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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1942-04-09, Page 3THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1942 Try these grand ECONOMY muffins i a teaspoon salt' 2 teas poor 1 c,: milk 3 teaspoons Powl'Ansder 2 esss Salons Powder pan sorsa[ ttablcsr 414:43:1: Sift together flow, baking powder, sugar and and salt; add to beaten eg6sand melted shortening: Mix well. I4abf fill greased sawn tins and bake in hot oven at 400°T • about 20 minutes. for Free Cook Book Send Magic Baking PowderTo: Fraser Ave., Toronto Costs Less than V' per Average Baking! " rf.sr wag ic' ID, 5 NOAIUM MADE IN CANADA Winter Training For Specia'1 . Warfare. (By Lieut. F, M, Wooding.) Petawawa Military Camp—White- robed figures, blended almost per- fectly in camouflage, pushed quickly along the trail that wound in and out of the forest. Silent, except for the swish of their skiis breaking the crispness of the snow underneath, they made for a copse that lay be- yond the open spaces ahead. From a nearby bush a winter bird flew off with a flutter of wings, A birch tree, stripped of its foliage, cracked suddenly as the cold of the sub -zero weather struck at its deep- est roots. The men, travelling in single file with packs on their backs and rifles slung over' their shoulders, paused as their leader neared the clearing. Then, obeying h silent signal, they removed their skiis and, stooping to grasp the harness, pushed forward in bear -like fashion. Once in the pro- tection of the copse they again ad - .46 justed their skiffs and continued on their way. _'or nearly twenty minutes this ghost-like procession, sometimes tak- ing advantage of the protective •for- est and sometimes adopting skilful means 'of concealment when ' in the open, travelled on. Again, this time at the base of a hill densely covered - with cedar and spruce, they paused. A few- yards down the trail another whiterobed figure appeared, caut- iously at first and with rifle ready, but upon a sign of identification from bhe leader he slung his rifle over his shoulder and beckoned them forward. It was a skilfully ,planned field headquarters these men had estab- eie Haled and only an eye trained to camouflage could have discovered the bivouacs spotted here and there. in •the thickets. A slight, bub very slight, smell of wood smoke reached the nostrils and an almost monastic quietness added to the mysterious- ness of the place. The leader of the newly arrived roup saluted smartly as a captain a in battle dress emerged from a low - slung, pup tent. The two chatted for a few minutes. ' "Stack skiis," ordered the leader. Then, looking at his watch, he add- ed: "Fifteen hundred hours." Change into dry socks and underclothing. Wash hands and face. Next patrol two thousand twenty three hours." To a civilian' observer this scene would have seemed strange indeed. But to an army reporter, who had already lived in the bush with these men, it was far from strange. What i is more, it seemed logical and, in fact, imperative, that such activity should be taking place; that it should be taking place not only here at Can- ada's largest military training camp but also at scores of other training centres throughout the Dominion. These men, hand-picked from ac- tive army units stationed in all parts of the nation, are forming the nuc- leus of what one day may become— ,should the need arise—a force of commando fighters! This special act- ivity` being carried on under the name of "winter training," the whole purpose of which is to produce the type of man who can act independ- ently, -can forage for himself, can be self-reliant and who can, singly or in groups, deal smashing surprise blows at the enemy wherever he may be found. Commando warfare, particularly as it has been developed by the Bri- tish, first in Normandy and then in Norway, Libya and France.—such places as Narvik, Bengazi, Spitsber gen, the Lofoten Islands and St. Na- zaire will refresh rnenu:ries—has long since proved its importance in the grand strategy of defeating the foe. And the worcik of those daring, dashingly romantic men who do not know the meaning of fear and care nothing about the word sacrifice not only has struck misgivings into the hearts of Nazis and Quislings, but. has also written new and glowing chapters into the already brilliant pages of, the Tmpire's World War IT history. .Here in Canada, particularly at the Petawawa Military Camp, this training is being given to hundreds of officers 'and NCO's representing many units. They go through a hard, toughening. three weeks' course, up- on completion of which they go back to their units to act