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Clinton News-Record, 1959-03-26, Page 1Canadaiir's Argus --- Best Equipped Aircraft Largest arid best-equipped anti-submarine aircraft in the world, the Canadair Ar- gus was developed for the RCAF's Maritime Command from the Bristol Britannia civil airliner, Having a combat range of more than 4,000 Mires, the Argus tarries torped- oes, depth bombs and other Weapons as well as the latest electronic detection eqOpment to seek out and destroy any enemy sub, On operations, a crew of 15 men is aboard, operating on a "watch" system similar to that of a ship, The first Argus was delivered to the RCA in September, 1957, FlIght Engineers (Electronics) trained at Station Clinton fly on the Argus, prepared to .make in-flight maintenance of equipment if nec- essary. Notional befetlee Photo) THE NEWS-RECORD-77th YEAR Legion Aids Listowel Fund; Protests End .,.of Midget Bail TO Siva C011111111::P THIS ALMOST-SPRING WEA- thee Can be very upsetting to all sorts of plans . . from decisions • to get the garden in early to de- eisions for buying an Easter bon- net early . For instance we planned to step out of the Lark on what looked like frozen gr- ound . . but it turned out to he the mucky top of a. spring freshet heading merrily toward a gaping man hole . The result- ing wet foot made us recall a similar one we got Many years ago while out hunting a wander- ing flock of geese , . . one seining Saturday on the farm . * THIS IS THE SEASON FOR funds campaigns . . the Lions Crippled Children's Fund is al- most ready to close . . , The Red Cross campaign is about to start and the Cancer branch will begin their canvass about . . How much to give to each' one, is a problem for every wage earner , . We can only suggest that you give from the liSeart and of the 'knowledge of experience , „ they are all wor- thy causes . . . * * * THE PAY TELEPHONE IN THE main hall 'of the Clinton hospital is a very handy addition , Many a worrying parent or friend must be comforted by a word spo., ken there . . . All Easter Seals Money Should Be Sent By March 29 Time is rapidly getting short for sending in your donation to the Easter Seals fund for Crippled Children, Closing date for the campaign is March 29, Be sure to mail your Pink en- velopes, with a cheque enclosed to Clinton Lions Club, Box 242, Clin- ton by that time. Your dollars will help some crippled child, bad- ly in need of attention. 0 The Week's Weather 1959 1958 High Low High Low Mar. 19 46 22..r . .37 20 45 32 40 31 21 33 ' 37 27 22 21 2 40 22 23 42 11 40 23 24 43 25 40 29 25 40 29 44 28 Snow: .5 ins. THE NEW ERA--93rd YEAR Organization of 4-H Clubs in Huron County has begun, with meetings being held in different parts of the county for the clubs. Two of these are scheduled for next Tuesday, March. 31, accord- ing to Arthur 5, Bolton, assoc- iate agricultural representative, Bayfield Beef, Dairy, and Swine Tax Rate Up Over Snow Removal 'Cost Due to increased costs of snow removal in Huron County, the tax rate for county purposes was rais- ed iron; 13.4 mills to 13.9 mills at the Monday,. March 23 meeting of County Council. Due to a request from the Hu- ron Federation of Agriculture, further study will be given by the county road committee of the pro- posal to straighten out a curve near Auburn on the "development• road" due to be improved three summer. Plans made by the Ontario De- partment of Highways and the roads committee of the county, were for placing the road between Break-In Nets $30 Cigarettes, Butter At Stanley's Store Town police are investigating a break and entry which occurred at Burt Stanley's Red ,and White Supermarket Some time during Sunday night 'Peter Damsma discovered the break-in when' he arrived for work on Monday mor- ning. Thirty cartons of cigarettes and one case of butter were missing, and about $30 cash. clubs will meet in the board rooms of the Agriceltural Office in Clip- ton at 2 o'clock in the ,after- mach. At night in Seaforth Dist riot High School, commencing at 8,30 o'clock, members of the See- forth Beef, Dairy and Swine clubs, McKillop Grain and Tuckersmith Corn clubs will meet, On Wednesday, April 1, at 8,30 lame Zurich Calf Club will meet in -Zurich town hall. Other meetings are scheduled through te. Atoll 15, Parents are especially invited to these meet- ings, for films or ,demonstrations will be presented o introduce the year's program. 4-H material will be distributed and enrolment forms handed out. house and barn on the farm of Wilfred Sanderson. Warden W. Jewitt, Hullett Township reeve, reported that no agreement on price for the land has yet been reached with Mr. Sanderson. He has been offered $5,000 but wanted more. Reeve Cecil Blake said he believed the asking price for the , land needed was between $6,000 and $7,000, but that he thought Mr. Sander- son would sell the whole 99 acre farm for $14,000. Reeve Clarence Hanna, East Wawanosh, said he believed the road could be planned to take a gradual curve without cutting through the group of farm build- ings, if, a row of trees were cut down, and 'the route surveyed to go in front of the Sanderson house. Reeve'Harvey Coleman, Stanley Township, as road, committee fore- man, presented reasons' for ap- pointing John More, former assist- ant to the