Pissed-off Generals in a Meaford snow storm

[Dennis Cardy]

Want to share this shot from the Grey Bruce Image Archives Group.
Could be a "Oh Sxxt Moment"....
A 1945 photo at Meaford firing range. Safe to say..live fire..
Featuring Gen. McNaughton and Maj-Gen F.F. Worthington, looking very unhappy in the middle of a snow storm.

..."Standing between two Grizzly tanks in the snow, Gen. A. G. L. McNaughton watches exercises on the Meaford range. From left: Maj. D. N. Lander, W. P. Mulock, Capt. R. Labelle, Capt. H. C. Hodges, Gen. McNaughton, Maj.-Gen. F. F. Worthington ".......

https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/...SzVH29oIoU6mGI

Looking closely at the zoom-in, Perhaps Capt. Hodges will be standing drinks in the officers mess a bit later.


To make things even more interesting, the photographer was from the Toronto Star newspaper. I'll bet the General's loved that.

Bit of a head scratcher.

[Jakko Westerbeke]

Originally Posted by Dennis Cardy

Want to share this shot from the Grey Bruce Image To make things even more interesting, the photographer was from the Toronto Star newspaper. I'll bet the General's loved that.

You say that as if it’s ironic in some way, but you may have to explain for non-Canadians like me …

[Ed Storey]

Generally senior Canadian Officers are weary of the media and when they do get their photograph taken by the press they want that photograph to show them in the best light - not with a snarl on their face.

[Dennis Cardy]

Ed Storey. Exactly, couldn't have said it better myself. As an ex-Forces photographer, you had best be careful when you pressed the shutter...lol..

[Darrell Zinck]

Hi

Ahhh, fond are the memories of these sorts of visits. Trying to get a range done or out in the OP and suddenly, everything had to stop. You'd see a photographer skittering about. The wig(s) of whatever big variety blew in, asked a few questions and blew out.

Dog & Pony Shows were different as it usually was more planned and interrupted less than "visits".

Imagine the Hairy Bag in snow with a horse at a tank range. Donny Boy has a nice Navy hat on. CO seems happy but the Brig looks like he is wondering why here's there...like the turret crew.

regards
Darrell

[Dennis Cardy]

Darrel Zinck. Great shot.
Hopefully the Navy mascot did not disgrace itself when the gun went off.

Looks like an Ottawa propaganda shot showing how the the Navy and the Army were such good Bud's.

[Dan Martel]

Originally Posted by Dennis Cardy

A 1945 photo at Meaford firing range.

..."Standing between two Grizzly tanks in the snow, Gen. A. G. L. McNaughton watches exercises on the Meaford range. From left: Maj. D. N. Lander, W. P. Mulock, Capt. R. Labelle, Capt. H. C. Hodges, Gen. McNaughton, Maj.-Gen. F. F. Worthington ".......

Great photograph. Thanks for posting it.

Looking up the persons in the photo, General McNaughton was the Minister of National Defence at the time, Maj-Gen Worthington was the Commander of Camp Borden (of which the Meaford Range was a part) and William Pate Mulock was the Postmaster General and the MP for York North.

For our foreign friends, Camp Borden was Canada's armour training centre during the war. Meaford Range, on the shore of Georgian Bay, was where the gunnery training took place. The range is still in use today. Armour training continued at Borden until 1970 when it moved to New Brunswick. Today Camp Borden is the CF logistics and medical training centre.

Cheers,
Dan.

[Darrell Zinck]

Hi Dennis

Thanks Dennis, glad you liked it. Bit of a thread-steal going on, I fear.

I am unsure, and there is little on him in the Regt'l Archive, but "Donny Boy" (or is it Bonny Boy?) may have once been/later became "Trooper Bonnie", came over from the HMCS Bonnaventure. Aside from the "D(B)onny Boy" on his breast collar, he does have an RCD shabrache on.

'Tpr Bonnie'
In the late 1950's, early 1960's, a friendship had developed between the members of The Royal Canadian Dragoons in CFB Gagetown and the crew of the HMCS Bonnaventure. On a visit to the Regiment in Gagetown, the Crew of the Bonnaventure transferred to the Regiment a member of their crew. Documents detailing the transfer are in the Regimental Archives, along with photos, of one of the first inter-service Occupational Transfers to take place, prior to Unification. The gaining unit, The Royal Canadian Dragoons now had a new member, 'Tpr Bonnie'; a horse, complete with Dog Tags, Attestation Papers, and Qualifications.

https://army.ca/wiki/index.php?title=RCD_Beast

More cheerful looks in these shots and I can almost make out a "B" after HMCS on the pie hat.

