It's a Military Life ~ Dad

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2024: Week 49 (HANDED DOWN)

This week my dad gave me some of his military memorabilia.

I am what is referred to a base brat.

I was born on a Canadian Military Base, and started school on a different Canadian Military Base. 

I have always had an interest in all things military, but absolutely no interest in joining the military myself.

When I was in grade 1 we moved off base. That Christmas, in my new public school, I informed my teacher and classmates that Santa did not come in a sleigh - he arrived in a helicopter. 

No matter how much my teacher tried to convince me that wasn't true I knew she just didn't understand Santa.

My father was with 408 Squadron in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Every Christmas Santa arrived in a helicopter, took the children for helicopter rides, and gave us presents that were exactly what we wanted.

This was how I knew he was the real Santa.

Dad's memorabilia holds memories for him, but it also holds memories for me. 

When I received dad's plaques I decided to do a bit of digging. 

I discovered the 408 "Goose" Squadron Association website where they noted 408 Squadron's participation in: 

"numerous Operations, Exercises, Overseas Deployments
and Peacekeeping Tours. 

1972 – Exercise Nimrod Caper (Jamaica)" 1 

When I was small my dad brought a doll home from one of his exercises.  He told me he waited while the lady made the doll, and he got to chose the clothing. The doll was from Jamaica. I now know this memory is from 1972. 

It wasn't only helicopters that featured in my childhood. There were aircrafts of all sizes including the ginormous Hercules. 

I remember the stack of equipment and boxes in the center of the plane, and the seats around the edges from a family trip of my childhood. I don't remember where we were going. I can clearly remember buckling my Mrs. Beasley doll into her seatbelt in the seat beside me. 

Before my dad became my dad he was  part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). He was with 1st Queens Own Rifles C Company arriving in 1965.

My dad, 3rd from the left in the back row

Link to source for photo & names below

After Cyprus Dad was transferred to British Columbia.

When dad's contract was up he got out of the military, and began working in a sawmill on Vancouver Island.

It was on a night out with friends that he met my mom in a Victoria nightclub. 

After they were married dad rejoined the military thinking it was a career that would support his growing family.

I created a space to celebrate dad and his military career with the memorabilia he gave me this week.

I discovered a side of my dad I never knew when I found that some of the plaques, I had seen many times, had messages from his colleagues

These messages were from 2 of his tours in Alert.

When I was a child I would listen to dad's tales of Alert. I was enthralled with his stories of foxes, wolves, and polar bears. He would tell us of 24 hour darkness or 24 hours of daylight. He told of the bitter cold, and 6 months without seeing family. He showed us photos and videos. It all looked very exciting to a child. I didn't really understand what that must have been like. 

"To prepare for life in the most northerly inhabited place on Earth, you’ll need to pass physical and mental screening, pack for -50C in the winter, and be ready to adopt a whole new family…

...

In this inhospitable location at the world’s edge, a huge effort goes into making an extreme life feel normal.

...

Morale is as crucial as water and fuel.

...

The difficult side of Alert’s wintry isolation is so disproportionately obvious to its residents – separated from families, friends, faithful pets, reassuring routines, comforting surroundings – that they go out of their way to erase all traces of loneliness.

The “mess committee,” as the station’s social convenors are called, organizes nightly games of euchre, cribbage, darts, pool and bingo. On Friday, it’s TGIF comedy night (or DMCV for francophones). There’s a movie club, a video-game group, a tanning bed where you can get your Vitamin D ration, board games of all kinds, a sewing club, a wood-hobby shop, off-road biking in the summer along with hiking to the local ice caves, geocaching and a little fishing, a gym and weight room, too many sports competitions to count, and even a coffee society occupying a fragrant niche in the newly renovated library – you can buy one of their souvenir mugs at the well-stocked Alert Trading Post.

...
People who know Alert only from its absurd position on the map have trouble comprehending the heightened reality of a place where everyone is devoted to keeping everyone else’s spirits up. When MCpl. Rivest-Muir was asked by incoming ops-team colleagues for advice on High Arctic necessities, he answered:
“Well, make sure you bring a pair of slippers and a housecoat. And a Hawaiian shirt and a funny costume – you never know when we might have a superhero night.” " 2

In reading the messages it's easy to see friendships developed for the 'chosen frozen'. It also sounds like the chain of command was a bit lax in this harsh environment. During the 6 months in Alert facial hair was permitted. These all sound like great things, but it must have been hard to shift given the strictness of the military rules everywhere else. 

