Posted supplied by:
Bill Bishop
Well friends, the sun graced us with its presence, the rain stayed away, the motorcycles finished riding by just prior to the start of our Ceremony, the Pipe Band, was its usual excellent self, and the members of the current 400 Squadron guard and colour party were as good as we were 'in the old days'. And CWO John Quilty created a ceremony that ran like clockwork and bought a few tears and much pride to this 'old timer'.
We had just under 100 attendees which included many faces from the retired ranks of the squadron, including Lloyd Smith and his two sons (our oldest living squadron member) and Tom Wheeler and his son the oldest living member of 411 Squadron. The largest contingent of guest were made of relatives and family members of those on our Honour Roll and those of many of our deceased Commanding Officers. A huge thanks must go to Carl Mills for the many, many hours he spent locating these relatives.
The Reception at 413 Wing RCAFA was very well attended and, judging from the many positive comments received, was enjoyed by all. It was great to see the large contingent of current squadron members who joined us at the reception and enjoy the much deserved 'steak in a glass' and, just as we once did, gently jibe one another for the 'screw ups' made during the parade that only they were aware of. I joined them for a short while to thank them for their efforts.
Cripes, were we ever that young!. I can report to all that our heritage is definitely in good hands and they, to a man, were every bit as professional and well turned out as us older fellas were at our best.
We have a large number of photographs of the event and a full video of the ceremony. It will take us some time (a couple of weeks at least) to clean these up and get them ready for a major posting on The History Hangar. We'll try and get this done as soon as possible and let you know when its ready through another post here on the PropWash News Centre.
In the meantime here is a small sample of the photos we have. These were taken by Barry Stewart's wife Janice. Barry Stewart, in addition to being the Master of Ceremonies, was asked by Gerry Gilroy (President of the 400 Squadron Historical Society) to create and arrange the Monument Dedication Ceremony. The result speaks to the excellent job done by Barry.
Enjoy Janice's photos below, and stay tuned for further updates.
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| BARRY STEWART CHECK THE WEATHER |
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| COLOUR GUARD |
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| HonCol MGEN BROCK HORSEMAN |
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| LCol TODD BRAITHWAITE, CO 400 THS |
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| UNVEILING THE MONUMENT |
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| PADRE MAJ TRACY GRAF , 8 WING |
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| PIPE MAJOR TERRY CLELAND PLAYS THE LAMENT |
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| GERRY GILROY |
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| CWO JOHN QUILTY |
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| BUGLER (NAME UNKNOWN) |
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| SOME OF THE GUESTS |
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| GUESTS OF HONOUR AND HONOUR GUARD |
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| The grandson, Walt Hoerning of wartime commander Squadron Leader WD Van Vliet receives a replica of the 110 Pennant that they donated in mint condition back to the 400 Sqn Historical Society. |
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| Daughter, Ilene VanVliet Hoerning and Grandson, Walt Hoerning of WD Van Vliet with replica pennant. |
....And many many more photos to come along with full ceremony video.
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