For this year’s Remembrance Day contribution to the Rambler, I have Fred VE3LAF and Maurice- Andre VE3VIG to thank for steering this brief reflection toward a focus on Canada’s Cold War contributions that are often overlooked. The magnitude of this contribution was reflected in the remarks by General (Retired) Paul Manson in the Globe and Mail, Nov 11, 2015, who recalled the specific remark of the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, an American, who stated that “You Canadians set the standard in NATO.”
General Manson also noted that “Our job was deterrence and deterrence worked. We trained for war so that we wouldn’t have to fight a war.” and that as a result Canada paid a high price for this commitment as “.. cold war operations resulted in more fatalities due to military service than in the Korean War, the Balkan conflicts, the Gulf Wars, Afghanistan and peacekeeping — combined.”
Also observed by Eric Wagner (2006) was that: “Canada’s participation in peacekeeping during the Cold War was primarily motivated by its own strategic interests. Canadians were dedicated Cold Warriors, and perceived the Soviet Union to be a dangerous, expansionary force that threatened the interests of the West. Accordingly, NATO and other multilateral organizations were crucial bodies for the protection of Western interests.” How prescient these words seem today!
General Manson’s article in the Globe and Mail also was one source of inspiration for Captain (Retired) Maurice-Andre Vigneault to write of his 38 years of service to Canada during the cold war in his book Mud On My Boots — Dares and Ventures of a Canadian Airman During the Cold War.
Appropriately enough I read most of his book on an airplane as I travelled to British Columbia and Alberta, places that Maurice-Andre served or visited during his years in western Canada. The story of Maurice-Andre’s early years was uniquely compelling for me as an Anglo-Quebecer noting the struggles and prejudice he experienced as a young person and during his career – something he included figuratively as “mud-on-my-boots” along with the adventures, challenges and tragedies experienced along his ongoing 90 year journey.
Sprinkled in among the “mud” were some remarkable technical accomplishments including a notable voice contact and RTTY communication between Trenton and the Congo during a time of crisis; oversight of a communication network in Europe during the Suez Canal crisis, long-range radar in the Canadian North, and tactical air navigation beacons in the Arctic, as well as establishing a Francophone curriculum in electronics to remove the language barrier for Francophones seeking technical training in the military. Well, done Sir!
Also a word of thanks to Fred VE3LAF who loaned me his copy of “Mud On My Boots” while my copy was en-route from Amazon. This remembrance day Fred will be present in uniform at the radio display at the Cold War Museum, go check-out the museum at the link below.
Finally, the Canadian War Museum program In Their Own Voices is collecting individual stories of veterans and their families focuses primarily on those who served in Canada’s military from the Second World War to the present day. These stories will form a collection to provide insight into the enduring impact of military service, as well as how conflict and war have shaped the lives of veterans, their loved ones, and Canada itself. For more information, see the link below.
Lest we forget all our service men and women, who gave so much for our freedom and security.
References
Diefenbunker: Canada’s Cold War Museum https://diefenbunker.ca/en/
Mud on My Boots: Dares and Ventures of a Canadian Airman During the Cold War (Jan. 5 2021) by Maurice A. Vigneault (Author) https://www.amazon.ca/Mud-My-Boots-Ventures-Canadian/dp/0228834716
Canada’s Forgotten Cold Warriors, Global and Mail, November 11, 2015. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/canadas-forgotten-cold-warriors/article27200333/
The Peaceable Kingdom? The National Myth of Canadian Peacekeeping and the Cold War by Eric Wagner (2006) http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vo7/no4/wagner-eng.asp
In Their Own Voices https://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm-mcg/in-their-own-voices/
73, Alan VA3IAH
Appears in Rambler Vol. 65 Issue 3 November 2022