Crowsnest

Vol. 2, No. 4 Winter 2008 Chief of the Maritime Staff

HMCS St. John’sdelivers essentialaid to Haiti

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New submarinetrainer savesvaluable sea time

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INSIDETHIS

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Sailors take a simulated casualty toHMCS Montréal during a recentSMASHEX. For the story, see page 8.

Practising the art of

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Senior AdvisorCommander Denise LaVioletteDirector, Navy Public Affairs

Senior Editor and WriterDarlene BlakeleyDirectorate of Navy Public Affairs

Crowsnest is published quarterly on the authority of theChief of the Maritime Staff, Vice-Admiral Drew Robertson.Comments are welcome and can be sent to:Directorate of Navy Public AffairsNational Defence Headquarters10ST, 101 Colonel By Dr., K1A 0K2or blakeley.d@forces.gc.ca

For the PDF version of this publication and for more information about the Canadian Navy, visit www.navy.forces.gc.ca

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Banner photo, page 1: Leading Seaman Sean Vaillancourt keeps watch as HMCS Ville de Québec transits the Suez Canal. Photo by Cpl Dany VeilletteAll articles written by Darlene Blakeley, except where otherwise noted.

While it may not be something routinely asso-ciated with navies, one of the rolesCanada’s Navy is often called upon to play

is one of humanitarian assistance. Over the years thishas taken many forms, from delivering much-neededsupplies after natural disasters such as hurricanes andfloods, to rescuing victims of shipwrecks, piracy andeven volcanic eruptions.

Another example of this vital role occurred inSeptember, when HMCS St. John’s spent nearly twoweeks supporting the UN’s World Food Programme byhauling sacks of rice, corn-soya meal, bottled water andother aid supplies to areas of Haiti’s southwest peninsu-la devastated by four separate hurricanes. Thousandsof people were left homeless, without basic suppliesand cut off from help.

“It was readily apparent that we represented a uniquecapacity to meet the need that was otherwise going togo undone,” says Commander Brian Costello, St.John’s commanding officer. “Each day our efforts direct-ly resulted in someone eating who would otherwisehave gone hungry.”

Loading St. John’s with supplies was not easy – she’sa frigate, not a freighter – but it got easier with practice.The food arrived in bulk at the jetty in Port-au-Prince,where it was bagged and loaded into trucks in thestreamlined fashion typical of modern port operations.

The first load of 95.3 metric tons was brought aboardalmost entirely by hand, with the ship’s company andlocal residents lined up across the jetty and up the sideof the ship, passing sacks. Flight deck, fo’c’sle, breeze-ways, hangar – every accessible flat space, nook andcranny was soon packed with food.

Subsequent loads still required plenty of manuallabour, but cranes took over the task of heaving thesacks off the jetty and onto St. John’s deck.

The ship then started her delivery round, visiting com-munities along Haiti’s south shore. At each destination,

HMCS St. John’s delivers essential aid to Haiti

St. John’s anchored about three miles off-shore whilethe ship’s air detachment prepared the embarkedCH-124 Sea King helicopter to shuttle sling-loads ofsupplies to the stricken areas.

In four trips from Sept. 14-25, St. John’s loaded atotal of 547 metric tons of humanitarian aid suppliesand made deliveries to nine communities.

Members of the community of Tiburon, Haiti, look on with curiosityas a Sea King helicopter from HMCS St. John’s delivers food.

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Cdr Costello says helping Haiti was “a duty of neigh-bours” and the ship’s company of St. John’s wasdelighted to help. “Many of the crew returned to Halifaxalready convinced that the effort, and the teamwork thatunderpinned it, would stand out as the most rewardingof their careers because of this direct individual senseof ownership and the immediate effects achieved.”

With files from Charmion Chaplin-Thomas

Over 1,000 sailors deployed on Canada’ssecond largest military mission afterAfghanistan returned to Canada in late

October after six months of maritime security opera-tions in the Arabian Sea.

HMCS Iroquois returned to Halifax on Oct. 23, whileCalgary and Protecteur sailed into Esquimalt, B.C., onOct. 24.

The three ships, one of Canada’s largest contribu-tions to the war on terrorism since 9/11, conductedoperations overseas with Combined Task Force (CTF)150, a naval coalition that typically includes shipsfrom nations such as France, Germany, Pakistan, theNetherlands, the United Kingdom and the U.S.

From aboard Iroquois, Commodore Bob Davidsoncommanded the task force from June 3 to Sept. 15 –the first time a Canadian has ever held the position.During his tenure, 32 ships from seven countries fol-lowed his leadership.

