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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1978-09-21, Page 12 (2)Page 12 Titnes-Advocate, September 21, 1978 Bavarian Bayonet gives Canadian. Forces They're known as the "arrogant. contemptible Canadian army at Lahr-. - pnd while that would appear to be an insult. it oaactuak taken as a compliment by the. Canadian Forces in Europe because the; ahel was given to thein the East German press The description went -on to note that the Fast Germans also consider them as •"highly skilled and professional fighting men-. which is an attitude shared b"yT many of the- aIlted military personnel within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Having' watched the lana-' - dian Forces -in Bavarian Bayonet. a brigade -sue ex- ercise which took place near Ulm. an - onlooker quickly comes to the conclusion that the latter part of the East German opinion is well founded Brigadier -General' Jim Fox of • Bedford. N S who directed the exercise. beam- ed proudly when he advised press observers that in the view of Canada's allies- to German'. the brigade is described as every professional'and enjoys a high standard of training Canadian Forces in Europe' are equipped and !rattled for full scale- nttl.ita•ry defensive operations on the central front in Europe within N.1TO The forces are under tuJl Canadian control in peacetime. 'but.. become available to the appropriate NATO commander in time of war s The two Canadian bases are lud{ed at Lahr and Baden-.'rcit,)tlingen - near the Black Forest area in the Southern region-ofthe Federal Republic of Ger- many The headquarters • of the Canadian Forces 'Europe.. with the _two mayor formations 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group and 1 Canadian Air Group is located at Lahr vp- prnximatels two -Thirds of the command is located at Lahr. with the remainder at widen-Soeltingen about 60 1 timeters to the north The total strength of the 4 Canadian mechanized brigade group is 3.000 The brigade group carries out an -intensive training program at all formation levels throdghout the year to maintain combat readiness. The training program in- cludes participation in ma- jor exercises of other NATO nations The brigade's fall concen- tration. of which Bavarian Bayonet is the second last stage begins in late- suinmer in the 1.' S Army Hohenfels training area where individual and unit training is emphasized Basler -Ian Bayonet was than staged to "put it all together' in the words of Brigadier -General Fox It is the onlc brigade size exer- cise of the year wherin Canadian troops can com- bine and practice their military skills -%t the completion, of Bavarian Bayonet.. the,. Canadian brigade joined five other countries Germany. the Netherlands Belgium. United States and United Kinadorn for a major • a-Wt.:UR exercise -of the autumn forge series It is en- titled Blaue Donau. and is designed to test the ability of the oto 000 strong NAT() force in combined Brigadier Genera': ' ox ses o hoed gesture to describe Bo 0 the press soros He neons the Canada. n Armed Forces at Goudrea., a -o Vo or B ii Whitehead. --- .,-embers of ore Maio, Bob d involved war operations in simulate the personnel are time conditions •through.conscription After leaving the briefing Way of lifer a . we awaited the arrival of Watj•hing .the. Canadian krigadier-General Fox and Forces move into the lien scion -the_ sound of his --- area to stage Bavarian helicopter could be heard Bayonet gives ample indica- •- overhead and in short order tion of the reception given he was marching briskly up the, personnel with the dis- the street with two com- tinctive Canadian flag on panions. peeling of( to ex - their. vehicles and combat tend a warm greeting to our uniforms • . bost. Major Bill Whitehead. As the tracked vehicles • and the press corps arrive on train from the . A briefing- scheduled Hohenfels training !.centre for his office in the rear of and the wheeled vehieltis - an armored vehicle was iiiake their `way along the moved over to the Gasthof autobahn. "they disperse. into to afford more-vomfortable their staging areas surroundings. throughout the countryside While he presents a highly and small. villages. ' "spit and polish" profile in The simulated war. is not his- initial .contacthe conducted in a.regular train- . chatted off-the-cuff in a very ing exercise area -.The 60.- sincere manner. even kilometer area hs been attempting to answer some "requisitioned" in consulta- of the highly political tion with civil officials Ad.