CFTA Meaford

[Wayne McGee]

It's funny how people see the same place so differently.
On another Thread in Military History & Equipment, Mark Tonner said that, Meaford was the Arse of the Earth, (or words to that effect), I on the other hand, have a lot of good memories....as a passenger in a Single Otter, white knuckled, landing on a grass feild....leading a 4-man Recce at Oh-Dark-Buffalo down off the Niagra Escarpment down to the region of 7th Line Camp and trying not to kill us all in the attempt...stealing a 3/4T, stacking my Course staff in the back and going AWOL to Sauble Beach for an afternoon BBQ at my parents cottage.....en force on Winterex with CSM K Morrison, on snowshoes waddling down the 7th Line, get bumped, jump off the road and go to ground behind some big rocks, para flare pops and the CSM discovers he has taken cover behind a headstone belonging to a somewhat less alive K. Morrison RIP. (I split a gut over that one)
Of course it was'nt all fun and games, but I'm old now, and if I want to purge all the Crap out of my few remaining memory cells to leave room for the good stuff, well so be it!
Now that Shiite hole Petawawa.........

Cheers

[Jon Skagfeld]

Originally posted by Wayne McGee
It's funny how people see the same place so differently.
On another Thread in Military History & Equipment, Mark Tonner said that, Meaford was the Arse of the Earth, (or words to that effect), I on the other hand, have a lot of good memories....as a passenger in a Single Otter, white knuckled, landing on a grass feild....leading a 4-man Recce at Oh-Dark-Buffalo down off the Niagra Escarpment down to the region of 7th Line Camp and trying not to kill us all in the attempt...stealing a 3/4T, stacking my Course staff in the back and going AWOL to Sauble Beach for an afternoon BBQ at my parents cottage.....en force on Winterex with CSM K Morrison, on snowshoes waddling down the 7th Line, get bumped, jump off the road and go to ground behind some big rocks, para flare pops and the CSM discovers he has taken cover behind a headstone belonging to a somewhat less alive K. Morrison RIP. (I split a gut over that one)
Of course it was'nt all fun and games, but I'm old now, and if I want to purge all the Crap out of my few remaining memory cells to leave room for the good stuff, well so be it!
Now that Shiite hole Petawawa.........

Cheers

Wayne: See another thread above, about LFCTA TA (aka Meaford).

You must have been deployed at or near the settler's cemetaries about 4 1/2 k on the east side of 7th Line above Warner Road.

Scary place during a night patrol or getting stuck in an OP for a few hours. Yer mind goes bonkers.

The only original building remaining is M106...all the rest are relatively new. You would be amazed at the new look of the place!

[Wayne McGee]

I started this thread to avoid high-jacking the "Bedroll" thread...oh well.
My last time in Meaford would have been about 1980ish and though I visited quite regularaly as a RHLIey throughout the 70's, my memory of specific places is spotty.
Lets see...long straight gravel road ending in a steep switch-back to get in to the place, gaurd shack/house(?) on the left, airfeild/sportsfeild/paradeground on the right, abandoned, boarded up wooden barracks straight ahead, turn left for the Rocket Range, Feild Firing, and Range Tower. I don't remember a conventional range, gas hut, or grenade range but I'm sure they were there.
If you went right at the old shacks you headed East past an abandoned apple orchard on your right, then turning North into the training area.
Somewhere along there is where the RQ burned down a giant circus tent with one of those M37 burners. The tent contained all of the BN's support weapons including, four brand new, never been fired, 84mm's.
Further along, heading North, drop down off the escarpment, then turn West on 7th Line for a long ways before coming out into the impact area.
What I seem to remember overall was the complex and varied terrain (excellent for patrolling), and the lack of an open "bowling alley" to practice Platoon formations/movements etc. Also very good feild firing ranges for small arms up to .50Cal and Carl G.
I was aware that Meaford was a going concern again and last summer I even drove past the entrance in transit from Borden to Sauble but, I would sure like to stop in to see the place again, a lot of good times, in what now seems to be a simpler time.

Cheers

[Mark W. Tonner]

.... Meaford in it's usual state (top photo) ..... M106 on the right

and .......

.... on an unusual sunny day somewhere on the Hog's Back (bottom photo) .......

[Wayne McGee]

The line up against the building is a 113, lynx, 113, lynx, and a couple of 113's on the left, and the bottom photo is the backside of a lynx with a red range flag on the antenna(?).
My guess, based only on the funky bush hat in the bottom of the second photo is,'73 or '74.
M106? Is it a big maintainers shed with cinder block dividers inside?
Curious.
Good Photos.

Cheers

[Mark W. Tonner]

Originally posted by Wayne McGee
The line up against the building is a 113, lynx, 113, lynx, and a couple of 113's on the left, and the bottom photo is the backside of a lynx with a red range flag on the antenna(?).
My guess, based only on the funky bush hat in the bottom of the second photo is,'73 or '74.
M106? Is it a big maintainers shed with cinder block dividers inside?
Curious.
Good Photos.

Cheers

Hi Wayne;

The photos were taken in '79, Delta Company (Mech) and Recce Platoon 1 RCR prior to the deployment/transfer of Delta to Germany where they became Mike Company, 3 RCR. The funky bush hat - Recce when acting as enemy force wore whatever our feeble minds came up with. M106 was a former tank hanger, which when the photos were taken was filled end to end with steel framed bunk beds, we spent most of the fall of '79 in Meaford on mech ops workups. Through the late '70's, about the only thing in Meaford Mon to Fri was us and the commissionaire on the gate, we had some great times ........ in the land that time forgot .......

