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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1963-07-11, Page 14 • ingbain FIRST SECTION Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, July 11, 1963 nciosante Single copy Not Over Ten Cents. IN HISTORIC SETTING Militia Units Take Summer Training at Niagara Camp CAMP NIAGARA; Militia- men from Wingham, Walkerton and Listowel batteues art, undergoing a new experience this week as the 21st Regiment, R. C. A. (M) carries out summer training in an area steeped with militia tradition and history. Tented in an area dotted with reminders of the historic bat- tles of 1812-14, the artillery- men are enjoying their first visit to this camp at Niagara - on -the -Lake. Under the direction of Lieut. Col. L. C. Vickars, Listowel, commanding officer, the unit veered from the training pro- gram experienced at former camps in Petawawa and Crum- lin. This time the artillery- men are merging with the Perth Regiment of Stratford, High- land Light Infantry of Galt and First Hussars of London. Training of the 21st Regi- ment is in charge of Major J. D. Harvey, Seaforth. Heading the 100th Battery, Listowel are Capt. Don Hamsworth and Capt. John Brown; the 99th Wingham, Capt. J. F. Goodall, and the 97th, Walkerton, Capt. Gordon Tanner. Capt. R. A. B. MacLean, minister of Knox Presbyterian Church, Walkerton, isattend- ing his first camp as regimental padre. He replaced Capt. Bruce A. Miles of Listowel, • who has gone to Winnipeg. Be- sides conducting a regimental service each morning, Capt. MacLean also delivered the ser- mon at the entire camp service on Sunday. The trip to camp was made by convoy. An area advance party had the Bell and mess tents ready for the artillerymen to occupy on their arrival. Consequently there was no time wasted in settling into the busy week's training schedule. Following the church service Sunday, a regimental recrea- tional program was carried out in the afternoon, followed by a qualifying natural survival exercise that same evening. Monday set the pattern for the week's activities and this, ALONG THE MAIN DRAG By The Pedestrian HAS THE KNOW-HOW— Some people can catch fish and some can't. A short time ago Steven Langridge, whose picture appears in this issue, caught a 19 -inch bass in the Maitland, which he put in the freezer. On Sunday his mother was being pressed to cook it. When she said she was afraid there wouldn't be enough for the whole family he said, "Well, I guess I'll have to get another to go with it". An ,hour later he re -appeared with the 22 -inch beauty to be seen in the picture. He used a 1-0 hook and a fat dew worm. 0--0--0 LEAVING HOME?— We hear a rumor that some of the Wingham sun -lovers are thinking of heading back to Florida right away. The cold spell which has followed on the heels of stifling weather a week ago, has brought over- night lows of 40 degrees and day -time highs in the low 60's — a long-time record. 0--0--0 CAUGHT SHORT— Jack Stephens, who was on a business trip to Bracebridge last week, was rudely interupt- ed by a ruptured appendix and is confined to the Bracebridge Hospital. His wife and child- ren are visiting with hisparent. Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Stephens, at their cottage near Campbell - ford, where it is understood Jack will go to recuperate. too, marked a departure from previous camp routine. The regiment is not carrying out manoeuvres on a unit level. Instead every member of the 21st is on course. The only exceptions are those involved with administration duties. Wingham men studying tactics at the platoon level are WO 2 J. G. Blackwell, and Sgt. M. P. Meurs; junior tara, which involves deriving fire date for guns and applying corrections for abnormalites of geography, meteorology and equipment, is being studied by Lieut. W. M. Snider and Gnr. T. R. S. Haarbye. A gun numbers course that means studying about ammu- nition equipment, gun sights, maintenance and putting the 105 mm howitzer -type guns into action, is being attended by Gnrs. E. D. Davidson and D. C. McAlpine of Wingham. The signals course includes both line and wireless drills. Assigned to it are Gnrs. J. R. Ostrom and G. H. Foxton of Wingham. The driver's course is aimed at training personnel to become qualified drivers