Strathcona Mounted Troop Report - Lord Strathcona's Horse

Once Upon A Time There Was A Subaltern continuedeven early on we became aware of thevehicle being “somewhat treacherous,especially with our relatively inexperienceddrivers.” (When descending/ascendingslopes, the car felt ‘tippy’ and the allwheeldrive could pull or push the vehiclewheel off the ground – crew commandershad to stay alert….)By the time for concentration at Wainwrightthe Sqn was pretty well ‘shakenout’. The time had come to put the piecestogether and function tactically. Anotheradvantage in being RECCE: no tanks tomove and no tank trains – we moved w/ourkit with us at 40-60 mph. (As we oftenreminded each other, we were being paidfor ‘tripping’ and camping).An Aside: We cleared the Main Gate,Currie Barracks, and were escorted inTroops (packets) by “Calgary’s Finest”,on motorcycles, at 30-50 mph through thecity and deposited on the north edge of theCity. One unfortunate civilian driverentered an intersection somewhere inNorth Calgary, and our police ‘outrider’kicked out his headlight without stopping.Apparently a following cruiser would stopand give him a ticket for the violation. Anexample of a population emerges from thediscipline of war, when conformity andobedience were expected.An Aside: ‘Pat’ Patterson recalls a “provisioningrun” prior to departure. Sgts‘Pat’ Searle, ‘Scotty’ Miller, and hecalled on Helen Searle to collect thehome made beer to be transported to theSgts’ Mess, Wainwright. (I also recall therumour re: ‘Pat’ Patterson’s efforts the previousyear to produce “cocoanut rum” inhis PMQ basement. Apparently the fermentationwas too successful. TheOTTAWA – A dozen MPs have enlistedin a pilot project designed to educate themabout the military. Roger Gallaway, the MPfor Sarnia-Lambton, Ont., went to bootcamp and was almost shot during a simulatedexercise. Bev Desjarlais, the NDP MPfor Churchill, Man., who is afraid ofheights, joined the air force for a week andended up being dropped deep into anOntario forest, and having to be airliftedinto a Labrador helicopter. David Price,the Liberal MP for Compton-Stanstead,Que, who reported for duty on Sept. 11,the day of the terrorist attacks in the UnitedStates, found himself the following dayin the cockpit of a Hercules aircraft speedingtoward Halifax, with cots and blanketsfor the thousands of passengers strandedwhen their U.S.-bound flights were forcedto land in Canada.The three MPs are among 12 to volunteerfor the Canadian Forces ParliamentaryProgram. In total, 39 MPs havePage 8cocoanuts exploded and the stench in hisbasement was intense.)Never a topic for discussions – yet fullyunderstood by all – was the certain knowledgethat our craft as professional soldierscould put us in harm’s way, even death(hopefully sudden). It was injury or deathby accident which occasioned bitter anger.L/Cpl Giroux was a “Charlie-Charlie” in 1Tp, enroute to Wainwright near the HardistyGate when his vehicle left the road,entered the left ditch, ran along that ditch,attempted to rejoin the road – then tippedand rolled completely over. L/Cpl Giroux,married less than a month earlier to aWetaskiwin girl, was killed. The remainderof the Sqn aged that day.An Aside: I was detailed as investigatingofficer. The file was over 1” thick beforeI signed the final report. The least I coulddo was to attempt to fully explore theevent as to causes. A final act was to returnthe cap badge and belt buckle to his widow– the rest of his clothing (supposed to bereturned) I took into a refuse pit, soaked itin gasoline, and burned the lot. It wasreported “mislaid”.An Anecdotal Aside: Colby Yeomansrecalls being detailed w/ Ben Burgoyne toprepare the Firing Party for the burial inWetaskiwin. “We had this new SSM. Wecalled him “Billy” but not to his face. Weknew he was not to be taken lightly.” Colbyrecalls training in the harbour: slow march,volleys w/ blank cartridges, load, etc. “Webecame pretty good”. The RSM (WO1 R.Gaunt) and “Billy” gave us a final inspectionand it was off to Wetaskiwin with me incommand of the whole shebang. We dideverything right: liased w/ the RCMP,escort and traffic control, carried out aMPs ENLISTexpressed interest in the program, whichmay be expanded to include Senators. Mr.Price and Ms. Desjarlais opted for the airforce. Other MPs have gone to sea. Mr.Gallaway chose the army, and ended upwith the Royal 22nd Regiment, known asthe Van Doos, in Val Cartier, Que. Now Mr.Gallaway, who takes more than half anhour to put on his uniform, is armed withan automatic rifle and is preparing to go toBosnia next month for peacekeepingduties. For that trip, which includesthree other MPs, Mr. Gallaway has beenissued a backpack and sleeping bag.Though he was a pretty good shot on therange, he will not be expected to carry arifle.The idea of the program is not to killMPs, though Rachel Kersys and AndréLevesque, who operate the program forthe Department of National Defence,insist the politicians receive no favours.There is no VIP treatment beyond beingRecce of all locations, spoke to familymembers, even the Padre. Everythingwent great: the service, movement of thecortege to the cemetery, the volleys witheveryone crying (Giroux had married intoan Italian family) they were right out oftheir trees…all was going just great ‘tillthey invited us to the Legion for refreshmentsafter the service. Within an houreveryone is well on his way except for thetruck driver, Benny, and myself, althoughwe’d had a few. We had to move them outand the locals didn’t appreciate that. Ittook what seemed forever to extract ourselvesfrom the Legion, mount-up (the 21/2T), and move out. By now, some are inbad shape. Benny and I rode in the backwith them so there would be no moremishaps. I can remember saying to Burgoyne,“wait ‘till “Billy” sees this gaggle. MyRecce career will come to an abrupt halt”.God bless “Billy” May – because he waswaiting as we arrived in harbour. The truckcame to a halt and we jumped out and loweredthe tailgate. We had this guy,P______, who had come over from Ireland,doesn’t he tumble out of the truck and landat “Billy’s” feet. “Billy” took one look andshouted, “Get your feet under you and quitacting smart!” Not losing a beat he lookedat me and said, And how did the funeral go,Sergeant?” “Everything went well, sir.” I’llnever forget his reply: “Goooood”, andaway he went into the harbour. I turned toBenny and winked. “That was our freeone.” By the way, the sober truck driverwho had remained w/ the truck and guardedthe rifles was Tpr Mogg.In this manner the Sqn arrived in Wainwright,entered harbour, and prepared forthe exercises to come in ’57.treated as if they have the rank of Major.Their uniforms are on loan and must bereturned. Only the special arm patch,bearing the House of Commons crest, wasmade especially for the program. Costs areminimal, says Ms. Kersys, since the MPssleep in a barracks (a two-room suite forMr. Gallaway), eat in the mess halls andshadow the soldiers. They are allowed tospeak to anyone about any topic.The program is modeled on one that hasoperated in the United Kingdom for morethan a decade. Research showed onlyeight of Canada’s 301 MPs had any exposureto the Armed Forces. “It’s actuallyquite sad when you look at it,” Ms. Kersyssaid. During one simulation, a crowd ofabout 15 people surrounded Mr. Gallaway.He failed to react when a woman in thecrowd pulled out a gun from under hercoat. A fellow patrol member noticed thewoman immediately and “shot her.” “I did-–continued on page 12Strathcona’s Newsletter