SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: Irv’s arrival. Labrador Celebration More members please. Board Briefings. Spitfire progress. Postwar tales of Indian aviation. Conscription, what was it? VOLUNTEER VIGNETTE: IRV FRASER HOW, FROM MANURE TO MUSEUM? handling of horse teams to pick up the hay bales, harrow the meadows and plough. Irv moved to Toronto in 1959 and well remembers start- ing off as a trucker taking loads of grass sod to the massive Don Valley Parkway construc- tion site. During the summer, he did that and in the winter it was snow clearing and transportation. Having then decided to move into the construction busi- ness, he joined Evans Construction in 1966 to work on Expo 67. Their job was to complete a helipad on Ile St. Helene, right behind La Ronde, the chil- dren‟s funfair section. Following that, Evans also got the job of supplying and plac- ing sod for all of the Expo grounds, no small con- tract! As Irv says, “After that, I went back to Toronto to Ban- diera Construc- tion, near Pearson Airport. For me, that was a move into heavy equipment transportation work on low-beds. From there I was the Shop Foreman and then into heavy crane operation work.” The job sites were all over Ontario and one or two in Edmonton. Staying with crane operation work and in Toronto, he moved on to a company named Pow- ell Contracting Limited. In 2005, he retired and (Continued on page 2) ON PROUD WINGS THE COMOX VALLEY AIR FORCE MUSEUM ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 DEC 2010 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Born in the friendly town of Belleville, Ontario, Irv cut his teeth in the working world as a hired hand for three years on a neighbouring friend‟s dairy farm. Such peaceful pastoral beginnings are the envy of many! His primary task was milking the cows and shovelling out the other stuff. Perhaps, your writer thinks, this initiat- ed Irv‟s penchant for better machinery operations and cleaner types of freight! At 13 years of age, he was renowned for his brisk IRV FRASER‟S VI- GNETTE 1-2 LABRADOR 11310 UNVEILING 1-2 PRESIDENT‟S 3 MANAGER ‟N DIRECTOR 3 EDITORIAL 3 NEW MEMBERS 4 COMING EVENTS 4 BOARD HAPPENINGS 5 Y2K UPDATE 6 FRANK‟S CIRCUS 7 UK CONSCRIPTION 8 MAGAZINES 8 FUN FARE 9 CVAFMA 10 QUARTER-BACK 11 NOTICES 12 The Wild One? Excerpts from Col. Michel Lalumiere, 19 Wing Excerpts from Col. Michel Lalumiere, 19 Wing Excerpts from Col. Michel Lalumiere, 19 Wing Commander’s 26, September 2010 address,: Commander’s 26, September 2010 address,: Commander’s 26, September 2010 address,: “Ladies and Gentlemen, this museum Air Park celebrates all these venerable RCAF heritage aircraft, representing over 40 years of service, and today we celebrate the Labrador by the addition of #11310, a Class 113A Voyager, with Cana- dian modifications. Do you remember in the 1980s, when the SARCUP came together, and one variant was made from the Labrador and the Vo- yageur? Well, 310 is that variant, here in its SAR colours, minus some later modifications.” “This is about the great dignity and history that these aircraft have earned up until 2002 when our first Cormorant was deliv- ered and through to 2004 when the fleet of Labs was retired. Each aircraft had given us (Continued on page 2) New Addition Official “unveiling” Labrador #11310
Newsletters of the Comox Air Force Museum Archived Newsletters from the Comox Air Force Museum in Lazo, BC. Documents the activities of the members of the Comox Valley Air Force Museum Association, a non-profit organization that raises funds on behalf of the Comox Air Force Museum. The Museum documents the history of 19 Wing Comox and West Coast Aviation in Canada.
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
SPECIAL POINTS
OF INTEREST:
Irv’s arrival.
Labrador Celebration
More members please.
Board Briefings.
Spitfire progress.
Postwar tales of Indian
aviation.
Conscription, what was
it?
V O L U N T E E R V I G N E T T E : I R V F R A S E R
H O W , F R O M M A N U R E T O M U S E U M ?
handling of horse teams to
pick up the hay bales,
harrow the meadows and plough. Irv moved
to Toronto in 1959 and well remembers start-
ing off as a trucker taking loads of grass sod to the massive Don Valley Parkway construc-
tion site. During the
summer, he did that
and in the winter it
was snow clearing
and transportation.
