A few pictures from a great party! Sergeant Cormier receives his portion of the 50/50 draw. Former Regimental Sergeant Major Chief Warrant Officer (Ret'd) Brian Cormier claims his Regimental Bear in OD Combat. Lieutenant (Ret'd) Les Strike receives his regimental coin. There's been more added to the birthday page.
Sadly, I've discovered another young Lieutenant that died while on strength with the 5th Canadian Siege Battery. Lieutenant Richard Langford Smith died of heart failure and is buried in the Sucrerie Cemetery, Ablain-St. Nazaire, France.
While researching for our upcoming battlefield tour, I came across another fallen member. Major Temple William Faber Macdonald, Battery Commander 5th Canadian Siege Battery, Canadian Garrison Artillery died on 2 April 1918 from wounds suffered on 31 March 1918 caused by enemy shellfire. Buried at Aubigny Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de Calais, France.. Major George Herbert Maxwell, another former Battery Commander of the 5th Canadian Siege Battery is also buried at this cemetery.
I often talk of the uncovering of our regimental history as a piece of fabric with many threads. The Osburn thread that started a few days ago continues to grow with another piece just added. Lieutenant Osburn's wedding in November was preceded by that of his sister, Diana Osburn who married Lieutenant Edward Royce in September. The regiment has truly been a family over the years.
Photo Mysteries
Every picture we upload onto our website contains a story. Often that story is only revealed after a period of time when it is connected to another photo. Other times it remains a mystery. The photo of 31 Battery 1939 that was uploaded yesterday has three officers identified in the front rank. Lt Bill Osborn wears a rather odd uniform and was uncvered through another photo of him on Yorke Island. Subsequently we've found his wedding featured in the Vancouver Sun from 1939. The mystery - Is that a cane that is being held aloft as part of the wedding arch? Another group photo has just been provided to the Museum. It features 31st Heavy Battery, 15th (Vancouver) Coast Brigade RCA photographed at Stanley Park at the very beginning of their activation. There's an odd assortment of uniforms, missing hat badges and even a couple of BC Hussars badges. We're still in the early stages of identifying some of the soldiers. Can you pick out anyone that you know? Check out the 1939 Yearbook for additional clues.
Key Artillery players inspect the progress of the Vancouver Defences. Check out the rest of the story in the 1939 Yearbook.
News articles from 1955 indicate that the 43rd Anti-Aircraft Regiment had an operational task to perform while the former Regimental Sergeant Major of the 15th Field Regiment enlisted some members of the Sergeants' Mess to help with his daughter's marriage. There was no mention of artillery support to the Remembrance Day ceremonies.
We were fortunate in receiving quite a few names for our various yearly group photos. 2018, 2017, 2016 are complete and our focused target is now 2015. We're still short 26 from that year! That's barely 57% identified! Please forward any names that you may have to president.vcrgunners@gmail.com Back Row - Sgt Ryan Crawford, Sgt James Cooley, Bdr William Martinez, 4, MBdr Kyle Hodgson, 6, 7, Gnr Terrence McGee, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18
Third Row - 2Lt Mark Staples, 20, Sgt Conrad Skuce, 22, 23, 24, Gnr Bojan Aleksic, 26, 27, 28, Gnr Andrew Law, 29, 30, 32, Lt James Morrison, 2Lt Ian Oceguera Second Row - Capt Iska Scholl, Sgt Donato Calogero, 37, 38, 39, 40, MBdr Dan Taylor, Pte Jessica Deacon, Gnr Craig Drew, MBdr Kazue Maruyama, MCpl Gabriela Varga, Bdr Monika Soltys, Sgt Goran Kurtagic, MBdr Eric Wong, Capt Andrew Peters Front Row - Sgt Andrew Ukrainzow, Capt Kevin Walker, MWO CA Roberts, 53, CWO George Dempsey, LCol Brent Purcell, HCol Bill Rodgers, Maj Andrew Grieve, MWO Rob Garrett, Capt Isaac Skuce H/MBdr Bombardier Francis |
Archives
May 2024
|