city engineer at Strat- ford, as general foreman of the county road system, at a salary of $4,200 plus eight cents a mile for the use of his car. The appoint- ment was approved by council, Confusion Over Plan For Hospital tare. For ChronicCases the new Ontario Confusion over Hospital plan, has lead-to unhap- arters. In Wing- will be involved chronic patients in a move from that hospital into nursing homes, or county homes. The 'Hospital Plan *lee not cover hospitalization for this type of patient. In Goderich a Similar number are involved, and here at Clinton, that about eight it is understood patients are in a eimilar category. It is not expected that the addi- tion to the county home which Monday by Hu-was approved on ron County CoMeill will answer the need for a,ccenernoclation for chronic patients. 90 Years of Age Holding Open House Mrs. Elieabeth Walker who will be 90 years old on Tuesday, March 31, will be the guest of honour at a tea party from 3 to 6 p.m. at the home of her son and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. George Walker, Mrs. Walker will be happy to welcome those who call. -o Chipmunk Landed Safely Near Sam Dougalrs Home Pilot F/L J. P. Dyer, Val Car- tier, Que., made a crash landing in an RCAF Chipmunk aircraft in a field north .of Exeter, Sunday afternoon.. Air Force officials said neither he nor the observer F/L C. H. P. Smith, St. Sylvestre, Que., was hurt. RCAF officials at Station Cen- tralia said a .technical failure was responsible bet did not elaborate, The plane was ',mot extensively damaged. Provincial police from the Ex- eter detachment visited the scene after Sam Dougall, County Weed Inspector, reported the aircraft had landed in a plowed field four miles north of Exeter. At Monday night's general meeting of Clinton Legion, the brand) donated $50 to the List- owel Disaster Fund. Attendance was down at the meeting owing to the attendance draw' being only $5. R. J. Semple's name was drawn, but he not being present, the draw next meeting will be increased to $10, President Cam Praetor chaired the meeting. D. J. Thornclike, public speaking chairman, announced that Legion Zone C-1 public speaking finals would he held in' the local Legion hall Saturday afternoon, April 18. A resolution will be sent to Zone C-1 spring meeting in Wingham on April 5, requesting that Provincial Command consider breaking up the public speaking classes into boys and girls sections. This re- solution was proposed by Mr. Thorndike j a district officer, who is on the provincial committee, The change would be effective next year if accepted. Douglas Andrews, a past-presi- dent of Clinton Legion and Zone sports chairman for -the past two years, was recommended by this branch to seek the Deputy Zone Commander office at the Wing- ham meeting. Clinton has three Special prizes have been added to the list offered by Clinton Spring Fair this year. They are for public school children who are not taking part in 4-H Club Work, One class is for best dairy calf, Prepare For Early Red Cross Canvass Word from. Adam j, McMur- ray, local chairman of the Red Cross campaign for funds, is that a house-to-house canvass will be carried out in Clinton and surrounding community, as soon as road conditions permit, voting delegates to the Zone meet- ing, but as many members as pos- sible are urged to attend. Clinton Legion will again be -host to the Provincial Command Table Tennis Tournament, on Sat- urday, June 20, A committee is being set up to look after prizes, accommodation, etc. (Continued on .Page-12) Safety Areas Map Published Page 8 Published on Page Eight of this issue of the News-Record is a map of the four town- 'ships surrounding Clinton, with numbers to indicate dif- ferent areas within those townships. These are the areas, each covered by a dif- ferent reporter for the Farm Accident Survey which will be taken, beginning April 1, 1959 and continuing until March 31, 1960. Farmers and their families are asked to co-operate by advising the reporter for their own area of any accident which occurs on their farm, any breed, under one year. First prize is $4; second is $3 and $2 for each additional entry. Another is for public school pup- ils in the Township of Goderich, Stanley, Tuckersmith and Hullett, only, for best two bacon type hogs, under 100 pounds. Prizes are the same as above. A special for 4-H Club mem- bers, (1959 membeis orgy) is for best beef calf, any breed, under one year, Prizes the same as for above classes. These are special attractions planned to increase interest in the junior showman part of the' fair. This year Thomas Leiner, Hullett Township is Fair President, Blood Soon To Be Available In Plentiful Supply Within a few weeks, it is ex- pected that a plentiful supply of bleed for use in elective work at the local hospital, and through- out Middlesex and Huron Count- ies will be available. Organization of the service has been undertak- en by the Canadian Red Cross• Society, in cceoperation with the Ontario Hospital Commission. Harry D. Ball, chairman of the Clinton Public Hospital Board is chairman of the Red Cross com- mittee locally responsible for this transfusion service. A mobile clinic for volunteer blood donors has been establishec) and will commence visiting Lon- den industries and business