlands, Grave
VI.B.13. William Metcalfe’s name is also inscribed on the Petrolia cenotaph in the Town of Petrolia.
Link
Virtual war memorial
Link
Virtual war memorial
Friday, March 18, 2016
Marguerite Downes
Maj Marguerite Downes
Major Marguerite Downes, the highest ranking black female officer in the Ontario Canadian Army Reserves, died on June 4 in Toronto of respiratory failure. She was 70. Read More The Globe and MailWho's who in Black Canada
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
James Edward Lankin
| James Edward Lankin, CD 02 June 1941 - 06 July 2011 |
Ed joined the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals as a Radio Operator in July 1957 and served until his release in September 1977.
Ed completed a United Nations tour of duty with United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF I) from 1960 to 1961 in Gaza, Egypt. He then completed a tour with the United Nations Forces in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in Nicosia, Cyprus from 1967 to 1968. Ed did a second tour of duty with United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF II) in Cairo, Egypt from 1972 to 1973. He was also part of the NATO forces in Soest, Germany from 1962 to 1965.
May He Rest in Peace
Daniel Alexander Russ
| Daniel Alexander Russ, OMM, CD 11 August 1940 - 17 January 2011 |
Daniel joined the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals in August 1956 and served until his release in 1981.
Daniel completed United Nations tour of duty in 1960 with 57 Canadian Signals Unit with the United Nations Organization in Congo (ONUC); with 56 Canadian Signal Squadron in Egypt with United Nations Emergency Force I (UNEF I) in 1964 - 1965 and with the Damascus Signal Troop with United Nations Disengagement Observation Force Golan Heights (UNDOF) in 1978 - 1979.
Daniel also served with the 709 Toronto Communication Reserve Regiment upon his release from the Regular Force.
Daniel was also a member of the Hamilton Ontario Signals Association and the Royal Hamilton Military Institute.
May He Rest in Peace
Joseph Henry Haywood
| Joseph Henry Haywood 24 July 1933 - 08 June 2012 |
Joseph joined the Canadian Army (Regular) in May 1951 and served in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals until his release in May 1968.
He completed a tour with the United Nations Organization in Congo (ONUC) in 1963.
Joseph was also a member of the Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association, Royal Canadian Legion, Norwood St. Boniface Branch, Manitoba and an Honoray Member of Korea Veterans Association of Canada Inc, Tommy Prince M.M. Unit 76, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
May He Rest in Peace
Fergus Powers
| Fergus Power, CD 30 August 1935 - 08 July 2015 |
Fergus joined the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals in November 1958 and served until his retirement in August 1980.
He completed United Nations tours with United Nations Organization in Congo (ONUC) during the period February 1962 to December 1962. He completed a tour with the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) during the period October 1973 to May 1974 and he completed a tour with United Nations Emergency Force (Middle East) during the period June 1979 to February 1980.
He was also a member of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 560, Kingston, Ontario.
May He Rest in Peace
Gary A.E. Vanstone
| Gary A.E. Vanstone, CD 03 May 1937 - 01 July 2013 |
Gary joined the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals in July 1953 and served with 1st Army Signals, Canadian Forces Station Alert, Canadian Forces Station Masset and Canadian Forces Station Carp. Gary was released in November 1985.
Gary Vanstone served a United Nations Tour with the United Nations Organization in the Congo.
Gary was also a member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
May He Rest in Peace
Harold Frederick Norman Smith
| Harold Frederick Norman Smith, CD Passed Away - 02 March 2014 |
Harold joined the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals (RCCS) in August 1956 and served 28 years in the Land Element until his release in 1986.
Harold completed a tour with the United Nations Emergency Force in Egypt with 56 Canadian Signal Squadron during the period April 1958 to April 1959.
May He Rest in Peace
James M. Cameron
| James M. Cameron, CD 15 June 1938 - 23 November 2014 |
James M. Cameron was a Member of the Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping and was a Member in the Prince Edward Island Chapter, Summerside, Prince Edward Island.James joined the Canadian Army in January 1956 and served until his retirement in March1985.
He completed United Nations tours with United Nations Emergency Force with the Royal Canadian Signals Squadron, Rafah, Egypt during the period February 1966 to February 1967. He also served with 73 Service Battalion located at Ismailya, Egypt during the period April 1979 to October 1979.
He was also a member of the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 17, Wellington, Prince Edward Island.
May He Rest in Peace
Loyd Harold Carr
| Lloyd Harold Carr, CD 14 January 1942 - 25 May 2014 |
Lloyd joined the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals in June 1958 and served in the Land Element until his release.
Lloyd completed tours with the United Nations Organization in Congo with the Canadian Signal Squadron during the period April 1962 to April 1963. He then completed a tour with the Canadian Contingent United Nations Disengagement Observation Force Golan Heights with 73 Canadian Signal Squadron during the period November 1977 to May 1978. Lloyd also completed a tour with the Canadian Contingent Headquarters, United Nations Disengagement Observation force in Damascus, Syria during the period Jul 1989 to July 1990.
Lloyd was also an active member of the Ottawa Chapter of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association.
May He Rest in Peace
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
NO. 1 SPECIAL WIRELESS GROUP ROYAL CANADIAN CORPS OF SIGNALS (RCCS) IN AUSTRALIA DURING WW2
Link
The following personnel are mentioned in accompanying photographs:
Lt. Col. H.D.W. Wethey,
The following personnel are mentioned in accompanying photographs:
Lt. Col. H.D.W. Wethey,
Major F.H. Rowland,
QMS J.T. Hanes,
S/Sgt C.L. Getz Back,
S/Sgt G.W. Laycroft,
Sgt. C.F. Colvin,
Sgt. W.V. Gavrilloff,
Sgt. W.H.C. Holcombe,
Sgt. J.E. Lauret,
Sgt. R.F. McCallum,
Sgt. K.W. McKay,
Sgt. T. Murray,
Sgt W.F. Schrempp,
Sgt. E.D. Welland,
Sgt. L.M. Williams,
Signalman L. Exelby,
Signalman J.G. Groome,
Signalman E.A. Lowe,
Signalman Maywood.
Signalman R. Montreuil,
Signalman J. Taylor.
Signalman J.P. Trottier.
Signalman J.P. Trottier.
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