- questions tossed in his direc- the -bathe- takes place as tion. • the tanks and infantry make He summed up the NATO their way along village stance as being one of a streets. through cornfields • deterrent "to convince the and the country terrain. other fellow (read 11'arsaw Despite the disruptive nature of the exercise. the Germans appear to take the whole thing in their' stride and the troops 'are given • friendly receptions as- they pull their. tanks or other huge equipment into far- myards. orchards or nearby fields to take their positions for the ensuing - battle against the "enemy- force provided bt- 4 Jaeger 7)is4- sion ( German Army based alit :Amberg - Farmers maneuver their tractors' around armored vehicles in their yards. step , -over communication lines and generally attempt to carry on as usual despite their visitors The 'Canadians are greeted with smiles and handshakes to invitations to visit German homes One soldier reported that he usually was invited into the' house for- a shower :as he awaited the battle call. while many housewives serve up . coffee or other treats - One story is told about a Canadian unit located- near the bottom of a cliff in one • exercise- and a German farmer living in the area made periodic visits to supp- ly them beer from a bucket he lowered over the side of the hill by rope. The Canadian Weekly press corps was given its first insight into the exer cise during a briefing at command headquarters by Major Bob Gaudreau. operations officer for the ex- ercise' His unit had moved into an orchard in a small village. while part of their operation centre was moved into an unused room in the local Gasthof (hotel) at Sc•harenstetten. He noted that the late harvest in Germany would fa -amp the style of the exer- cise to an extent, as the heai•y vehicles would attempt to stick to 'the secondary roads through the countryside in an effort to reduce the damage to crops which were about three weeks behind schedule due to heavy sumnier rains. However. where A troop noir corry,ng 30 tracker: art ,•e•y .e^ ergs ro'1s ,Oto logeneau. along woh the men necessary. -the troops would who operote1hern to an ^our the eac o^'•e-• was ,jnioaded and off down the street in 0 noisy make theewav across un- • harvested fields and the German farmers would be compensated for the damage, The German government pays 25 percent of the damage claim and the Canadian government picks up the other -75 percent. He advised that the reputation of the Canadian -troops-is very high in Ger- mano. and 'other nations value them as participants in exercises because they are considered to be highly professional. Moral is considered generally lower iri many of the NATO forces because procession • Photo story by Bill Batten ... a recent visitor to Canadian Forces Europe Base in Lahr, Germany Pact Countries' that it- %ouldn:t be practical for therrt'to start anything. • Fox noted that -.quan- titatively and qualitatively" the standards of the Warsaw Pact armies has gone up in recent years. satisified wifh the standard of -the brigade and that NATO is being successful in acting as a deterrent." . he commented when asked how the alit s are stacking up to the exten- sive build-up along the Ger- man and Czechoslovakian borders When asked about Canada's contribution - to NATO in terms of personnel and equipment. he candidly replied that "as a military guy I can see things we could be doing". but he quickly added "I don't envy the politician his problem•'. After further comments on the scenario of Bavarian Bayonet. we headed to Lageneau to await the arrival of .a special train carrying the 1st Regiment. Royal Canadian Horse Ar- tillery. with their 30 tracked vehicles which included 109 self-propelled 155mm howitzers. M-113 armoured .personnel carriers and assorted artillery vehicles. We had been told one could set his watch on the German railrpad system. and that turned out to be more than prophetic as the train - arrived right on schedule. giving us an in- sight into how the Germans moved around their own country during World War II. The members of the ar- tillery had the luxury of sleeping accommodation on the train. but in quick order they were off and.in about an hour they •had their 30 vehicles lined up along the roadside in readiness for the 35 kilometer trip to a bush tille?y or hold their fingers in the universal peace sign. Sgt. Carl Day. Kingston. who was in charge of the vehicle on which the writer bounced along ,and shared the exhaust -fumes. politely returned the waves along• with a warm smile. , Cars and trucks waved through the lines of ar- tillery. while civilian police directed traffic. While many older people .stopped to Watch the proceedings. the majority took only a quick glance-- and went on about their field and farmyard-ac- tivities..leaving us' with the - impression it was - a sight they would just as soon not consider — perhaps on the basis of past experience. or perhaps in fear. of what the future may hold. The artillery soon reached their destination and buried themselve in a dense bush. awaiting the start of their 36 -hour engagement.. their own. -und a young .Militia officer. Lieutenant John Murray, of Thorold. was more than pleased to show -us the Leopards well camouflaged in a bush. There are 16 tanks in the brigade and Lieut. Murray. who was on a leave of absence from his teaching position in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. gave full evidence that Canada's Militia at home- is as proud and professional as our 011 - time troops at home. grin abroad: White we sat bewildered as he rhymed off the capabilities of the tank. we also had an opportunity to explore every nook and cranny of the huge machines which pound across the countryside at an - un• believeable rate of speed and with some dexterity that is difficult to comprehend. The crew had to learn German as part of their in- - troduction. because all in- structions are in that Engineers Drew Mud . Awakening the next day to the sound of heatry rain. we found the 4 Combat