Now that the ships are safely home, CmdreDavidson says the mission was a great success. “Weset out with four main objectives: maritime securityoperations (making the area safer); theatre security

Ships arrive home from Arabian Seacooperation (building regional cooperation with localsand with regional nations’ militaries and coastguards); building maritime influence for Canada byleading the mission and advancing diplomatic objec-tives; and finally, a public affairs effort to enable allthe other objectives. We had excellent results in allfour areas.”

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Children of the community of Chardonniere, Haiti, await supplies.

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HMCS St. John’s is loaded with supplies in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

From left: Rear-Admiral Tyrone Pile, Commander Maritime ForcesPacific; General Walt Natynczyk, Chief of the Defence Staff; andVice-Admiral Drew Robertson, Chief of the Maritime Staff; waveas HMCS Protecteur passes into Esquimalt Harbour.

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Academics and sailors may seem like strangebedfellows, but after spending 10 weeks at seawith Canadian warships in the Gulf of Aden

recently, Patrick Lennox came away with a deep appre-ciation for Canada’s Navy.

Mr. Lennox, a postdoctoral fellow with the Centre forMilitary and Strategic Studies at the University ofCalgary, was invited by the Department of NationalDefence’s Security and Defence Forum to travel to theGulf region in order to foster a greater understanding ofnaval task groups and how the Canadian Navy oper-ates in this region. During his visit, Her Majesty’sCanadian Ships Iroquois, Calgary and Protecteur werein the area on Canada’s fourth rotation of OperationAltair, the maritime component of the international waragainst terrorism. The ships were operating withNATO’s Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, a coalitiontask force made up of vessels from countries such asthe United States, France, the United Kingdom, theNetherlands and Germany. For several months CTF150 was commanded by Canadian Commodore BobDavidson, carrying out surveillance patrols and mar-itime interdiction operations in the Gulf of Aden, Gulf ofOman, the Arabian Sea, Red Sea and the IndianOcean.

Against this dramatic and complex backdrop, with atotal of three days experience at sea, Mr. Lennox

Sea time adds authenticity to academic’s writingsexchanged the comfort of his university office for thedeck of a warship in the midst of a critical mission. “I’dnever travelled significant distances by sea or comealongside in a foreign port before,” he admits. “This wasall very new indeed.”

Mr. Lennox had a compelling reason for wanting tosee Canada’s navy in action: he’s writing a book aboutit. “I couldn’t write that book without having some seatime under my belt. So the more time I spent on thewater sponging up material, the better,” he says. “Veryfew academics actually get out and do that which theyresearch and write about. So I’ve been out there nowon the high seas with the navy and I can talk and writeabout it with a degree of clarity and authority that I oth-erwise would not be have been able to bring to thetable.”

Since his return, Mr. Lennox has written a number ofarticles about the deployment and has given three lec-tures on the subject at venues in Halifax, Ottawa andCalgary. He also plans to write a more academic articleon CTF 150 itself. He admits that he will draw from hisexperience many times over during the course of hiscareer at the front of a university classroom. At the coreof his relationship with Canada’s sailors is his firm beliefthat the academic community and the navy shouldunderstand each other. “People who study Canadianforeign and defence policy need to be aware of what

Patrick Lennox, right, with Commander Yves Germain,executive officer of HMCS Protecteur.

the navy can and cannot accomplish,” he says.“They need to understand its strengths andweaknesses and how those translate intoCanada’s strengths and weaknesses on theworld stage.”

Most of his time aboard ship was spent onthe destroyer Iroquois, which was CmdreDavidson’s flagship, and the supply vesselProtecteur. He sat in on daily intelligence brief-ings and spent time observing the sailors andlearning about their jobs. “Sitting in on thesemeetings with the commodore’s staff providedme with a great deal of insight into the natureof a number of the issues we were dealingwith out in the Arabian Sea, such as the piracyproblem in the Gulf of Aden, and the illegalflow of narcotics along the Hash Highway thatruns from the Makran coast into Yemen,” heexplains. “But more than this, it gave me anappreciation of the magnitude of the operationthe staff was running, and what a professionaland skilled job they were doing at it.”

While life at sea aboard a warship can bedaunting for civilians, Mr. Lennox took it all instride. “The racks were comfortable, the foodwas pleasant, and the company could nothave been better!” Members of the ships’ com-panies, he says, were very good at makingsure he was involved with each day’s activi-ties. He returned from his visit with a deeprespect for Canadian sailors. “I came awaywith the impression that some of the finestCanadians I’ve ever met work on this nation’swarships. I think the navy is a wonderful institution withrich traditions that every Canadian should be proud ofand support.”