Having then
decided to move into the construction busi-
ness, he joined Evans Construction in 1966 to
work on Expo 67. Their job was to complete
a helipad on Ile St.
Helene, right behind La Ronde, the chil-
dren‟s funfair section.
Following that,
Evans also got the job
of supplying and plac-
ing sod for all of the
Expo grounds, no small con-
tract! As Irv says, “After that, I went back to
Toronto to Ban-
diera Construc-
tion, near Pearson Airport. For
me, that was a
move into heavy
equipment transportation work on low-beds.
From there I was the Shop Foreman and then
into heavy crane operation work.”
The job sites were all over Ontario and
one or two in Edmonton. Staying with crane
operation work and in
Toronto, he moved on to
a company named Pow-
ell Contracting Limited. In 2005, he retired and
(Continued on page 2)
O N P R O U D W I N G S T H E C O M O X
V A L L E Y A I R
F O R C E
M U S E U M
A S S O C I A T I O N
N E W S L E T T E R
V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 3
D E C 2 0 1 0
I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :
Born in the friendly town of Belleville, Ontario, Irv
cut his teeth in the working world as a hired hand for
three years on a neighbouring friend‟s dairy farm. Such
peaceful pastoral beginnings are the envy of many! His
primary task was milking the cows and shovelling out the other stuff. Perhaps, your writer thinks, this initiat-
ed Irv‟s penchant for better machinery operations and
cleaner types of freight! At 13 years of age, he was renowned for his brisk
I R V F R A S E R ‟ S V I -
G N E T T E 1 - 2
L A B R A D O R 1 1 3 1 0
U N V E I L I N G 1 - 2
P R E S I D E N T ‟ S 3
M A N A G E R ‟ N D I R E C T O R 3
E D I T O R I A L 3
N E W M E M B E R S 4
C O M I N G E V E N T S 4
BOARD HAPPENINGS 5
Y 2 K U P D A T E 6
F R A N K ‟ S C I R C U S 7
U K C O N S C R I P T I O N 8
M A G A Z I N E S 8
FUN FARE 9
CVAFMA 10
QUARTER-BACK 11
NOTICES 12
The Wild One?
Excerpts from Col. Michel Lalumiere, 19 Wing Excerpts from Col. Michel Lalumiere, 19 Wing Excerpts from Col. Michel Lalumiere, 19 Wing
Commander’s 26, September 2010 address,:Commander’s 26, September 2010 address,:Commander’s 26, September 2010 address,:
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this museum Air
Park celebrates all these
venerable RCAF heritage
aircraft, representing over
40 years of service, and
today we celebrate the
Labrador by the addition
of #11310, a Class 113A Voyager, with Cana-
dian modifications. Do you remember in the
1980s, when the SARCUP came together, and one variant was made from
the Labrador and the Vo-
yageur? Well, 310 is that
variant, here in its SAR
colours, minus some later
modifications.”
“This is about the great
dignity and history that
these aircraft have earned
up until 2002 when our
first Cormorant was deliv-
ered and through to 2004 when the fleet of Labs was retired. Each aircraft had given us
(Continued on page 2)
New Addition
Official “unveiling”
Labrador #11310
V O L U N T E E R V I G N E T T E :
I R V F R A S E R
C O N T . .
Page 2
O N P R O U D W I N G S O N P R O U D W I N G S V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 3
D E C 2 0 1 0
moved to Comox to be closer to our
family.
“Captain John Low got me into the mu-
seum in 2007, at first
to help with fixing
up some benches and tables; but, the
stream of work into the makeshift hangar annex work-
shop didn‟t exactly slow down for some time! With
John‟s sponsorship, I joined 888 Wing, where I also vol-
unteered, but as a bartender, not a carpenter!”
Ed: Has your work had much to do directly with the
Y2K project?
“Well, the biggest part of that work was building
the crate to hold the Merlin in it‟s steel box. That took a bit and then
there have been the drawings shelves
you see above, plus a few other
shelves.”