in turn as in- structors. Rumors that Canadians are receiv- ing what is comparable to comman- do training began travelling along the army grape vine and to get it all at first hand this writer with a cam- eraman, came to Petawawa to spend four days in the bush with a new school just starting. Petawawa in winter does not offer the kind of balmy weather one gets on bhe West Coast and no one knows this better than Captain Tom Gilday (Canadian Grenadier Guards)) who is chief instructor of winter training there and who, before the ,war, was one of the best skiers this country has yet produced. Acting on his ad- vice—in fact, his orders—heavy clothing was donned and over all went a white, hooded parka, more for camouflage than for warmth. Loaded with camera equipment, skis and a few personal belongings we left camp headquarters about 6.20 on one of the frostiest mornings that has yet hit this country. The going was easy for instead of travel- ling on skis we rode quite sedately on a queer contraption known as a motor toboggan. This outfit, some- thing new in army vehicles, really is a toboggan. It is run on a caterpillar bread driven by a high-powered mot- orcycle engine up front. On moderately hard ground this thing did a little better than thirty miles an hour and it was only when it . reched soft and deeper' snow that it slowed down to a walking speed. The bivouac to which we were going was tucked some eight miles in the deepest anddensest bush this Laurentian 'country has—the kind of country that would delight the heart of most Sunday skiers. And despite its proximity to Petawawa's rifle and artillery ranges it fairly abounded with wild life such as rabbits, foxes and wild birds. We arrived at the bivouas in time to watch instruction in stalking. This it was pointed out, is an important phase of training because the ability to capture• enemy sentries and do close up reconnaissance depends to a large extent on a man's agility in moving quietly so as not to detect his presence. This -is an art perfected by •the , North American Indian and the 'same system used by them has been adopted by the Canadian army. Gaptain Gilday took over from his instructional staff for the afternoon and among the things he taught his men, and us, was how to make snow shoes out of willow and birch branches. Occasionally, he explained, skiis get broken and a man loaded with rifles and pack would find it impossible to move through deep snow on foot. The procedure was • simple. A piece of green pliable wil- low about an inch in diameter and about five feet in length was cut and heated over the fire. Then it was gradually bent egg shape; The ends of the branch which formed the joint were brought down to a point so as to make an even splice and this form- i ed the rear of the shoe. Four strands of wire, strong cord or leather, he explained, could then be spaced at even intervals from side to side and two Brands from top to bottom. These formed support for the feet. A heal support was tied to the se- cond strand from the rear and a long loop attached to the top strand was added for tying around the heel. The whole job was extremely well done and the finished product was a sturdy, dependable aid to transpor- tation. The interesting thing about this training was the care taken of the! men. Although working outside in' zero weather, not one was heard to complain of the cold or any other THE SHA.+ ORTH NEWS discomfort,, In fact, it is doubtful if a more genuinely happy group of Wren are to be found anywhere in the army. "We pay very much attention to the problem of man management," said Captain Gilday. "Perhaps more So to that than anything else. You see, all of these men here are going home to be leaders of other men, They must, therefore, learn all we can teach them so that they will know how to look after, their see- tions, platoons or, patrols, as the case may be. "Food, for instance, is important. When men are living in, the bush they naturally have to eat properly balanced diets, diets that will give their body warmth as well as strength. Clothing is another item, By seeing to it that men wear nei- ther too much nor too little, colds are avoided, Socks, undergarments and frequently complete attire must be changed at the proper time. The men have to keep clean if disease is to be avoided; that's why sponge baths are ordered on schedule. Of. course, every day hands, face and feet must be washed—and washed clean, "By maintaining strict discipline in these natters morale is always maintained at a high pitch, esprit -de - corps is good and altogether there is made a better understanding and spirit of good fellowship among the men. "We