Historical Narrative
2416 Aircraft Control and Warning Unit (Reserve) Ottawa, Ont.
7 November 1950 to 31 May 1951.
Following is a semi-annual narrative historical record of 2416 Aircraft Control and Warning Unit (Reserve) Ottawa, Ontario activities from 7 Nov 50 to 31 May 51.
2416 Aircraft Control and Warning Unit (AC&WU) was officially recognized in an Organization Order issued under authority of the Chief of the Air Staff and file 895-91/97 (DOE) dated 6 Jul 50 with the following Intention and Information:
Official Opening - The official opening of 2416 AC&WU (Res) was held at RCAF Beaver Barracks in Ottawa on Tuesday, 7 Nov 50. Attended by the Honourable Brooke Claxton, Minister of National Defence who declared S/L FJ MacNamara "to be the leader of this new unit of our armed forces".
"People of Ottawa, these are dark and dangerous times. There is nothing to be gained by hiding our heads in the sand like ostriches. The work we now undertake is vital. I beg your support, for we know not the day, nor the hour, nor the atom."
More than 400 men, most of them ex-servicemen of the RCAF, heard the above words from S/L FJ MacNamara at the inauguration of the first RCAF Reserve Radar Squadron to guard the Capital of Canada and fit into a nation-wide network designed to put Canada on a 'round-the-clock' defence a against enemy aircraft.
It's a job, the meeting was told by A/V/M Plant, Air Member for Personnel, who represented the Chief of the Air Staff, too vast for Canada's Regular Forces to handle. "Our Regular Air Force can only be kept to the size we are now planning if we have a strong reserve force" continued A/V/M Plant.
G/C KR Patrick, OBE, who was congratulated by the Defence Minister on obtaining the rank of G/C said the work of the Reserve Radar Squadrons was fundamental to the defence system and to civil defence plans. It was hoped, he said, "to cover as much of Canada by radar as Canada can afford".
Mayor Bourque, (then Mayor of the City of Ottawa) addressed the meeting and urged young men to join the squadron.
Among the guests attending the official opening were: Rev Arthur Caron and Rev Rene Lavigne of Ottawa University; Professor JM Morton of Carleton College; BG Ballard, National Research Council; Professor Gilles Sarault, of Laval University, Quebec City; A/C JG Kerr and G/C CL Annis of AFHQ; W/C DG Malloy, DFC, CO of RCAF Stn Uplands, and S/L DA Manders, OC of 2442 Reserve Radar Squadron, Vancouver.
Other visitors included G/C WR MacBrien, OBE, CD, Group Commander of Air Defence Group; W/C HC Ashdowne, MBE, of AFHQ; F/L RJ Rocheleau, DFC, OC Reserve Support Unit of 1 R&C Wing Montreal; F/L RV Virr, OC of RU Ottawa, and present at the inauguration was the first of the Regular Force Support LAC DR Hogan, who had recently been transferred to the new unit from its parent unit 1 R&C Wing in Montreal.
Three Ottawa newspapers, The Evening Citizen, Journal and Le Droit followed up the meeting with huge headlines and lead stories with three column pictures showing the Defence Minister congratulating S/L MacNamara with G/C Patrick looking on and of S/L MacNamara shaking hands with the first enlisted recruit, Sgt GL Irvine. Ottawa radio stations CKOY and CFRA dealt with the opening of the new Radar Squadron on most of their news broadcasts that evening and the following day. 7 Nov 50 was the official opening of 2416 AC&WU (Res) in the City of Ottawa and this city had opened its doors to the first RCAF Reserve Radar Unit ever to be formed in Ottawa.
10 Nov 50 - Military history was made on Friday, 10 Nov 50 at Beaver Barracks, when 2416 AC&WU, popularly known as the Ottawa Radar Squadron, held its first regular parade under the command of S/L FJ MacNamara.
A beginning was made on organization of technical training under F/L AA Kenniger, Chief Technical Officer.