“Later, when Jon Ambler
joined the museum as volunteer coor-
dinator, I found out that my job had just extended from
occasional work throughout the week to a full 7-day
week on all kinds of projects.” Was this a plan, your
editor asks himself, by his good wife Karen to speak
with Jon to ensure her “Old Man” is occupied fully and way out of trouble?
Ed: Can you please tell us your thoughts on making
the move from civvy to this?
“Yup, I am mighty pleased to be with the museum
and joining at 66 years old makes for a completely dif-
ferent career!” §
(Continued from page 1)
the benefit of between 13 and 14,000 hours of service. In 2004
we had the opportunity to fly six of them in formation, almost as
the last flight, which comprises 12 Labrador pilots. A very “moving” experience and logistically quite hard to do!”
“310 was delivered to 442 Sqn, Comox in the late 70s and
flew here for many years. I first flew 310 here in the SAR school
on its fifth flight and then a lot more when I came back here in
1994. It was a good bird and gave us many stories to talk about.”
“As well as by the United States Marine Corps, these aircraft
were flown by military forces in Canada, Japan, Sweden, Saudi
Arabia and Thailand and also by a handful of civilian companies,
like Columbia Helicopters.”
“We have many people here today and I‟m hoping that each
one of you in your life has either been assaulted by its harassing
noise or, luckily, been touched by its magic downwash. But, some of you have actually worked on the Labrador, whether as
aircrew, ground crew or maintenance.”
“So, I would like to see, by a show of hands, every single one
of you who has had the
pleasure of working on
this aircraft.” (Applause
for many hands).
“Aircrews, how many of
you had more than 4,000
hours?” (One hand went up). “Ahah, how many hours for you,
sir?” (To which the reply was), “10 hours less than Marc ___.” “Well done, well done; but, Marc‟s were not all legal hours were
they; were all yours legal!?
(Laughter.)
“Ladies and Gentle-
men, we are now discuss-
ing the future of this Herit-
age Air Park and about
what are the next aircraft
that need to come here, to
continue this great tradi-
(Continued from page 1)
tion for meeting the future needs of visitors and 19 Wing
Comox, alike. We have a fantastic organisation and staff
in the museum, bringing the volunteers together to provide
what you see here in front of you today.
So, why I am telling you this? It is an ongoing discus-sion to which these dedicated volunteers are bringing for-
ward some really great ideas. Some I hear of and many I
don‟t; but, I know that a lot more happens here on a daily
basis and you all
have a say in what
will happen in times
to come. So, please
use your influence and tell us why and how this Heritage Park should evolve, because it
sure is one of the greatest success stories of 19 Wing. Thank you for being here today.
It has been my privilege to introduce 310 to this celebration; even though, I know a lot
of you have had much more experience with her than I.”
Col. Lalumiere, 19 Wing Commander.
Page 3
O N P R O U D W I N G S O N P R O U D W I N G S V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 3
D E C 2 0 1 0
How time flies, another newsletter and its December already The Christmas party for the members is upon us and will be over by the time you read this. For those who
did not make it, I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas.
The CVAFMA is most grateful for the Air Force Association donation. It will certainly
help us to complete some of the projects we have in hand and in the planning stage. I urge all members to go into the display areas every time they come in; as, there are so
many changes to keep up with. As people who show visitors around we must be up to
date with these changes.
Also please ask your friends and neighbours if they would be interested in volunteering.
We need all the help we can get and, course, none of us is getting any younger! If not
able to volunteer, perhaps they would like to visit when you are on-duty and be given a
good tour, as well as to encourage a catching of the bug!
The Annual General Meeting is about five months away, so please think about running
for membership on the Board of Directors. As you know, New people bring new ideas to any organization.
Lastly, our quarterly briefing has just been held and many ideas were put forward for consideration. If you
have an idea, please pass it along to Jon or to me. Thank you, Don .
THE PRESIDENT'S
PODIUM
As we look back at the past year I am
astounded at all the areas where we made
progress. I think pride of place must go
to getting Labrador 310 back home, reas-
sembled, moved and welcomed into the Air Park. At the same time we got the
MiG 21 rolling on her way to a new
home in the National Air Museum. In the Valley we are con-
tinuing to work at putting the Snowbirds Tutor at the soon-to-
be info centre at the edge of town on Hwy 19, bringing great
publicity to the Museum and, hopefully, increasing visitor
numbers.