[Wayne McGee]

I was off by up to six years. Not too bad when you take into consideration the virtual procurement standstill this Country went through from the '60s to the end of the '80s.
This thread has been fun for me, and I would like to hear other stories of this Camp, or for that matter, of any other Camp, Base, Station, Gulag etc. perhaps each as its own thread. Like where in the Hell was Camp Utopia NB? Was Camp Aldershot allways the size of a postage stamp? Vernon, Dundurn, Rivers, Ipperwash, Debert. They were(and,are) very important, and something tells me a lot of funny/sad/goofy/tragic things happened in those places over the years.
Second, third hand....who cares. Tell me your Camp Story.

Cheers

[Mark W. Tonner]

Originally posted by Wayne McGee
I was off by up to six years. Not too bad when you take into consideration the virtual procurement standstill this Country went through from the '60s to the end of the '80s.
This thread has been fun for me, and I would like to hear other stories of this Camp, or for that matter, of any other Camp, Base, Station, Gulag etc. perhaps each as its own thread. Like where in the Hell was Camp Utopia NB? Was Camp Aldershot allways the size of a postage stamp? Vernon, Dundurn, Rivers, Ipperwash, Debert. They were(and,are) very important, and something tells me a lot of funny/sad/goofy/tragic things happened in those places over the years.
Second, third hand....who cares. Tell me your Camp Story.

Cheers

Hi Wayne;

Camp Ipperwash was a second home (Sept to Jun) to whichever battalion of the Regiment was stationed in Wolseley Barracks. We spent Mon to Fri there and back to London late Fri afternoon in time for Happy Hour.......

I have many good memories of time spent in Ipperwash ........

Blackdown Park in CFB Borden ....... now that's another memory of summers gone by .......... more later, my grand-daughter just told me I have to eat! .........

[Wayne McGee]

I knew Ipperwash as a Cadet, 2 weeks (Julliet(?))'68, 6 weeks Fox-trot Coy'69, 6 weeks Hotel Coy '70.
Gaurds RSM Bennet, what an evil excuse for a human being he was. A Parade Square Voice that would simultaneously loosen your bowels and tighten your sphincter.....Magnificent!
One July morning they set up B&W TV sets on tall stands around the inside walls of the Drill Hall, marched us all in, shoulder to shoulder dressing, stood at ease and watched Neil Armstrong walk on the Moon.
Once,(and only once), I feigned illness to avoid Church Parade, my Militia Sect Comd, Sgt MacNab (a rather Howdy-Doodyish looking character from the Hasty P's), scrawled a line in the dirt in the shape of a square out back of our shacks, ordered me to police up butts, and then to stand the butts on end on his "square" in the formation of Companies In Line, At The Advance. He then left me for Church Parade. When he returned, he carefully examined my Cigarette Butt Battalion, then snapping to attention, looked me in the eye and almost whispered the words of command,"Battalion Will Move To The Right In Column Of Route....Right Turn."
While the rest of the Company went off to the kitchen for Freshie and Ice Cream, I was left pivoting hundreds of butts a 1/4 turn and moving all the Parade Appointments to Column of Route.

Never missed another Church Parade!

Cheers

[Jon Skagfeld]

Camp Ipperwash...Cadet, E Coy, 1956, Cpl Instr, 1958, 1959...Grand Bend night out in a convoy of about 100 3 tonners to take us in and back. Remember Moneta Menard's bar?...the Fun House (Grope House).

Swim pde at the now-contested Provincial Park. Dating girls from Michigan...Bivouac in the Dunes...Firing Brens, Stens and 3.5 Rocket Launchers as a 15 year old, with pith helmet, shorts, hose tops, boots and puttees.

Battalion pde (1800 sweaty young bodies formed up in column in 10 Coys). Brig TG Gibson driving into the middle of our mass and ordering "Around me, move!" After his address, the word of command was "Reform your Companies"...The expression Cluster**** was then just invented!!!

Leave in Detroit...the BobLo boat...falling in and out of love...first drunk...first (stuff that makes the world go 'round)...first charge report for being AWOL 24 hours.

Awesome memories that live with me to this day.

Aldershot...don't insult a postage stamp by making such a comparison! How many times can a Sec/Pl/Coy attack Mortar Hill?
The heather was a bag drag to traverse. Howinhell did the Watch survive in such primitive accommodations?

Blackdown Park...I know the place intimately. Driver trg down in the Bullpen, cooling a case of beer in the Pine (Mad?) River...roaring an M37/M152/AVGP up the reverse slope only to get completely bogged down...horribly primitive privies, and messing arrangements...BB1 and BB2 (the log cabins) now gone.

Old guy's memories...fade to black...

[mike mckinley]

Originally posted by Wayne McGee
I was off by up to six years. Not too bad when you take into consideration the virtual procurement standstill this Country went through from the '60s to the end of the '80s.
This thread has been fun for me, and I would like to hear other stories of this Camp, or for that matter, of any other Camp, Base, Station, Gulag etc. perhaps each as its own thread. Like where in the Hell was Camp Utopia NB? Was Camp Aldershot allways the size of a postage stamp? Vernon, Dundurn, Rivers, Ipperwash, Debert. They were(and,are) very important, and something tells me a lot of funny/sad/goofy/tragic things happened in those places over the years.
Second, third hand....who cares. Tell me your Camp Story.

Cheers

hi wayne

camp utopia was located near a place called lake utopia. on a map you would take the first exit after pennfield, heading west on hwy #1. you would stay to the right until you hit the four corners, hang another right, and you would be there. my understanding is that it operated from 1942 until C.F.B. Gagetown opened. then after that it was some sort of camp for troubled youths. camp utopia practically bordered the pennfield air station where many commonwealth pilots were trained. currently two of the runways are in use( aquaculture and truck driving), and the third is kept as an emergency landing strip. somewhere on this forum i have posted pictures of camp utopia circa 1942.