Great enthusiasm and eagerness was manifested by all ranks.
Approximately 15 to 20 recruits were at the first parade, and the first of many clothing parades was held at AFHQ Supply Depot, Victoria Island, which gave the recruits to get into RCAF uniforms. The clothing parade was under direction of F/L E Digeur, SSO at AFHQ/AU and FS Gammon his assistant.
The new recruits were invited to have their friends apply at the Recruiting Unit 49 Metcalfe St where the Regular Force Support Clerk together with Officers of RU Ottawa were arranging medicals, giving out application forms and general information to what seemed liked literally hundreds of interested young men.
17 Nov 50 - The second official parade was held in rooms loaned to 2416 AC&WU by the Air Cadet League and the RCAF at Beaver Barracks. The concept of radar was explained to the recruits who were told that it was not a new concept of defence, and it was brought out that Canada needed and wanted an adequate air defence which is not effective without radar. S/L MacNamara pointed out that many men had been stationed in lonely places all over the world during the last war. "This time it's going to be different," he said, much to the amusement of many old air force types who were still within the age limits laid down by the RCAF to join the Reserve. "This time you will be protecting your own homes, the home built with your own hands, those you have mortgages on."
24 Nov 50 - Instruction in telecommunications and other trades was begun and elementary electricity and electrical currents as well as capacitors, rating and application were covered at this parade.
The Unit was beginning to grow out of its present accommodation. Beaver Barracks had loaned one small office and three classrooms, while RU Ottawa had generously loaned their office space to the Reserve who rapidly moved in and literally took over the Recruiting Unit. Co-operation and general overall enthusiasm was being shared with the RU personnel under F/L RV Virr and the Regular Force Support Clerk attached to the Reserve Unit, together with the Reserve Officers and airmen. Additional Regular Force Support was the need and this need would increase. Supplies were being demanded through AFHQ/AU Supply Depot at Victorial Island.
30 Nov 50 - The end of 23 days of recruiting showed a total of 35 airmen enlisted and the appointment of four officers with about 150 to 200 applications on file. A survey revealed that about 50 percent of the new recruits were thoroughly bilingual. Attendance at all parades during November was 100% of those on strength each date. Medicals were taking a huge toll of prospective recruits with 16 failing the medical in the opening days of the recruiting drive.
The month of December was an eventful one for all personnel of 2416 AC&WU (Res).
1 Dec 50 - A review test was given in electronics. S/L MacNamara gave a brief history of a radar unit and its concepts and F/L Kenniger gave all recruits a lecture on training policies.
8 Dec 50 - Test held for Controller Candidates. Lecture given on discipline by OC. A series of five lectures was started on Administration by the Regular Force Support Clk Adm LAC DR Hogan.
15 Dec 50 - Class commenced for Com Ops under Sgt GC Noble and Cpl WG Standing. An interesting topic with diagrams was given on radar installation by F/L Whetstone of AMCHQ.
20 Dec 50 - By this date, it was felt, by all members of 2416 AC&WU that the RCAF had officially recognized 2416 as Christmas Cards were received from The Commanding Officer and Officers of RCAF Stn Trenton, RCAF Recruiting Unit, Ottawa, Brooke Claxton, Minister of National Defence, G/C and Mrs KR Patrick, and 1 Radar and Communications (Res) Unit, Montreal.
21 Dec 50 - The first Squadron Dance was held at Beaver Barracks with about 150 people in attendance. Forgotten for a few hours was the defence of the Capital by radar at the Squadrons first dance. W/C DG Malloy, DFC, CO of RCAF Stn Uplands was a distinguished visitor together with F/L RV Virr OC of RU Ottawa and somewhere lost in the crowd was the still lone Regular Force Support Clk Adm LAC DR Hogan. W/C Malloy addressed the gathering expressing his best wishes of the season on behalf of the officers and airmen of RCAF Stn Uplands.