Our new 40" LCD and Blu-Ray DVD system is now in-
stalled, enhancing the enjoyment of "On Canadian Wings"
and other DVDs, which we are in the process of producing.
2011 will be busy and fun, starting
off with a serious Don Smith upgrade
of 407 Sqn in the Cold War, 409 Sqn
in the Cold War and the Japanese Fire
Balloon. This upgrade will require us to close to the public 11-21 January as
we install many new panels. The next
steps, later in the year, will include 442 Sqn and VU33. The
Library Upgrade will continue with new furniture, and, most
importantly, a reorganized shelving system and purpose-made
identification labels.
All in all, we can be proud of what we have done and ea-
gerly anticipate what we are about to do! Many thanks to the
volunteers who make it all possible! Jon & John.
M A N A G E R „ N D I R E C T O R ‟ S
E D I T O R I A L
This editorial work has certainly been a good slice
for me and I see my time with the newsletter is now 3
years...Phew!
A family penchant for procrastination has been an
interesting interference to the process on occasions;
however, I can now safely say that any lateness in pro-
ducing issues is more a result of having too much fun at
it and not wanting to finish off. The joy of no deadlines reigns
supreme. Balance that with often vain attempts at keeping the
printing department happy, with a smallish document (below
10 MB) to print, triangulates us to the present size.
Is this an excuse/apology for the fact that we didn‟t have
an issue this Fall and any future minor delays!? Hopefully so.
Nevertheless, the other day, I got to thinking that we prob-
ably have one or more volunteers in the Association, or
wannabees potential members, who would enjoy dab-
bling in this whole newsletter business. Isn‟t it time to
relieve this editor from having all the fun doing it?
The joys of editorial, writing, processing and produc-
tion stuff are interesting and very rewarding. Hence,
you will see a little advert in the “Notices” section at the
end of this document, fishing for such candidates.
On another tack, at our latest information session, it was
felt that a wider distribution of the newsletter might be an en-
couragement for new members. With this distribution, we are
going to look at that and put some copies out in strategic
locations. Any help with this would be much appreciated. §
Page 4
O N P R O U D W I N G S O N P R O U D W I N G S V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 3
D E C 2 0 1 0
☼ Melissa Boatman
Advantages to membership of the Association are in:
Being part of a community-focused organization
Broadening your network of contacts and new friends
Learning first hand about Canada’s role in military aviation
An opportunity to develop new skills
Involvement in a wide range of museum activities
A voting member of the Comox Valley Air Force Museum
Association (CVAFMA)
Opportunity to become one of the Association Directors
Enjoyment of membership activities and social functions
September Heritage Stone dedication ceremony drew two very nice messages of thanks.
Thanks from 888 (RCAF) Wing, re: our support to the recent AFAC AGM held in the Comox Valley. plus a cheque for
$10,500
from AFAC for support to the Museum.
Valley Charitable Bingo Society to CAFM for support, plus a cheque for $500.
Private donation of $2,000 specifically for Library projects.
School tours: Several very welcome and much encouraged tours occurred in recent weeks.
M E M B E R S : Numbers are currently 79 regular members and 20 life and honourary members,
Fees. regular $10 p.a, and $250 for life memberships have prevailed since the CVAFMA charter in 1999. A need for any
changes will be referred to membership in the 2011 AGM.
F U N D R A I S I N G : Snowbirds photograph sales are continuing well. Tax receipts issued, as requested, for the difference between the
amount donated and our cost of the photograph.
Heritage Stones. 193 stones now in the racks, with four more on order. Touch-up painting for damaged stones to re-
fresh
and seal the marking are in process. (See notice in this issue)
Gaming Funding. Next Community Gaming Grant application to be made before 30 Apr 2011.
D I S P L A Y S : H e r i t a g e A i r c r a f t :
Dakota rudder repair is in hand.
The Voodoo remains in work in 7 Hgr.
The CH-113 Labrador and the H-21 Piasecki are out of the Park for the winter.
The MiG-21 has left the Air Park, on the start of its journey to Ottawa.
CF-104 may be refinished by 19 AMS, if the Museum can provide the paint.