Or a completely un-related, un-documented horse.....

Hi Dan

Don't forget Worthington Park and a rather nice Museum in Borden too.

regards
Darrell

[Dennis Cardy]

Darrel Zinck. Yes, we are drifting away. But your photo's made me smile.
That's one heck of a story.

Personally interested as Dad was RCN. WW2.
And several members of our aviation museum here in Langley BC,
flew Tracker's off the Bonney.

Shared the photo's with some boaty-types. It caught their attention too.

More later.

Cheers.
Dennis

[Dennis Cardy]

What we are referring to. HMCS Bonaventure. The Canadian Navy's pride and joy.

[Dennis Cardy]

Darrel Zinck. Some info coming in. First quarter 1960, Bonnie was in drydock at St.Johns for a refit. Thus the crew would have been free to move about.

[David Dunlop]

Dennis.

Was that the big refit done on her just before the decision to sell her off?

David

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Dennis Cardy

What we are referring to. HMCS Bonaventure. The Canadian Navy's pride and joy.

Ex RN Majestic-Class, a sister ship to HMAS Sydney and HMAS Melbourne.

https://blog.xbradtc.com/2017/01/the...melbourne.html

[Dennis Cardy]

David Dunlop,
No, I don't think so.
The mid-life refit was done in 1966-67.
Took 16 month's, and cost north of 11 million dollars.
Billions in todays money.

Just three years later, July 1970, the ship was suddenly paid-off.
Then sold for scrap, at penny's on the dollar.
Your tax dollars at work...

[Darrell Zinck]

Hi

....and I shaved with her this morning....................as the old saying goes.

Hi Dennis

Was that Saint John or St John's. Folks out here are particular about that stuff! Writing "St John" is near sacrilege to some New Brunswickers!!

I imagine you meant Saint John.

Be well.

regards
Darrell

[Dennis Cardy]

Darrell Zinck. Oh yes, St. John. I've got family in Newfoundland and New Brunswick, so I'm aware..lol.. Dad was RCN during the War. He and his fellow sailors called St. John's, "Newfy John" so as to avoid mistakes, as so many sailors were not from the Maritimes, and confusion was very easy.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Dennis Cardy

David Dunlop,
No, I don't think so.
The mid-life refit was done in 1966-67.
Took 16 month's, and cost north of 11 million dollars.
Billions in todays money.

Just three years later, July 1970, the ship was suddenly paid-off.
Then sold for scrap, at penny's on the dollar.
Your tax dollars at work...

Some is a conspiracy theory about that. It seems the expensive refit included a very robust air conditioning system (strangely designed for tropical use) amongst all the other modernizations. Then, as you say, Bonny was scrapped. The scrapping was in India, and India had a similar Majestic class carrier that was a worn out dog. There are those who say a quick swopping out of the name plate occurred and it was the Indian one that ended up at the scrappers. The theory contends that the Canadian refit and scrapping was not incompetence, is was a deal struck with India long in advance.

[Dan Martel]

Below is a quick discussion of this conspiracy theory I wrote for another forum.

It was the INS Vikrant (R11) that was swapped for HMCS Bonaventure (R22). Both were British built Majestic class carriers. The Vikrant went in for repairs at Mumbai in June, 1970. She had a cracked boiler and couldn't get a replacement due to a UK embargo. The Bonaventure was paid off in July, 1970. In 1968 or '69 the Bonnie had come out of a two-year mid-life refit. State of the art ASW.

Officially, the Bonnie was towed from Halifax to Taiwan to be scrapped. It was while passing India that it was swapped for the Vikrant. Or so the rumour goes.

The Vikrant went to sea trials in March, 1971, with a working steam catapult and was available for the 1971 Indo-Pak War.

I like a good conspiracy theory, me, however I think a trained sailor from either Navy would have been able to tell one from the other. Still, as the film director John Ford said, when it comes to printing the truth or the legend, print the legend.

Cheers,
Dan.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

How the heck did we get from a snow storm in Meaford to the Indo-Pakistani war? Must be covid isolation what causes strange stuff like this...

[Ed Storey]

Probably more by the fact that Trudeau Senior was PM in 1970. As we constantly learn, anything strange can happen with the Trudeau lead Liberals are in power.

[Dennis Cardy]

Bruce Parker. I blame that Zinck guy, it's all his fault.