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.
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| My dad, 3rd from the left in the back row |
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| 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.
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| 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!
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