Air Park Memorial garden area. 19 Wing CE completed bench pad and sidewalk work.
Main Gallery Display Development: Don Smith‟s visit imminent (January) for the next phase of wall coverings in the
main gallery. He will also start the planning for the following phase. CAFM has the funds to cover all aspects of this large
project, thanks to the generosity of NDHQ/DHH.
Comox Mall Display: The CAFM information display has been installed at the Comox Mall. Vampire - Display Building: David Mellin continues his discussions with 19 Wing. CAFM needs to provide lighting
and nominal heating electrical power to the building. 19 Wing appears not to need any of the Air Park grounds for at least
the next 10 years.
BUILDINGS: Building 11 – the “Public Face”: There‟s a plan in the works to make the front of Building 11 less institutional and
friendlier, so as not to turn away potential visitors. What do you think of it so far?
Air Park Parking Area Improvements: Paved disabled `places will be created on either side of the park entrance, with
gravel in the lot improved to ease passage by wheelchairs and stairs from upper to lower levels of parking.
N E W P O L I C Y I N I T I A T I V E S : Board Policies adopted or amended are: 3-1 Membership; 59-2 CVAFMA & CAFM Agreement - Visitor Donations
Management December 2004, plus Annex A; 83-1 Protection of Personal Information - Privacy Policy; and 84-1 Records
Management. CVAFMA Executive Board
E X T R A C T S F R O M S E P T E M B E R & N O V E M B E R C V A F M A B O A R D M E E T I N G S
Page 5
O N P R O U D W I N G S O N P R O U D W I N G S V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 3
D E C 2 0 1 0
Page 6
O N P R O U D W I N G S O N P R O U D W I N G S V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 3
D E C 2 0 1 0
2. 2.
V I N T A G E W I N G S O F C A N A D A - Y 2 K U P D A T E
Action presently contin-
ues apace with the Engineers
well into the fuel tank sys-
tem work. She doesn‟t look
too different from the out-side, but big changes are
taking place on the inside!
In other news, the Merlin
63 that came with the hulk
has turned out to be too ex-
pensive to re-build. We sent
the engine to the States for an inspection and they stripped her
down to the crankshaft, finding that most of the connecting
rods would need to be replaced. She had sat around too long
awaiting her turn, I guess. Fortunately, Vintage Wings of
Canada has a Packard-Merlin that will fit very nicely on our
engine mount with a few mods, so this little hiccup will not stop us. Our research shows that there were some Mk IXs fly-
ing in the war with Packard-Merlins, so we are not too far off
the mark.
A very recent visit from the VWoC Chief Engineers (les
grandes fromages!) this week, took them over our aeroplane
and paperwork with a fine tooth comb, and we are pleased to
report that we‟re doing just fine. The commitment that VWoC
made to build Y2K is by far the largest project of any they
currently have on hand, so their interest in its progress is very
intense.
We make dozens of decisions here in the hangar every day, but a recent question from a visitor regarding our re-build pro-
cess has prompted me to try and explain how some of the de-
cisions are made. I‟ll use the process of how we go about get-
ting, for example, a bracket that holds the fuel tank in place.
To begin with, the engineer, as he is approaching the fin-
ishing of the fuel tank, is thinking about how he is to attach it
to the airframe:
The plans show that the tank is held in place with four “L”
shaped brackets, complete with picture and part number. He looks, expectantly, into our inventory list, searching for
the part, but of course it‟s not there. He then searches the
VWoC inventory list, but still no luck.
He then approaches the Production
Manager and says he needs four of the-
se brackets, and tomorrow would be
just fine. The Production manager be-
gins a frenzied search (thank God for
the Internet) for some of these and finds a couple of used ones in a shed in Southern Essex, for
which the owner wants the equivalent of the Crown Jew-
els! Well, we clearly can‟t stick these old ones on our aer-
oplane; but in this business, if you have an original part,
you are allowed to make a copy of it and get it certified for
use. So, we send off for these bits.
Don‟t get me started on UK Customs or their partner-in-
frustration, Canada Customs, who between them delight in
making life miserable for people trading in aeroplane bits!
Suffice it to say that some con-
siderable time later, and well
after our engineer has threatened
us repeatedly, the old brackets
arrived. Now all we have to do is make some more.