31 Dec 50 - The end of December showed 54 airmen and 10 officers had been taken on strength. Throughout December a steady continuation of recruiting, organization and training took place, with the problem of accommodation becoming more acute at each parade.
5 Jan 51 - S/L FJ MacNamara addressed some 500 students at the University of Ottawa.
19 Jan 51 - On this day three visiting officers and two airmen were in Ottawa on TD. S/L Likeness of ADG HQ gave a lecture to the officers on radar principles and controlling together with F/O Lomas and F/L BHC Spicer Operations Officer and Chief Telecommunications Officers of 1 R&C (Res) Support respectively. A lecture was given to the Rdr Ops and Clk Ops (F) by Sgt Findley and LAC Clermont also of the Reserve Support Section of 1 R&C. All officers and airmen were given the opportunity of hearing the OC speak over Radio Station CFRA on 2416 AC&WU and its concepts. A call was made by the OC in his radio broadcast for more and more recruits. Sgt J Proudfoot, AC2 RE Paul and AC2 D Gray were posted to RCAF Stn Clinton for a Rdr Tech (G) course outside the syllabus of annual training for a period of 12 weeks.
22 Jan 51 - The OC addressed a meeting of the Ontario Agricultural College Alumni, Ottawa Branch on 2416 AC&WU and its place in Canada's defense. While the meeting was not open to the press, a supposedly run story in the Evening Citizen was forwarded to ADC HQ which brought strong protests from higher authority as to what was supposedly said at the meeting. These statements could not be found in the newspaper nor could the anonymous donor of the article to ADC.
24 Jan 51 - A clothing parade was held at Victoria Island for the ever-increasing number of recruits.
26 Jan 51 - OC brief to all ranks on recruiting. Examinations given in Admin Course to all airmen. The unit broke off early in order to hear the Air Member for Personnel speak to the RCAF Association on Reserve Radar Units.
30 Jan 51 - The OC 2416 AC&WU was appointed Vice PMC of the Officers Mess at RCAF Stn Uplands and together with 18 officers of 2416 attended a 'dining-in night' at Uplands. Sgt Bg Newport i/c of 1 R&C Orderly Room arrrived in Ottawa on TD to help out with adminstrative problems and to publish a DRO.
31 Jan 51 - The first Daily Routine Order was issued under authority of the OC. Recruiting has continued without dimunition. Each candidate (6) for the Supply Officer position has been found medically unfit. Total strength as of 31 Jan is 21 officers and 71 airmen.
20 Jan 51 - A large two column picture of the OC together with a three column news story on the OC was published in the Ottawa Journal under the heading "His name is MacNamara, He's the Leader of the Radar Band" - S/L MacNamara was asked if his new duties take up a lot of his spare time. "Yes", he grinned, "they do. But you know a change is as good as a rest". Asked if he believed in compulsory training for Reserve forces, he said: "Most certainly. Full war preparations on a Regular Force basis might well bring down our economic structure. In the Reserve we can train at the least possible cost."
February - Eight parades were held in the month of Feb. Monday parades were devoted to drill and ceremonial with mutual instructions for all ranks below Sgt. The Friday night parades were devoted fully to training. New developments in Feb brought about announcements of lowering the age limit of recrutis to enter Reserve training to 16 years. LAC JWJ Mantha was posted to RCAF Stn Clinton where he was to take a Clk Op (F) course commencing 9 Feb 51 for a period of twelve weeks outside the syllabus of annual training. AC2 RW Riley was posted to 2 KTS Trenton to commence Sup Tech course. Examination results for the Admin Test were given out to all airmen after they had been marked by the lecturer. The over-all percentage was excellent.