Combining his multi-faceted academic research into

foreign and defence policy with the briny smell and feelof saltwater in one of the hot spots of the world, Mr.Lennox can now lend a truly authentic feel to his writ-ings and lectures. “Having this sea time to my credit

lends a certain gravity to thetalks I’ve given since returningfrom the deployment in earlyOctober,” he says. “Havingactually been in the Gulf ofAden on anti-piracy patrolsmakes people at home perk upa bit when you start talkingabout strategies to deal withthis problem in an academicforum. I think the same goesfor a lot of what I’ll be writingand speaking about in thecoming year.”

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The flagship HMCS Iroquoissails in the Arabian Sea.

HMCS Protecteur replenishes HMCS Iroquois in the Arabian Sea.

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Captain’s Log

(Editor’s Note: The following article is the secondinstallment of “Captain’s Log”, written by CommanderChris Dickinson, commanding officer of the Halifax-based frigate HMCS Ville de Québec. [The firstappeared in the Fall 2008 issue of Crowsnest.] Sincewriting this in late October, Cdr Dickinson and Ville deQuébec have returned to duties with Standing NATOMaritime Group 1 in the Mediterranean Sea. The ship isexpected home just before Christmas.)

“There are a lot of blind people walking aroundhere, they just don’t realize it,” said 16-year-old Edouard, who grew up on the streets of

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. These words struck home asHMCS Ville de Québec began her last trip fromMombasa, Kenya to Mogadishu, Somalia. For the 253Canadian sailors, soldiers and airmen of my ship’scompany, our assignment to support the World FoodProgramme (WFP) has been an eye-opening experi-ence in a region that gets barely any visibility backhome.

This, my second article from East African waters, is atribute to my crew. I believe they have made a differ-ence in this region through their efforts, while beingthemselves changed for the better by their experienceshere.

On Aug. 6, we were officially reassigned from an anti-terrorist mission in the Mediterranean Sea withStanding NATO Maritime Group 1 and ordered to pro-ceed through the Suez Canal. Everyone aboard sensedwe were about to embark on a good mission, but I don’tthink any of us suspected what our shared experiencesduring that mission would mean to us.

As we rounded the Horn of Africa and approachedthe coast of Puntland, a region in northeastern Somalia,we saw the first clear signs of piracy: blips on our radarscreens representing merchant vessels held for ran-som. That told us we weren’t in Kansas anymore, Toto.Pirates seizing merchant vessels within sight of land –that was well outside our experience. In North Americanor European waters, piracy would elicit a swift responsefrom police or Special Forces, but in this lawless,violent place it was part of daily life.

As the mission got into full swing in late August withthe escort of the freighter Abdul Rahman, I sensed thatthe crew was taking pride in our important mission.There we were, two miles off Mogadishu, protectingvital food aid provided by an organization to whichCanada is the third biggest contributor. In fact, weweren’t just keeping the sea lanes open for Canadianforeign aid; we were also exporting Canadian values.Boy, did that ever feel good. I was particularly proud ofmy crew as they “stood to” for hours at UnderwayForce Protection State Red to ensure that AbdulRahman got safely alongside.

Our voyage to Mogadishu with Abdul Rahman wasfollowed by 10 more trips escorting WFP vessels. Oneach trip, Ville de Québec went north to Mogadishuwith a loaded ship and returned to Mombasa with aship in ballast. In total, we escorted more than 36 mil-lion kilograms of food aid to Somalia, enough to keepabout 400,000 people fed for six months.

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Commander Chris Dickinson

HMCS Ville de Québecescorts a ship in the Indian Ocean.

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We knew our presence was crucial to the WFP. Pirateattacks off Somalia accelerated throughout August andSeptember, and as many as a dozen ships were heldfor ransom at a time. This growth in piracy led to UnitedNations Security Council Resolution 1838 of Oct. 7,calling on member nations to provide naval assets toprotect international shipping – specifically WFPdeliveries – in Somali waters. As a result, in lateOctober HMCS Ville de Québec handed over her dutiesto ships from Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and theUnited Kingdom, and left the region.

At Thanksgiving, Ville de Québec took an operationalpause in Dar es Salaam for some essential mainte-nance. While several departments stayed aboard andworked, other members of the crew took part in strate-gic communications events with local diplomatic repre-sentatives, and a community relations project at theDogodogo Centre. This is where we met Edouard.