There are several very clever
people around here, who can
take chunks of metal and turn
them into just about anything.
They need plans and drawings
to do it properly (and legally), so
we have to send our bits off to a
registered and certified drafts-
man. He measures, prods,
pokes, photographs and other-
wise meddles with the bit, goes to his computer and produces a
set of 3D drawings, which we can give to the machinist along
with some certified materials (plus the
mandatory blank cheque) and ask him
nicely to make four of these, if he‟s
not too busy.
After what often seems like an inter-
minable period, he produces them, and
beautiful to see they are; but, we still
can‟t use them! They have now to pass the scrutiny of our
Quality Assurance people, who need more paperwork than the weight of the metal itself, plus heat treatment
certificates, NDT certificates, the engineer‟s
birth certificate and proof of citizenship,
and…. Oh sorry, got carried away there. Any-
way, until all of that is done the bits go into
our Bonded Quarantine Stores under lock and
key, and they are only released to our (by
now) apoplectic engineer when the work order is signed off.
Multiply that process by the 8,546 other pieces in that aero-
plane and you can see why the process of re-building and re-
storing vintage aeroplanes is not for the faint of heart (or wal-
let). Fortunately, there are also folks in the biz who have origi-
nal and certified parts that we
can use, so that makes it easier.
Unfortunately, these folks also
know what they‟ve got, and are
usually not in the negotiation
mode. “Take it or someone else
will..”, is their motto.
For the next issue of this newsletter, I‟ll discuss something
a bit less complicated, like how to build an atomic reactor.
Hopefully we don‟t have a readership in Iran.
Yours Aye, Terry
p.s. BTW, please drop by and see us sometime.
Page 7
O N P R O U D W I N G S O N P R O U D W I N G S V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 3
D E C 2 0 1 0
Since 1942, Frank Steven has logged somewhere over
31,000 hours, including flying 72 different types of aircraft in
command. With his PPL recently hung up for good, this
newsletter has been asking him about his career, which is pep-
pered with interesting stories. __________________________
Following WWII, life for the military in India demanded
work on critically needed civil development assistance. Many
of the wartime logistical systems remaining in place to assist
with development changes over the next decade or so. Posted
to the Burma Campaign in 1945, Frank, only heard of the Jap-
anese surrender, while en route. Thus he and his squadron
were diverted, via Bombay, to serve on the west coast of India
in the Cannanore District, to assist the newly formed Chemical
Defence Research Establishment (CDRE).
His squadron of Mosquito and Vultee Vengeance fighter-
bombers, was to be equipped with DDT spraying equipment,
which had just been very successfully used for antimalarial health precautions for the troops. Em-
phasis was now on providing the same
health precautions for India‟s civil popu-
lation.
At just over 20 years of age, as
squadron CO, Frank found himself di-
recting all it‟s operations from satellite
bases near the CDRE out to small satel-
lite airstrips. Operations were under the
overall command of RAF Mauripur, near
Karachi. Here, we look at some of the
idiosyncratic occurrences experienced at the post:
The first has to do with the available communications. With no military telephones at all, they had an old wartime Code
and Cipher system (C&C), a forebear of the RTTY news
ticker tape. With only reciprocal text messaging, i.e. similar
to present-day the cell phones, and along poor lines of com-
munication, C&C clarity was fuzzy at best and dialogue
practically impossible. This led to some quaint messaging:
Says Frank, “Conveniently, I had a communications of-
ficer who handled all this traffic and one morning he re-
ceived an order to „..destroy all aircraft and report to
RAF Mauripur‟.” Although strange, it was not a com-
plete surprise to receive such messages, for many a possi-
ble reason.”
Frank and his staff responded with alacrity and speed. He
told his staff, “That‟s fine and quite easy to do. We‟ll
start by taking an already damaged Mosquito, remove its fuel, oils and fluids, (an early green movement?), tow it to
the end of the
runway and
push it into the
Arabian Sea.”
“Having disposed of the
Mosquito, I decided we did not have time to do another
that day, so planned to continue the next day. When we went back into the office, there was a message on the
C&C system requesting: „..estimated time of arrival of
aircraft in Mauripur!‟” “Clearly, by wondering why
their aeroplanes were not showing up, Mauripur had mis-
understood what was sent to us. So, I told the C&C of-
ficer to check the message once more. It was as had been
originally relayed, so Frank would check it out when he
got up to Mauripur to at least resuscitate his ashen-faced
officer.