16 Feb 51 - This was indeed a memorable date for 2416 AC&WU as on this date the Federal Government acting for the RCAF filed notice of expropriation on the Former Gleason Home at 7 Delaware Avenue in the City of Ottawa. Acquirement of the three story stucco and red tile residence was for an urban headquarters of the Ottawa Reserve Radar Squadron, technically known as 2416 AC&WU. The Gleason Home was to house the administration section of the Radar Reserve and also be divided into classrooms for the first stages of training. The estimated price of the Gleason Home was $40,000. The OC of the Regular Force Support Unit was transferred to Ottawa from AM CJS Washington after completing a Controllers Course at Fort Tyndall, Florida. A former student at Globe Collegiate of the OC and an Ottawa boy F/O Shore would be a welcome addition to the Regular Force Support Section.
28 Feb 51 - The first of "five vocational nights" was held at Globe Collegiate located in the City of Ottawa. This first night was on electronics and members of 2416 AC&WU emphasized the magnitude of electronics and television and the importance of radar in this country's defence.
March - During the month of March 14 parades were held. The number of parades increase was due to the necessity of dividing the training schedule on account of providing adequate accommodation for all ranks at the Urban HQ. The month of March was indeed a month of advancement and the highlights of this month are shown under separate dates.
3 Mar 51 - This was a day of rejoicing for 2416 AC&WU. On Saturday, 3 Mar 51 2416 AC&WU moved into their new Urban Headquarters at 7 Delaware Avenue. The physical side of the move was carried out by some 10 members of the Reserve with the co-operation of the RF Support Clk Adm. Having very little office furniture of our own RU Ottawa generously loaned us most of their office furniture and together with the equipment that was at Beaver Barracks was moved in an Army Transport to 7 Delaware. After the move was completed all members of the party had a chicken dinner at Beaver Barracks Mess and returned to 7 Delaware to clean-up so that training could start early the following week.
14 Mar 51 - This date saw 2416 AC&WU in a "spot". Wed is drill parade night for 2416. At the last minute it was learned that the Drill Hall at RCAF Stn Uplands where the drill was to be held was unusuable. The floors had just been painted. At the appointed hour that evening 110 officers and airmen would be meeting to board the buses to Uplands. It would be difficult to get in touch with all personnel to cancel the parade. The OC contacted Lt Col Mousseau, OC of the Regiment de Hull. Lt Col Mousseau quickly made arrangements for 2416 to use the Hull Armories for the drill parade. So it was that with the ready help of another service of another province and sometimes of another language, the day was saved. Needless to say, 2426 AC&WU is grateful. Possibly this is another evidence of increasing Canadian Unity.
The CO of RCAF Stn Uplands was host to 2416 AC&WU Officers twice during March, at a dining-in night 16 Mar and at a formal Mess Dinner 30 Mar.
The OC 2416 AC&WU attended the 2nd Annual Radar Ball given by 1 R&C at 438 Squadron's Mess in Montreal 31 Mar.
Parade attendance was excellent and averaged 95.2%.
Strength at the end of March was 115.
April - 9 Apr - An examination was given to FtrCOps, Rdr and Com Techs and Com Ops. The average on the examinations was excellent.
12 April- The first staff meeting was held to discuss problems of administration, training etc.
In Apr S/L HEC Deane-Freeman, SPSO of Reserve Group HQ together with F/L RJ Rocheleau OC Reserve Support Unit of 1 R&C visited 2416 AC&WU.
In Apr it was announced in the House of Commons by the Honourable Brooke Claxton, Minister of National Defence that the RCAF would be recruiting women in Reserve Units across Canada.
2416 AC&WU was beseiged by would-be WDs following this announcement. Lack of policy on this matter presents 2416 AC&WU from any further action than taking names and giving out application forms. "We were taken completely by surprise" said S/L FJ MacNamara OC of 2416 AC&WU. "There have been no official instructions on how to handle female applicants." Some 50 to 60 application forms were on file by the end of Apr without one cent being spent on advertising for the recruitment of women for the Reserve.