have laid down our own code of ethics, so to speak," Captain Gil - day went on. "For .example, when dressing for winter travel; all ranks must be trained to dress for the ex- tremes in weather at all times. A soldier must realize that because the weather is warm in the morning, it does not necessarily mean it is going to be warm in the afternoon. "An extra sweater or windbreaker must be worn when starting off for , the day, particularly if the tempera- ture is below zero. For the first half hour the troops progress at a fairly fast pace and then, when the half hour stop if ordered the extra sweat- er is removed: When a stop is made at noon for lunch the sweater is put -on again and half an hour later is removed. Then, later in the day when the sun begins to sink and the tem- perature emperature drops again the sweater is put back on. "We insist that all ranks carry a waterproof matchbox, that they drink sparingly of water, that they tarry a good -jack-knife, that they have a sewing kit of pins, needles, thread and darningcotton, • buttons and wax in their ditty bags; that they don't eat snow. These are all elementary, things, bub it is surpris- ing haw few men know of them." During the days that followed our visit to the winter training school, this "Wilderness College", we saw these men go through all the man- oeuvres that soldiers must know when fighting in bush 'country." We saw them on skiffs fighting imaginary battles with the enemy, we saw them doing the "crawl," the "bear walk," the "three step", stem turns and Christianas. We saw inter -patrol map reading competitions and watched them build shelters. And we ate their food. It was good. We saw them get- ting instructions in first aid and we sat in with them when they were learning how to gauge the. weather. The men in training at Petawawa are handpicked and most of them lived at some time or another in the forests, either as trappers, wood -cut- ters or miners. Others are skilled skiers who know the woods well and are accustomed to living in the open. ' The eve of our departure was a happy one and the scene we witness- ed harked us back to earlier days when coureur-du-bois gathered for the merriment of song and music. One small accordeon and a -some- what broken-down mouthorgan sup- plied the inspiration and for hours officers and men alike emptied their lungs of all the tuneful ditties fam- iliar to the army. Just before lights out a particu- larly cheerful laddie—a trapper in the north country before the war— quietly assured us that we were to be honored with a special dinner the next day. What the food was to be or how it was to be obtained he did not say. But it would be forthcom- ing, The last we saw of him that night was his white -robed figure slipping quietly into the bush. He was true to his word. At noon a special "order of good cheer" was organized and, to the tune of the accordion, we, marched to the open fire, There in a pot that was steaming over the flames we saw the remains of what had been two frisky snowshoe rabbits. Now they were just stew, Dat what stew! I marvelled. My cameraman mar- velled. "Snared then in the woods last night when you guys were asleep," the lad admitted bashfully. "We al- ways try to have some delicacy for our guests before they leave." And' believe us, that stew was a delicacy. PAGE TW R HELP THE MAN IN UNIFORM You can help the man in uniform, merely by saving regularly. Because when you save you increase the flow of labour and material from civilian to war production. And when you lend accumulated savings to the country in War Savings Certificates and war loans, you help Canada supply to our fighting men the arms and equipment they need. Seize this patriotic opportunity! Pull your full weight! Start saving NOW! Ts ti�r�P�o�..� THE CHARTERED BANKS OF CANADA 4 Volunteer today! Join the Farm Service Force and help Ontario farmers produce food for Vic- tory. Be a Farm Cadet or a Farmerette and make a real contribution to Can- - ada's War Effort this Summer. Hun- dreds of farmers have registered their need for help already, and more are 4, registering every day. Last year more than 14,000 youth men 15 and up and young women 16 and up, pitched in and lent a hand. Thousands more are needed this year. Get full particulars from your High School Principal, Y.W.C.A,, Y.M.C,A,, or write On- tario Farm Service Force, Parliament Bldgs., Toronto. Volunteer TODAY! • CREST: Farm Service Volunteers are entitled to wear this distinctive 3" Crest (right) supplied on application to the Otrtari0 Perin Service Posse. 2IS 17NTARIO INTER -DEPART" : �(AM f' 5 LABOUR EDUCATION `' AND OEPARTh1 NT l"GSI l� lft`s'i,t, i�UR OTTA`W