Frank returned the message, advising of some difficulty
but would begin by bringing an aircraft up the next day.
He took one of the Vultee Vengeances!
In Mauripur, he found out that the command had original-
ly been entered as: “...deploy all aircraft to Mauripur..” Whoever was responsible for confusing „deploy‟ with
„destroy‟, somewhere along this tenuous communication
line, was never identified; but, such occurrences were
never repeated. No names, no pack-drill.
Frank‟s second and more direct landing experience was in
having to force-land his Harvard he used for ad-hoc flights:
“I used it for ad-hoc trips to and from the outlying strips
along the coast. This landing was forced by a leak in my
fuel line, spraying the canopy and almost obliterating my
view. As always, I was looking for possible emergency
landing places, but under me was mile upon mile of flood-
ed paddy fields.
I made a simple
approach aiming
for a larger pad-dy bank, hoping
to do so without
ploughing into
the water. Un-
fortunately, that
did not work
100%.”
“I was now back
to communica-
tion difficulties! “I could not radio back to my base from
anywhere; so, to my squadron, I had disappeared. It was
actually something of a blessing as I spent a wonderful
week with a local family, looking after the aircraft and awaiting any search party. Good experience for my 2 IC,
no doubt.”
As he explains, “My pilots searched along my roughly
planned route and one of them eventually spotted the Har-
vard. It was soon back to based for me and I‟m sure RAF
Mauripur were wondering about me by this time, if they
hadn‟t begun to before!” §
1944 - India
U N H A P P Y ( ? ) L A N D I N G S — I N D I A
Wot, no body!?
2.
Page 8
O N P R O U D W I N G S O N P R O U D W I N G S V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 3
D E C 2 0 1 0
The word conscription has
always stirred up a hornet's nest in Canada; however, in the
United Kingdom for two his-
toric periods, it was accepted
as necessary. In WW1, it was
introduced in 1916 for all men
aged 18-41, with certain ex-
ceptions, and was in effect
until 1919. In 1939, in spite of
Neville Chamberlain's “Peace
in our Time”, the Military
Training Act was passed in
May to train single men aged 20-22 for six months and re-
leased as militiamen.
Issued suits and uniforms, the militiamen went on Active
Reserve status, routinely mustering for short periods of train-
ing and to an annual camp. This was a first for the UK, at
least, during peace time.
Before the first intake completed its six months period,
WW11 broke out and a new statute known as the National
Service (Armed Forces) Act was passed. All the militiamen
were then directly absorbed into the army. The new Act
covered men, ages 18-41, with certain exemptions such as requirements for : fitness, essential services, farming etc..
Although the war ended in 1945, “call up” continued and the
Act remained until December 1948.
Peacetime conscription was then formalized into a new
statute, The National Service Act of 1948. From January
1949 onwards, all healthy males aged 17-21 were to serve in
the armed forces for 18 months with 4 years in one of the
reserve organizations. Once their basic training was com-
plete, they served in all places at home and some with UK
forces overseas, including combat situations.
In October 1950, because of the Korean War, there was a
need to increase the size of the armed forces so the 18 month service was increased to 2 years and as a compensation, the
reserve portion was reduced from 4 years to 3 ½ years.
The call up under the 1948 Act terminated on 31 Decem-
ber 1960. The last man to be released from national service
was Lt. Richard Vaughan of the Royal Army Pay Corps on
13 May, 1963.
The bulk of men served in the Army, with the Royal Air
Force coming second. The Navy and Royal Marines re-
ceived a few men and, to make sure you got into those ser-
vices, it was best to have joined the Royal Navy Reserve or
Q U A R T E R - B A C K R E V I E W ( T H E P A S T T H R E E M O N T H S E V E N T S )
Page 11
O N P R O U D W I N G S O N P R O U D W I N G S V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 3
D E C 2 0 1 0
A ‘ H a n d s O n H i s t o r y ’ — P r o j e c t
“ T H E B I T T E R B A T T L E F O R C A E N ”
B y k i n d p e r m i s s i o n o f : P a y t o n P e t e r s o n ( 9 ) , I s a i a h T i e d e ( 1 0 ) ,
V i c t o r P e n n e r ( 1 0 ) & C o l t o n P e n n e r ( 8 ) .