In Apr the first announcement of the fact that 2416 AC&WU would be enlisting 50 high school students for two months continuous summer employment was made. The Ottawa Radar Squadron is "lengthening its stride" and "stepping-up activites" in an anticipation of a busy summer. "Thanks to publicity given 2416 AC&WU by the Evening Citizen" said S/L FJ MacNamara the "Ottawa Radar Squadron" had literally hundreds of applications for the 50 positions open. Those accepted will live at home and take the course at RCAF Stn Uplands except for a two weeks period spent at a Maritime Station for summer camp, from 4 Aug to 18 Aug. Rejects for the high school students on medical grounds was very high and was followed up by letters, phone calls and Ministerial Inquiries as to what was wrong with the medical rejects.
The month of Apr showed a slight improvement in the Supply problem and receipt was made on a number of items for the two Messes. A weakness still existed in the Supply Section but this was primarily due to the fact that a Supply Officer had not been responsible. A general shelving of responsibility of this Unit's suply problems by ADHQ/AU and AMC and a change to RCAF Stn Uplands as the Supply Channel during the month of Apr did not facilitate matters.
Appointments of the Officers' Mess Committee and the Airmen's Mess Committee was made during the month of April with the following on the committees: Officers' - President - F/O AM Christie; Vice-President, F/O DB Graham; Secy-Treas F/O JL McMahon; Members, F/O JR Wighton, F/O FJ Cauley, F/O EO Collinge. Airmen's: Honourary President, S/L FJ MacNamara; President, F/O WG Standing; Secretary, LAC DR Hogan; Members, LACs Renton, Runge, Leclerc, Conley and AC2 Wilde.
Strength at the end of Apr was 120.
May - 22 May - More than 200 members of 2416 AC&WU forgot the worries of defending the Capital by radar at their second dance at Beaver Barracks on this date. Distinguished guests included W/C DG Malloy, DFC; F/L RV Virr; Sgt R Deacon representing the Sgts' Mess of RCAF Stn Uplands; LAC JM Curry, of the Airmen's Canteen Commitee of RCAF Stn Uplands and Cpl I Dinelle of RU Ottawa.
26 May - This date is a day that will be remembered by the 53 new members of 2416 AC&WU that have just been enlisted. As this unit will be the only unit with a quota over 50 (authority was granted to increase the allotment to 66 in order to take on strength for the summer 13 members of 2416 AC&WU who are high school students.)
Strength at the end of May is 162.
CONCLUSION - So at the end of this semi-annual narrative historical return 2416 Aircraft Control and Warning Unit (Reserve) has completed a glorious six month period.
The following officers held the respective positions shown after their names: S/L FJ MacNamara, OC; F/L AA Kenniger, C Tech O; F/O JA Barrett, SAO; F/O FO Bernier, Adjt; F/O JA Naylon, SSO.
The following are Regular Force Support: F/O TA Shore, OC; Cpl DC Stade, Com Op; LAC LM Leadbeater, FtrCOp; LAC JG Brunet, FtrCOp; AC1 RJ Maltby, Rdr Tech (G); and LAC DR Hogan, Clk Adm.
2416 Aircraft Control and Warning Unit drifts daily to a new destiny. Great events are likely to happen this year, or in 1952, that will not only affect this unit, but the future of the nation and change the accepted conditions of life of all people in the world.
Without using a single Russian soldier the USSR has been actively engaged in a war against all non-communistic countries for several years, employing the new war strategy.
In closing it seem fitting to quote a part of a recent article from the Toronto Globe and Mail:
"Today, the plane may operate in cloud or fog or upper sky or low on deck. The pilot is guided almost entirely by his radar alter-ego on the ground.
The men we saw at work - largely Reserve Airmen, busy at civilian jobs all day - are as keen as any group of people we ever saw. But they need help. They need MEN, EQUIPMENT, PUBLIC INTEREST.
WE HOPE THEY GET IT. We like sitting back in our quiet Toronto (or Ottawa) house with the church bells ringing for evening service now, and children playing outdoors, to think of the radar screen thrown around our town, and operated by men like these."
When everyone shares and cares enough, then everyone will have enough. There is enough in the world for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed.
And now - TOMORROW---