of the big lorries used by the regiment. This means operation and main- tenance as well as discipline and convoy work. In addition a qualified driver must be familiar with map reading. Taking the practical work and lectures are Gnr. G. F. Higgins and Gnr. R, P. Huffman, Wing - ham. The senior tactics course being studied by Capt. Good- all is for senior officers from captain and above. This in- volves planning of the inte- gration of all arms such as in- fantry, artillery, army service corps and other branches of the army fighting forces. An intelligence course, which is on the basic rather than provost level and means collecting information that a commander can use in making plans, is being attended by Sgt. J. A. Merkley of Wing - ham. The artillerymen will move back into unit formation for exercise on Thursday night, when an evening deployment is staged. The 105 guns will be taken to the ranges and a complete artillery manoeuvre carried out with the exception of actual firing. This will give officers, NCO's and men an opportunity to apply the knowledge they gained in the various courses. Breaks Arm at Owen Sound Janice Ohm, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Ohm, Leo- pold Street, had the misfortune to fall from a bicycle while visiting in Owen Sound on Fri- day. She was taken to hospital where x-rays showed her right arm to be fractured at the el- bow. The arm was set and Janice was able to return to the home of her aunt, Mrs. Ross Forebeck, the same eve- ning. Take Trip to N.W. Territories Joseph Gibbons of Beatty Avenue, London, and his sis- ter, Mrs. Maurice O'Hagan and her children, John and Maureen, of Jamestown, N. Y. , are visiting with their sister, Rev. Mother M. lrenita, the principal of St. Patrick's High School in Yellowknife, N. W. T. They will also travel by plane through Calgary, where they will visit their brother, Rev, Fr. John T. Gibbons, MEMBERS OF THE 99th Battery, one of three which made up the old 19th Field Regiment during the war, took time out to have this picture taken at the picnic on Sunday afternoon. The barbecue picnic was held at the Alex Corrigan farm near Bluevale. Alex was RSM of the unit during the war years.—A-T Photo. THE FORMER C.O. of the 19th Field Regiment, Col. L. G. Clarke, of Rothsay, N.B., right, and one of his former officers, Lt. -Col. Robert S. Hetherington, now mayor of Wingham, are pictured as they headed for the Bluevale United Church for the service which marked part of the regiment's reunion in Wingham over the week -end. WIN AWARDS — Lynda Reavie, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Reavie, won the Marion Inglis medal for highest marks in Grade VIII in the Wingham Public School, while Gloria Reed, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Reed won the Lions Club award for general proficiency.—A-T Photo, Came from All Directions Reunion of 19th Brings Many Old War Comrades To�efher Several hundred war veter- ans and their wives gathered in Wingham at the week -end for a reunion of the 19th Field Regiment Association, Mem- bers of the unit began to arrive on Friday afternoon to renew acquaintances with wartime comrades who are now scatter- ed across Canada and several other countries as well. The 19th was recruited early in the Second World War, being composed of the 99th Battery with headquarters in Wingham, the 55th Battery, London, and the 63rd of Guelph. After training in Canada the regiment went ashore on the Normandy beaches on D-day and fought its was through France and the Low Countries and on into Germany by the end of the war. The first get-together of the reunion was at the Armouries on Friday evening where a dance was held. On Saturday morning there was golf for the men and a tour of CKNX for the ladies, Saturday afternoon provided one of the highlights of the reunion when the famed "Fly- ing Dutchmen", Kitchener - Waterloo bugle and drum band, sponsored by the 48th Field Squadron, Royal Canadian En- gineers, arrived in town and presented their precision drill at the town park. This exhi- bition of moving formations drew a large crowd of spec- tators. Later the band led the par- ade of veterans to the Ceno- taph on Diagonal Road, where they formed up for a service of remembrance of fallen comrades with whom they had