"And severe it is, with weather that can turn drastically in the space of just a few minutes. When Storm Condition One is declared at the station, lifelines are strung between the buildings to help people find their way between them. Storm Condition Two is called when winds exceed 80 km/h, if the wind chill dips below -55 C or when there is zero visibility. When that happens everyone must ride out the storm wherever they happen to be in the facility at that moment, with water, emergency rations and sleeping accommodation available in every working location.
...
Living in such close quarters, in a place where months of 24-hour daylight are followed by months of 24-hour darkness, has been known to play with people’s minds. “We need to see that people are taking care of themselves,” Williams says. “That is why we conduct room inspections. If you don’t work well with others, you won’t stay very long.”
The station offers a range of activities to maintain morale. Everyone at Alert may make one video conference call and one telephone call every day to communicate with family and friends down south.
...
Its remoteness means the biggest nightmares looming over the station are the threat of catastrophic fire — of necessity, Alert has its own tiny fire department — or life-threatening medical emergency. “Spooling up a bird from Trenton,” to use CPO Williams’ terminology for getting a medevac aircraft to Alert, can take several days.
Three military aircraft have crashed nearby over the years, including a C-130 Hercules that went down 20 kilometres short of the station in October, 1991, killing five of the 18 people on board." 3  

In researching for this blog I had a definite shift in my view of who may dad is, and how he became that way.

Dad with my brother and I

When handed down artifacts provide a missing piece of who a parent is!!! 

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Footnotes:

1  408 "Goose" Squadron Association. Retrieved December 1st 2024 from
https://www.forfreedom.ca/?page_id=111

2 Welcome to CFS Alert. Allemang, John (Illustrator Tonia Cowan). Originally published May 21 2015. Retrieved December 1st 2024 from 
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/how-to-survive-at-the-very-edge-of-nowhere-life-at-canadian-forces-station-alert/article24486577/

3 Matthew Fisher at CFS Alert: Canada's 'frozen chosen' at top of the world have been in the dark since Oct 14. Fisher, Matthew. originally published Feb 1st 2016, updated Feb 2nd 2016. Retrieved December 2nd 2024 from
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/matthew-fisher-at-cfs-alert-canadas-frozen-chosen-at-top-of-the-world-have-been-in-the-dark-since-oct-14

Sources:

408 "Goose" Squadron Association. Retrieved December 1st 2024 from
https://www.forfreedom.ca/?page_id=111

Alert Canada: The northernmost settlement in the world. Retrieved December 1st 2024 from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlNAgrGgoEY

Canadian Forces Station Alert. Retrieved December 2nd 2024 from 
https://www.canada.ca/en/air-force/corporate/alert.html

The Canadian Forces Station at the top of the world. Retrieved December 2nd 2024 from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka7c4qpnh4M

CFS Alert. Retrieved December 2nd 2024 from 
https://jproc.ca/rrp/alert.html

Matthew Fisher at CFS Alert: Canada's 'frozen chosen' at top of the world have been in the dark since Oct 14. Fisher, Matthew. originally published Feb 1st 2016, updated Feb 2nd 2016. Retrieved December 2nd 2024 from
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/matthew-fisher-at-cfs-alert-canadas-frozen-chosen-at-top-of-the-world-have-been-in-the-dark-since-oct-14

The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada Regimental Museum and Archive. Retrieved December 2nd 2024 from
https://qormuseum.org/history/timeline-1950-1974/1965-1st-battalion-deployment-to-cyprus/

The Regiment. he Queen's Own Rifles of Canada (QOR). Retrieved December 4th 2024 from
https://www.queensownrifles.com/about

This is life on Alert. Retrieved December 1st 2024 from 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMIwt2-IYXo

Welcome to CFS Alert. Allemang, John (Illustrator Tonia Cowan). Originally published May 21 2015. Retrieved December 1st 2024 from 
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/how-to-survive-at-the-very-edge-of-nowhere-life-at-canadian-forces-station-alert/article24486577/

Photos:

C Company. 1965 1st Battalion deployment to Cyprus. Excerpts taken from the 1965 Powder Horn annual regimental journal and transcribed by Sergeant Graham Humphrey, CD. Retrieved December 1st 2024 from
https://qormuseum.org/history/timeline-1950-1974/1965-1st-battalion-deployment-to-cyprus/

Personal

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

______________________________________________________________

For The Love of Hand-Me-Downs ~ 100+ Year Old Bible

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 24 (HANDED DOWN)

Maybe if I was the youngest child in a large family I would have hated hand-me-downs, but I was the oldest in my family of origin. My mom was the oldest of 6 kids, and I am only 15 months younger than her youngest brother. The hand-me-downs I received were from my very cool young aunties and uncles. 