early in April. Clinics will be held on regular schedules in Goderich, Clinton, Bayfield: Grand Bend, Wingham, Exeter, Strathroy, Parkhill, Lucan and Dorchester. A central blood bank to service hospitals has been established by the Red Cross in Westminster Hospital and is staffed and equip- ed to handle the collection, pre- paration and distribution of fresh blood. Between 200 and 250 pints of blood will be required weekly to service Middlesex and Huron hospitals. Elective work, as mentioned a- bove, means surgery planned in advance, where hospital authorit- ies know how much blood is re- quired, and the type, and can ar- range to have it on hand at the time of the scheduled operation. Miss Hilda Smith, superintend- (Continued on rage Twelve) Six Cars are Involved In Highway 8 Crash Two accidents on Highway 8, each involving three cars, occur- red during the severe storm on Sunday, March 15. In neither case was anyone hurt severely, and only damage occurred to the cars, Involved were Sidney Harvey, Earl McCarthy and Bill Murphy, in one mix-up and in the other were Alfred Grurnmett, Duncan and Allan Shaddick. Constable Hobbs, OPP, Goderich, investigat- ed. 4-H Clubs Being Organized Next Week:for 1 59 Season Change in Auburn Road Receiving More Study Spring Show Will Have Three New Junior Classes liaton News-Recur No, 12,--The Home Paper With The News GUNTON, ONTARIO,- THURSDAY, MARCH. 26 1959 13.00' Per Year Cents Per Copy-12 Pages Clinton Joins 35th Anniversary of RCAF April 1st • Since J. A. D. McCurdy flew the Silver Dart biplane for, half a mile at Baddeck, N.S„ in February, 1909, powered fl;ght has progressed mightily. Many firsts have been recorded. Nearly a quarter of the circum- ference of the Earth separated the embattled White Cliffs of Dover from the bluffs on the Eastern coast of Lake Huron in the Blitz days of 1941, but in that year the two became linked in a way which was vital to final victory in the Second World War. In happier times, both echoed to the peaceful sounds of the birds and waves. But echoes of a different sort playing along the cliffs were to be the common denominator which tied the two places to the success- ful outcome Of the war. These echoes were the inaudible reflec- tions of an infant technique known at that time as RDF (radio direc- tion finding) and later, Radar.. In the quest for a place remote from the actual battles in which thousands of men could be safely trained in the new science, it was found the cliffs on the Lake Hur- on shore and their surrounding terrain closely resembled those over which the aerial armadas fought above South East England. Here, then, the first radar train-, ing establishment in North Am- erica came into being in the early summer of 1941. This establish- ment was later to be known as RCAF Station Clinton and was destined to become one of the largest and most important stat- ions in the Canadian air service. leafeet Location In Apeil of that eritieal year of the wart a teem of experts seer- Cried for a suitable location. Among the requirements Were ad- equate power facilities, reasonable proximity to good sources of sup- ply, transportation end, prefer- ably, a not-too-prominent location. Last but not least, it was essen- tial that it be located near a large body of water to approxi- mate conditions in besieged Eng- land. All the requirements were met in a location two miles south of the town of Clinton in Huron County and construction was be- gun immediately. Silo Remains Photographs show that the press of necessity can surely bring swift accomplishment. For ex- ample, one picture taken May 27, 1941, shows a gently rolling area of farmland bisected by a highway with a concrete silo prominent on a farm. By June 30th, an Air Force station has' arisen and only the silo remains to show where the farm once stood. This Silo, incidentally, still stands oh the edge of the Clinton parade square and is well-remembered by thous- ands of personnel who trained at the station during and after the war, This was the initial No, 31 Ra- dio School (RAF) and one of its most outstanding characteristics was secrecy, As soon as class- room buildings were erected, they were surrounded by electrically- charged fencing patrolled by arm» ed guards for, in those days, RDF was one of the Most carefully guarded secrets of the war. His- tory has proved what a vital se- cret it was for Surely, if the RAF righter Command was Britain's sword in those difficult days, rad- ar was the buckler with which the Nazi blows were parried. Be- cause of RDPwarning, the hard- pressed fighter pilots of the RAI' and the allied Commonwealth Air Forces were able to eanserve their striking power for the critical moments in the struggle rather than waste their effort in constant patrolling or to arrive at the bat- tle scene too late. It was against this team of pilot and technician that the luftwaffe shattered its- elf in the late summer and early autumn of 1941. . Trained US Men During the initial days of the Battle of Britain, on July 20th, 1941, Wing Commander H, W. J. Cocks (RAF) became the first Commanding Officer of No. 31 Royal Air Force Radio School at Clinton. Oddly enough, although Britain's need for trained technic- ians in this field was so great, the first trainees to be put on course were men of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. 