Engineer Regiment located in a field just- outside the towtr which we used for our headquarters for three days. Ourarrittal at their muddy site coincided with the Ger- man farmer who owned the field. and While there was ' some concern .expressed on his face for the deep ruts be - ing cut into his field. he seemed resigned to the.fact - it was all part of his con- tribution to maintaining peace in his country. Men hurried about the site heating water for an early morning shave. while ttie field kitchen staff supplied a warm breakfast to those who had been soaked. We struck up a conversa- tion with Major K.J. Holfnes. London. in charge of the unit. who succinctly explained the role of the engineers as one of main- taining the progress for the friendly force and denying progress for the enemy. The engineers support two infant-ry• groups. their proudest possession being a new German bridge -builder or Bibber (German for beaver). It hadn't arrived with the main unit as it was being shipped by rail. but a further description will' follow in this article. Major Holmes told us of., the many requests theAx engineers• receive from civilian.authorities for their. services. and man) of those public relations tasks are , undertaken when 'the program can result in a valuable training exercise for the personnel. • Emergency situations. of course. fall under a different category. and the services of the engineers are readily available to the Germans under such circumstances - During our conversation. Major Holmes Jooked longingly, t a nearby forest and said his unit would move out to that spot to get onto 'higher and dryer ground when the final tracked vehicles arrived. The writer was disap- pointed to learn that Cpl. Allan Unruh. •a brother of Dee Beuerman of Exeter: was on one of the tracked vehicles and this cir-- area that would serve as- cumvented our opportunity language. The bridge: builder is also mounted on a . Leopard body. - ' After popping a few roundsom the. machine gun. we arrived back at the unit's carnp just in time to .-#tear a young officer give an intelligence briefing that gave ample evidence that the Reds are watching NATO troops at every turn. "That lady you bought your bratwurst from at the railhead .w : ‘ wife of a well-knoinfo er." the e troops were advis The intelligence briefing _also told of. a man and his son touring in the area on bicycles and who had spent a Large sum of money (400 marks( in a couple of days and they were under sur- veillance While the troops are con- tinually reminded of the fact there are people watching over their shoulders and listening for any unguarded conversations. the briefing was just to point up more ex- plicity the problems that do exist In exercises over 25.000 personnel. observers from Warsaw Pact countries are invited to watch NATO troops and vice versa. Few Reminiscences After enjoying a delicious meal from "the finest cooks in the army- at the tank un- it. we moved onto visit Lt. Col. Butch Waldrum, head of the 444 Tactical Helicopter Squadron. Waldrum had taken some of his early training at RCAF Station Centralia and we found two others in his unit who had also come through training programs there in the persons of Don Chambers and Andy Seguin. the commanders of the two flight groups which incor- porate 11 Kiowa helicopters. Rain again greeted us. but did afford an opportunity to see the mechanics rebuild one helicopter and to visit many of the personnel in i' re - their launch area. - Through some quick arrangements between Ma- jor Whitehead and Major Hague. the press corps was loaned into individual ar- moured personnel carriers for the trip and we were given a taste of the bone - tingling experience as we made our way across the secondary roads. A large crowd of onlookers quickly gathered to watch the incoming train. and children lined the streets in many Of the small towns to wave at the ar- to pass along a big hello from home. A visit to the tank corps was one of the most exciting outings during the pre-• exercise outings. not only because the press contingent wanted to get their first look at the German-m'ade Leopard -tanks. but also because we left knowing the Canadian 'Forces were ex- tremely pleased with their new acquisitions. Canada has been leasing some Leopards from the Germans. but have now taken - delivery of some of Vehicles hove a strange hobit of needing as these.twb engineers found out: repairs when they're in the middle -of a muddy field, This anti-tank weapon demonstrated by three Canadian troops is extremely accurate up'to . 3,1300 meters and con penetrate any knovVn armour. It is known as a TOW .(Tubelaunch Op- ticolly Tracked Wire Command Link!. ' • • rEP j. Captain Dove Krouter, .a, native of Brussels, former introduced himself as Huron -r chats with Rod 8rebner, -Medford, presently serves in the artillery. when the Kids hoed fhe street to wave at the Canadian Armed Forces os they moved to their staging area. However, the lad shown here had a different welcome ... h blasted the armored per: sonnet carrier above with his water gun. // • Germanfarmersotiempt to. carry on os usual, -despite some huge obstacles in their village yards. This tracked vehicle wos squegzed in behind a wagon, while the farmer is shown cutting • some metol beside his barn door. •