One of my fondest memories of my high school years was telling my 10 years older auntie that I loved the jeans she was wearing and I wished I could wear them to the dance that night. She dropped those jeans right there in our living room, handed them to me, and said she would need a pair of pants to wear home to avoid being arrested. 


I still love getting hand-me-downs from my family & friends, and even colleagues. Several years ago I worked with a colleague who had great taste in clothes. She offered me a bag of hand-me-downs after commenting that we had similar taste. I was so excited to receive them that day. Every now and then a surprise package arrives from her even though we no longer work together. 


I really do love hand-me-downs.

The oldest hand-me-down I have received is my great grandmother's bible. 

I realized that my great grandmother Elizabeth Young (nee Slicer) Thomson received this bible before her marriage on December 31st 1908 because the monogrammed initials are her maiden name - E.S.

I opened the bible to search for the copyright date, and spent a few moments sorting my emotions as I viewed my great grandmother's handwriting for the first time. 

This page gave me some clues to date the bible. The Oxford Press began doing business in New York in 1896. Henry Frowde was publisher for Oxford Press from 1880 to 1913. 

Horace Hart was the printer for Oxford University Press from 1883 to 1915. 


I will never be able to determine exactly when or why great grandmother Elizabeth received this bible. Using the available information at this point the published date is between 1896 and 1908. 


I found a copy listed on the WorldCat site (sourced below) that estimates publishing about 1900. Although the book looks similar there is one difference. The WorldCat notes Diamond 32mo on the title page, great grandma's is Emerald 16mo. It is in very good shape. All of the silk sewn binding is intact. There is very little staining.
It is humbling to hold a bible that is is 112-124 years old. 

There were two bookmarks in the bible when I received it. I don't know if anyone used the bible besides Great Grandma Elizabeth (known as Lizzie) who died in 1958. Her daughter (my grandmother) cared for it until she died in 2005, and then my dad looked after it until giving it to me this year.


I'm not sure if these bookmarks were initially placed by my great grandmother

I noticed there are some differences in current day bibles to this bible.

The pages below assist with navigation.

The page below is one of many for special occasion prayers. I found this one for travelers interesting.

I have never seen an indexed atlas to the Holy Bible

The maps are very detailed.  Just a few of the 12 maps below

The last page of the bible is a picture of the TEMPLE REBUILT BY HEROD which left me pondering how far we have come since ancient times.

Found inside the bible was this envelope

Inside the envelope I found quotes that my grandmother felt important enough to cut out and save. I also found a handwritten inspirational writing, and what may have been bookmarks. 

Trying to date what I found in the envelope proved difficult until I turned the newspaper clippings over. 

I found results of the horse races, but my searching didn't turn up a date. Cliff Johnson was killed in a logging accident in Port Alberni on November 3rd, but my searching the records on Ancestry and online didn't turn up a year. I was unsuccessful in narrowing down a year that Bob Long was re-elected as President for the Vancouver South Lawn Bowling Club. The article about the Chrysler Eight gave me the best guess since it was sold from 1931-1933.


I'm sure these enveloped treasures are from various times. Some of the clippings look older than the car article, but the paper type is different.


I loved getting a chance to meet my great grandmother, and hear what she thought was important. 



Passing things down through the family!





This is why I search - 



Cause ... 





You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Sources:

Chrysler cars, 1924-1966, Allpar, Retrieved June 14th 2020 from
https://www.allpar.com/cars/chrysler/chrysler-cars.html

CHRYSLER Imperial 8- 1931-1933, AutoEvolution, Retrieved June 14th 2020 from
https://www.allpar.com/cars/chrysler/chrysler-cars.html

The Holy Bible : containing the Old and New Testaments : translated out of the original tongues; and with the former translations diligently compared and revised, by His Majesty's special command. Appointed to be read in churches., WorldCat, Retrieved June 14th 2020 from
https://www.worldcat.org/title/holy-bible-containing-the-old-and-new-testaments-translated-out-of-the-original-tongues-and-with-the-former-translations-diligently-compared-and-revised-by-his-majestys-special-command-appointed-to-be-read-in-churches/oclc/926985410

A Short History of Oxford University Press, Oxford University Press, Retrieved June 14th 2020 from
https://global.oup.com/about/oup_history/?cc=ca

Sutcliffe, Peter (1978). The Oxford University Press: An Informal History. Oxford: Clarendon Press. List of Illustrations, Retrieved June 14th 2020 from
https://archive.org/details/oxforduniversity0000sutc/page/n17/mode/2up?q=frowde



Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

___________________________________________________________