'Thus the role in the outcome of the war of graduates of radar training at Clinton was played on truly world- wide stage, Although complete historical information is not on hands with regard to US forces, it is almost certain that graduates of Clinton took part in every maje or campaign of the Second World War after 1941, from the South West Pacific to the North Eastern Arctic. Soon after its inauguration, a steady flow of trained radar tech- nicians was being graduated by the school, most of whom were Canadians who subsequently ;ser- ved with the RAF in all theatres. Because of the secrecy attached to the base and its work, it was after the end of the war before most people knew just how important the station was or its accomplish- ments. But after the war the plaudits came thick and fast. In a release from the United King- dom Air Ministry in 1945, Air Commodore C, P, Brown, Direct- tor of Radar, revealed just how desperate. Britain's need had been and how ably the new station had filled It. Backbone of RAF He disclosed that early in 1941, when the station was begun, Brit- ain had sent an urgent message to Canada stating that recruiting of RDF mechanics in England had practically ceased and that by the end of 1941 a thousand would be required from Canada. From that time on Canadian and Canadian-trained radar men pro- vided the backbone of the RAF's radar system, From the time the first contingent of RAF men ar- rived at Clinton on July 20, 1941, until the end of the war, nearly 9,000 radar technicians were turn- ed out by the school. In another news release after the war, Air Commodore •Brown stated, "It would not have been possible to meet the vital and in- creasing demands of radar in the latter part of 1940 and the follow- ing years without the knowledge that Canada was undertaking the recruiting of men to help us han- dle this immense weapon, The ex- act nature of the duties could nev- er be made known publicly in Canada atthe time, of course. But so enthusiastic have RCAF personnel been since the earliest days that their role in the unseen struggle throughout the years of the war is one that Britain will never forget." Tiny Clinton The influential. US news mag- azine "Time" reported in Aug- ust 1945; "From tiny Clinton, On- tario (pop. 2,000) came a signifi- cant story of international co-op- eration. In four years, 2,325 Am- ericans (and 8,500 Canadians) have been graduated from Clint- on's Royal Canadian Air Forte Radar and Communications Salo- el, The US students, most of then), university rtien, thought so high- ly of the School that it later be- eartie the model for US training centree°, urme To Ituesla Often Canadians fornied as meth as half of the tech) iielan rength on the mobile radar units which were doing field training in England before embarking for abroad, Wingate's Chindits in Bur- ma and RAF Wing in Russia were just two of the spots embracing the whole world in which Clinton graduates saw service. Others played a distinguished role in rae dar research at Malvern, Worcest- ershire, in England where develop-. ment work was done on equip- ment such as "H25" which later permitted Commonwealth aircrews to bomb unseen targets at night and through cloud. "Peppy Pat" From the time of its opening until 1943, Clinton was under RAF direction, but at that time it was decided that it would be taken over completely by the RCAF, In the process, the station was rede- signated No. 5 RCAF Radio School with Wing Commander (later Group Captain) K. R. Pat- rick as its first Canadian com- mander. Wing Commander Pat- rick, known affectionately to the airmen and airwomen on the sta- tion as "Peppy Pat", served out the war guiding the destiny of the Clinton establishment. That this service was highly regarded is amply testified by the award to him in 1.945 of the Order of the British Empireand the United States Legion of lvterit, An interesting souvenir of those pressing days is the original guest book from the Officer`e Mess, It contains Signatures which are now bywords in the fields of radar and electronics. ,First among theee is that of Sir Robert Watson-Wat, credited with the invention of ra- dar, Who visited Clinton,.Febrile ary 2nd, 1942, Others inclue Wing Commander M, n/f, Hendrick (Oct' (Continued On Page Voile Plans for the integrated weapons system recently announced by the Canadian government which will be introduced into the Canadian air defence system includes the Bomarc missile and SAGE (semi-automatic ground environment). Bomarc is a pilotless, supersonic, interceptor air- craft. When used in conjunction with the complement- ary electronic environment, its comparatively long range puts it in the "area defence" category, providing a pro- tective umbrella over large areas. Two Bomarc squadrons have been authorized for the RCAF. RCAF Station Clinton, the first radar training estab- lishment in North America, was established 18 years ago this coming summer. Clintonians and the people of Huron County can speak with pride of Station Clinton, and join with other Canadians in marking the 35th anniversary of the RCAF on April 1. Following is a history of Clin- ton's Station prepared by an of- Beer of the Public Relations staff of Station Clinton.