Page 19 - March2020

A number of the earlier Army Pilots were students of the After CASC, I was sent to Gagetown as a company
time, Andy Desjardin, Buzz Bourdon, Lloyd McMorran, commander in the Service Battalion. Our CO,
Peter Stevens, Frank Potter, Brian Caldwell, Dan Dunn, Charlie Provan, RCEME was inundated with pilots.
Colin Sangster and others. Pete Harrison Burt Lake, Fred Chapman, Lorne
Rodenbush, Blaine Bartley and yours truly. The
We also trained RCAF pilots, and I had the privilege of
large increase in flying pay came out at that time,
having W/C Ganderton as a student. He was the wartime
and with all of the flying majors making more
CO of 427 Sqn, with a DSO and a DFC. He went from P/O
money than the unit COs, we kept a discrete
to W/C in the same unit flying Lancasters. He retired out
silence around pay day.
of Rivers and shortly thereafter was killed in a wire strike
accident with a Bell 47 out of Calgary. He survived Me In the fall of 65, the Army planned the first winter
109’s but not an unmarked wire. Had another summer at exercise in Norway, Arctic Express, and a very new
Wainwright with the H 5 with Arne Garlick and Doug innovation was going to be the inclusion of CH
Hardy. Followed by another winter at CJATC, more 113A Voyageurs. I was part of the 3 Bde support
students, and off to Wainwright for a short stint and then for the exercise and designated as the
to Palo Alto California for the Hiller check out and a flight detatchment commander for 6 weeks at the
back to Winnipeg in one of the deliveries. (Harry Reid was SOLA Norwegian Air Force base at Stavanger
in the first ferry) The a/c were bare, no radios and it was Norway. I had a small team of tpt operators from
a 3-4 day trip. the Service Bn, Lt Jim Craig, S/Sgt Dick Smalley and
a few others. We were responsible for the
Army Avviation Tactical Training School (ATTS) was
formed in the summer of 61 so I met Bert Casselman, the transloading of Yukons to Hercs and the
accommodation, feeding etc for the transient
first CO. He was a leader, a very good pilot, wartime P-47
members of the RHC (Black Watch) Bn group, incl
Thunderbolts in the Middle East, and an outstanding
friend over the years. Harry Reid was the CFI, Norm the members of 1 Transport Helicopter Platoon.
As part of the build up, Harry Reid and I and
Ramsey was OC Fixed Wing I was OC Tactical Helicopter
others went on a recce to Norway, traveled first
Flight , with instructors Gord Walker, Jim Brubaker, Pat
Thornton, Colin Sangster, Bill Charland and UK Army Air class as the few passengers in Air Force 10,000,
the C 5 VIP transport. We visited Bardufoss,
Corps, Jim Cullen. These again were great times and I was
fortunate in participating in training the first group of Andoya and SOLA and made the original
arrangements for the exercise. Buzz Borland was
recce pilots and others. We had a healthy mix of Hillers,
also part of the recce as the GSO 1 at Eastern
L-19s and even a few Chipmunks that summer and again
a real melting pot of the various members of the Army Command. I will leave the details of the enroute R
&R activities to Harry and others to relate. Were
Aviation community. Many more people were coming
fortunate enough to have engine trouble in
thru AATTS, from ground jobs, Fred Wagner, John Hugill,
Hugh Stevenson to name a few. Our maintenance honcho Narvik, so stayed a couple of extra days awaiting
parts from Marvelle France. Harry and 1 Tpt Pl did
was Ken Kennah, with WO 1 Fred Leach, later Alex
a fantastic job during the actual exercise and truly
Jackson, and others.
established the credibility of helicopter support in
It was too good to continue forever, I took the C 45 all weather day and night field operations. The
Expeditor Instrument course along with Gord Walker, and exercise was the forerunner of a number of
in the summer of 63, after Gagetown, was selected for deployments, Denmark, Germany, Jamaica,
Army Staff College and somewhat reluctantly went off to Nevada and others. In retrospect, the
Kingston Canadian Army Staff College (CASC)for two performance of Harry in those formative days was
years. Lorne Rodenbush, Don Foster, Al Doucet, Bert truly worthy of an Order of Military Merit, but we
Legget, Barry Blair and John McLeish were on the same were reticent about such things in those days
course. We were due to receive the first Vertols shortly (probably the award was not yet established).
and I would have loved to have been with that early band

of warriors, Harry Reid, Gord Walker,Vern Taskey,Dan
Danyluk, Stan Hand and the other stalwarts.