served overseas. Members of the present day 99th Battery, which is now a part of the 21st Field Regiment, acted as the honor guard at the Cenotaph. They were Gnrs. Jim Dennis, Ken Chettleburgh, Emmerson Hickey and Bdr, Fred Lee. Lt. -Col. R. S. Hethering- ton, of Wingham, an officer in the 19th, and mayor of the town, acted as master of cere- monies, welcoming his former comrades to the community. The speaker was Rev. Cal- lum Thompson, of Westmount, Que., war -time padre of the 19th Regt„ who offered apray. er of remembrance for those who did not count the cost in the sombre days when our free- dom was at stake. The padre said, "Let us pray that we may be worthy of them." The roll was called by B. S. M. Bert Mitchell of Paisley. Gnr. Costello, London, re- presenting the gunners, Major W. G. Hunstein, Walkerton, representing the officers and B. S. M. Fred Smallacombe, Guelph, representing the NCO's, placed a wreath at the foot of the Cenotaph in memory of the comrades who did not return. Last Post and Reveille were sounded by a member of the visiting band. REUNION BANQUET On Saturday evening the big event was the banquet, held in the new Belgrave arena and catered for by the ladies of the Belgrave United Church. Fred Smallacombe, the association's president, presided and during his remarks referred to the stirring years through which they had lived during the war. He called President Glenn Sinnamon of the Wing - ham Branch, Royal Canadian Legion and Mrs. Alex Corrigan to the head table to receive thanks for the assistance render- ed in preparation for the re- union. Appreciation was also ex- pressed to the United Church Women of Belgrave for the de- licious turkey dinner and to the residents of the Belgrave dist- rict who had performed a minor miracle in readying the new building for the event, Lt. - Col, E. D. Bell of Exeter ex- pressed thanks to the Flying Dutchmen band and Alex Corri- gan thanked the bus drivers who had transported the diners to Belgrave; to the band and to CKNX and The Advance -Times for the publicity which had been given the reunion, as well as those who had offered their homes for billeting. Col. L. G. Clarke, of Roth- say, N.B., the war -time com- mander of the regiment, ad- dressed the gathering, speaking with warm feeling of the days they had spent together in Can- ada and Europe, Another get-together at the Wingham Armouries was held that evening. Should Be Hot Bali Game After suffering their first de- feat in the past 12 starts at the hands of the Wingham Brophy Goodyears on Monday evening, the Stratford Kroehlers play the return fixture here on Sat- urday evening and will be arriving with blood in their eyes. It promises to be one of the season's best as the Good - years will be out for a win, and second place in the league standing. At the moment the Goodyears are tied for second place with Woodstock, but have played three more games. The local nine are display- ing a fine brand of ball this year and deserve a little more support in the bleachers. Let's have every seat full on Satur- day for this all-important game for the Goodyearsl Padre Is Speaker At Church Service Bluevale--Service of wor- ship was held in the United Church on Sunday morning, members of the 19th Field Regi- ment, with their wives, attend- ing, Rev. G. C. Mitchell intro- duced the guest minister, Rev. Cullam Thompson, of Montreal who was padre of this regiment during World War II, Mr. Thompson, speaking from the text, "Let us now praise famous men", gave a warm tribute to the men who had come through the trying days of that great war. He re- ferred to interesting aspects of his contact with the soldiers. Harmony Men of Wingham formed the choir, with con- ductor, Hap Swatridge and or- ganist, William Connell. they sang without accompaniment, "Beautiful Isle of Somewhere" , "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You" and "Now the Day Is Over". The hymns, chosen by Alex Corrigan, R, S. M, of the regi- ment, were remembered favorites of the men. Elmer Bell of Exeter, former Colonel, read the Scripture lesson. A gift was presented to.Mr. Thompson at the conclusion of the service, as a token of appreciation from the regiment. The presentation was made by G. L. Laing of Port Credit, who was captain of the 63rd Battery.