(currently on display in our library)(currently on display in our library)(currently on display in our library)
F I F T H A N N U A L D E D I C A T I O N O F H E R I T A G E S T O N E S & Y 2 K O P E N H O U S E
B L D G 1 1 M A K E O V E R
Watch this step for more
Joel’s Gate welcome.. Along the manicured paths..
..to the customarily sweet finale.
Page 12
O N P R O U D W I N G S O N P R O U D W I N G S V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 3
D E C 2 0 1 0
Q U A R T E R - B A C K R E V I E W C O N T . .
'Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the Museum Not a volunteer was stirring, not even Don Grenon.
Graphic panels were hung on the wall with great care, In hopes that Don Smith soon would be there.
2010 Spirit of the Volunteer Award
Thanks Mike, for a Job
Well Done
As I did my e-mail, and was turning around, Down from the workshop Irv Fraser came down.
He was wearing a ball cap, and making no fuss, Though all of clothes were full of sawdust.
He said he was working, and lasting all day; I said what about painting? He said: “just ask Ray!”
Then in through the mailbox arrived our newsletter. Our editor Rodney makes it better and better.
While upstairs in the storeroom, resting their bones, Was Mike Hendren and Lynda, repainting our stones.
At the garage sale she was everyone’s pal All chatty and cheerful, of course we mean Val.
So we went back to the Museum, a thing of great beauty. All credit to our volunteers, who do vital duty.
Being a part of the museum is a wonderful ride, and we look at last year with tremendous pride. All our team efforts make a wonderful sight,
so Merry Christmas, thank you all, and good night.
So we organized a party, and said what the hell Let’s invite the boss, Le Colonel.
So he called us back, and said “I’ll be there” So John, Jon, Mike and Ken, it’s your leave to prepare.
So we look at our business, the heritage movement, We govern ourselves, with constant improvement. In front of the Museum, the steps were a menace To get them all fixed, we just called on Dennis.
The library books get put on wrong shelves, But we have Loretta, she’s better than elves.
The lights on the heaps of the un-shoveled snow Showed a serious slip-hazard for Steve Mac and Tom Lowe.
The flickering street light was losing its power, but Sally and Garry were still tending our flowers.
♫ ♪
N O T I C E S
Answers: 1. de Havilland D.H.2; 2. MiG-25; 3. MiG-21; 4. de Havilland
Mosquito; 5. McDowell monoplane, on display in the Canadian Aviation Museum.
Heritage Stones For Sale $155.00 ea, with tax receipt
Page 13
O N P R O U D W I N G S O N P R O U D W I N G S V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 3
D E C 2 0 1 0
A chAllenging need for “petroglyph” writers, with steAdy hAnds, hAs just A chAllenging need for “petroglyph” writers, with steAdy hAnds, hAs just A chAllenging need for “petroglyph” writers, with steAdy hAnds, hAs just
arisen here in our museum! The Association is refurbishing the paint on the arisen here in our museum! The Association is refurbishing the paint on the arisen here in our museum! The Association is refurbishing the paint on the
Heritage Stones from the Air Park. Heritage Stones from the Air Park. Heritage Stones from the Air Park.
Volunteers are needed to assist with the ongoing touch up painting of the Volunteers are needed to assist with the ongoing touch up painting of the Volunteers are needed to assist with the ongoing touch up painting of the
Heritage Stones. No straightHeritage Stones. No straightHeritage Stones. No straight---liners refused.liners refused.liners refused.
Please Meet Wednesday mornings at 1000 in the Museum.Please Meet Wednesday mornings at 1000 in the Museum.Please Meet Wednesday mornings at 1000 in the Museum.
there’s a place for you on.. there’s a place for you on.. there’s a place for you on..
..writer,..writer,..writer,
..interviewer,..interviewer,..interviewer,
..designer,..designer,..designer,
Whether you be accomplished or Whether you be accomplished or Whether you be accomplished or
novice...novice...novice...
..editor or more,..editor or more,..editor or more,