Monument Dedication A Big Success

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.

BARRY STEWART CHECK THE WEATHER

COLOUR GUARD

HonCol  MGEN BROCK HORSEMAN

LCol TODD BRAITHWAITE, CO 400 THS

UNVEILING THE MONUMENT

PADRE MAJ TRACY GRAF , 8 WING

PIPE MAJOR TERRY CLELAND PLAYS THE LAMENT

GERRY GILROY

CWO JOHN QUILTY 

BUGLER (NAME UNKNOWN)

SOME OF THE GUESTS

GUESTS OF HONOUR AND HONOUR GUARD

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.

 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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Map to 413 Wing RCAFA, Trenton

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400 SQUADRON DOES WHEELS AND WINGS DOWNSVIEW – SAT. & SUN. 28 & 29 MAY 2011

Post Supplied by: Carl Mills

Sometime during the first week of May,  I got an urgent e-mail from the Canadian Air and Space Museum (CASM) (aka Toronto air museum) indicating that they needed volunteers for their annual 'Wheels and Wings' aviation event at Downsview.   I had no idea what I was volunteering for, however, I also volunteered my long-suffering (due to my aviation stuff) wife, Sonia, for two-days of duty.  It turned out that they needed over-night guard duty, for me, and Sonia got to supervise the kids' air-filled bouncy castle.

The CF-18 Hornet and 400 Squadron’s Griffon arrived later on Saturday morning due to weather but were a great hit along with the many other aircraft on display.  There were also over a hundred exhibitors in the hangar with all manner of interest and excitement.  It was great to see old friends including Col. Chris Colten (Executive Director of our National Air Force Museum in Trenton), Col. Dan Dempsey (of Snowbird and author fame),Gen. Paul Hayes (Past Honourary Colonel of 400), and the folks from the Canadian Aviation Historical Society – Toronto Chapter.

For guard duty on Saturday night, I parked my car between the Griffon and the Hornet in full view of an open fence area about 100 yard away.  You have to understand that the old 400/411 hangars are now a sportsplex with vast spaces for floor hockey, soccer, and basketball etc.  Hundreds of young males patronize these facilities until midnight, every night.  They depart all pumped up and ready for more action.  The first thing that they saw on Saturday night was the two aircraft on the ramp.

I had several interesting challenges up to about 0100 but managed to keep these guys away with my car horn and by flashing my lights.  I did have the Downsview Park (that’s what they call the base now) security as back up and was on the verge of calling them a few times.  That part of the evening gave a whole new meaning to our motto “On The Watch To Strike”.

During the night it was dead quiet and I could hear the red ‘remove before flight’ tails hitting the airframes in the light breeze - kind of spooky.  At 0700, my relief showed.  It was raining and the ramp was inundated with squawking sea gulls – the finale to a nostalgic (sort of) night on the old 400 ramp with the 400 Griffon.

PHOTO COURTESY: TERRY MOSSMAN

Sunday, I arranged a photo op. with the four-man crew from Borden.  Gen. Hayes was there and then I found Peter Mossman and Terry Cleland.  Terry has been our exceptional 400 Squadron bandmaster forever and Peter, the well-known Canadian aviation artist, has created six of the 21 known pieces of 400 Squadron artwork.

L to R: Gen. Paul Hayes,  Cpl. Arthur Pidgeon, Capt. Courtney Hunt, Peter Mossman,  WO “JP” LesParance, Capt. Geoff Baker, Terry Cleland, Carl Mills

After nearly two days of endless and inquisitive spectators who wanted to know all about the machines and who wanted to get inside and touch everything, both the Griffon and Hornet crews prepared for departure at about 1500.  The 400 guys, after a detailed check of the helicopter, fired up and did a neat exit.  They hovered and then moving backwards toward the runway – the crowd applauded.

PHOTO COURTESY: TERRY MOSSMAN

They then rotated away, came around for a great flypast, and a wave to the crowd.  Bravo Zulu (well done in navy speak) 400 Squadron – northern branch!!!

WO “JP“ LesParance waves farewell to the crowd during the departure flypast.

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