Ross Mitchell: A sniper from the farm

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

Ross Mitchell of Douglas, Man., was just 18 when he began infantry training with the Canadian army in 1943. Told he would not be sent overseas until he was 19, he decided to give the airborne a try. He was with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, moving from reserve to active duty in England in February 1945. He made his first and only combat jump behind enemy lines into Wesel, Germany, on March 24. His commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Jeff Nicklin of Winnipeg, a two-time Grey Cup champion and Canadian Football League all-star who’d played six seasons at half-back for the Blue Bombers, never made it out of his chute.

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September 29, 1962
Canada in the Space Age

Canada was the third country to have a satellite in space, Alouette 1, launched on Sept. 29, 1962. With the launch of Anik A1 in 1972, it became the first to establish its own geostationary communication satellite network, completed in 1973 with the launch of Anik A3.

But it took 11 more years before a Canadian astronaut, Marc Garneau, took leave of the atmosphere. Eight Canadian astronauts have participated in 16 space missions, so far.

Currently, Canada has four active astronauts, Jeremy Hansen, David Saint-Jacques, Joshua Kutryk and Jennifer Sidey. In November, Saint-Jacques is slated to become the 10th Canadian in space, on a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Number nine? He was a Canadian space tourist. Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil, who reportedly paid $35 million in 2009 for a 12-day trip to the ISS. While aboard, he advocated for water conservation. He said the experience was more than worth the price tag.

In 2016, the Canadian Space Agency chose the latest two recruits, Kutryk and Sidey, from 3,772 applicants. They are training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Canadian Space Agency’s list of astronaut missions:

Marc Garneau Oct. 5-13, 1984

Roberta Bondar Jan. 22-30, 1992

Steve MacLean Oct. 22- Nov. 1, 1992

Chris Hadfield Nov. 12-20, 1995

Marc Garneau May 19-29, 1996

Bob Thirsk June 20-July 7, 1996

Bjarni Tryggvason Aug. 7-19, 1997

Dave Williams April 17-May 3, 1998

Julie Payette May 27-June 6, 1999

Marc Garneau Nov. 30-Dec. 11, 2000

Chris Hadfield April 19-May 1, 2001

Steve MacLean Sept. 9-21, 2006

Dave Williams Aug. 8-21, 2007

Julie Payette July 15-31, 2009

Robert Thirsk May 27-Dec. 1, 2009

Chris Hadfield Dec. 19, 2012-May 13, 2013

September 29, 1927

The Hudson Strait Expedition begins, leading the RCAF
to explore the eastern Arctic and establish radio stations.

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CANEX: The company store

Story by Stephen J. Thorne

The CANEX, run by Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services, is 50 years old. By turns supermarket, clothier, convenience store, lunch counter, hardware store, furniture shop and electronics mecca, CANEX was for years all things to all people in uniform. First opened in 1968 to provide goods and services to the defence community, CANEX now operates 35 retail outlets on bases and other military sites across Canada, as well as an e-commerce store, CANEX.ca, where folks in uniform can buy everything from TVs to Fitbits, camping gear to military kit.

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September 11, 2001
Norad springs into action

RCAF Lieutenant-General Rick Findley just happened to be director of Norad operations at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Sept. 11, 2001, the day terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Centre skyscrapers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. It was the day North Americans learned they could be attacked from domestic airspace, too.

Within an hour of the attacks, U.S. air traffic was shut down and international flights directed to Canada. By the end of the day, Norad had nearly 200 armed U.S. and Canadian aircraft in the air.

The next day, the U.S. and Canada added monitoring and responding to threats originating within North American airspace to the Norad mission. In the following five years, it responded to 2,100 potential threats.

It was not the first tweaking of the agreement to co-ordinate air defence of the continent, which began in earnest Sept. 12, 1957, with establishment of North American Air Defence Command headquarters in Colorado.

Norad’s initial mission was to detect and react to airborne threats, then primarily Soviet long-range bombers, armed with nuclear weapons. Over the years, Soviet flights regularly have skirted North American airspace, notably recently in May, when Norad was marking the 60th anniversary of the official signing of the joint agreement in 1958.

In 1981, a new name—North American Aerospace Defence Command—reflected the addition of monitoring for missiles and space vehicles to the mission. In 2006, maritime threat was added.

By custom, both countries staff Norad operations—about 150 Canadians were working at Cheyenne Mountain on Sept. 11, 2001. Findley was awarded the Meritorious Service Cross for his actions that day and Norad’s headquarters building at the Peterson Air Force Base was renamed the Eberhart-Finley Building.

Canada operates and maintains the radar stations of the North Warning System. Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg serves as the Canadian Norad headquarters, with CF-18 Hornet fighters provided by the RCAF from tactical fighter squadrons in Cold Lake, Alta., and Bagotville, Que.

Combat-ready interception awaits any aircraft that does not radio its course and destination upon entering air defence identification zones, which extend 320 kilometres offshore.

Chief miscreants are Russian long-range bombers, sometimes with fighter escorts, on “training” missions. But civilian aircraft also come under Norad’s watchful eye. In 2017, U.S. fighters escorted back to Montreal a Cuba-bound charter flight with a passenger threatening crew and passengers.

September 13, 1759

General James Wolfe leads the British in an attack against the French, commanded by General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm at the Plains of Abraham. Both generals die from wounds sustained during the battle. The British are victorious, resulting in the French ceding most of its eastern North American possessions to the British.

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