Our Coxswain, Chief Petty Officer First Class KeithDavidson, had his own significant conversation withEdouard. “Why do you come here to look after us,when there are lots of people right here in Dar esSalaam who could?” the boy asked him. The answer tothat question lies at the heart of this mission, andexplains why I am so proud of HMCS Ville de Québec’sship’s company. We are here because we were sent bythe generous, caring people of Canada, the people mycrew and I have the honour to represent on this deploy-ment – and every deployment.

As we leave East Africa to return to our NATO mis-sion, I keep Edouard and what Canada now means tohim in my thoughts.

The captain and crew of HMCS Ville de Québec were honoured with a Canadian Forces UnitCommendation during a visit to the ship in the Mediterranean Sea by General Walt Natynczyk, Chief ofthe Defence Staff, on Nov. 21. The commendation, which

includes a gold-embossed scroll along with the symbols of the honour, aspecial commemorative flag and a gold medallion, is awarded to a unitthat has performed a deed or activity considered beyond the demandsof normal duty.

The citation for Ville de Quebec’s commendation reads: “Respondingto an urgent request from the United Nations World Food Programme,Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Ville de Québec deployed to the Somalicoast from August to October 2008. Tasked with providing anti-piracysupport to merchant vessels, the crew worked tirelessly to ensure thesafe delivery of much needed food through pirate-laden waters. Withremarkable motivation, amazing flexibility and dedicated effort, theyovercame the challenge of simultaneously providing merchant ves-sels with onboard security and naval escort. The individual dedica-tion of each crew member to this humanitarian mission broughthope to a quarter of a million people and highlighted Canadian leadership onthe world stage.”

HMCS Ville de Québec honoured with commendation

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HMCS Ville de Québecshows the flag as shedeparts Mogadishu,Somalia.

Commander Chris Dickinson, left, accepts a

commemorative flag from General Walt

Natynczyk, Chief of the Defence Staff.

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Speed is of the essence when it comes to asubmarine emergency, and lives can be savedif a coordinated rescue effort is carried out

effectively. Like most things, the best way to ensure thatsomething goes according to plan is to practise, prac-tise, practise!

Such is the case with submarine search and rescueexercises carried out every year on both the east andwest coasts of Canada. Called by the NATO term“SMASHEX”, the exercises allow the navy to coordinatea plan, ensure that all constituent parts work effectively,and identify any shortcomings.

“A submarine emergency engages the highest levelsof government,” says Lieutenant-Commander TimMcDermott, Senior Staff Officer Underwater Warfareand Submarine Escape and Rescue at Maritime ForcesAtlantic (MARLANT) Headquarters in Halifax. “In a casewhere lives are at stake, all levels of government – fed-eral, provincial and even municipal – could be calledupon to assist.”

This “all of government” approach to a submarine

emergency gives the navy an opportunity to worktogether with other government departments to ensurethat its response is fast, efficient and effective. In recentMARLANT exercises, Canadian military participantshave included Canada Command; CanadianOperational Support Command; 1 Canadian AirDivision; Strategic Joint Staff; 4 Health Services Group;and Land Forces Atlantic Area.

“In short, any and every organization within theCanadian Forces that could be required is called uponand exercised when possible,” says LCdr McDermott.

Other government departments that have participatedin SMASHEX include Public Safety Canada; HealthCanada; the Canadian Coast Guard; TransportCanada; the RCMP; provincial emergency measuresorganizations for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland; portauthorities in Sydney, N.S., and St. John’s; airportauthorities; and provincial health authorities in NovaScotia and Newfoundland. In addition, recent exerciseshave included the U.S. Navy Deep Submergence Unit(home of the U.S. Navy Submarine Diving and

SMASHEXWorking together to save lives

A simulated casualty wearing life-savingequipment is pulled into one of the navy’sinflatable boats during a SMASHEX.

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Recompression Rescue System), the United KingdomSubmarine Escape and Rescue Organization, and theInternational Submarine Escape and Rescue LiaisonOffice.

According to LCdr McDermott, the inclusion of somany military partners and civilian government depart-ments and agencies reflects the reality of such an oper-ation, and also allows them to practise working togetherto resolve an emergency.

“In submarine rescue, speed is crucial,” explains LCdrMcDermott. “Submarines generally carry enough emer-gency supplies to sustain life onboard for at least sevendays. Logistics plays a huge part in submarine rescue,and it requires many resources that the navy simplydoes not have. We need to be able to move resources,personnel and specialized equipment as quickly andefficiently as possible in order to ensure that a rescueoperation is effective.”

To further enhance its skills, the navy also participatesin international submarine escape and rescue exercisessuch as NATO’s BOLD MONARCH exercises in theAtlantic, and PACIFIC REACH exercises in the Pacific.

“After each SMASHEX, we analyse how we didagainst what we set out to do in our exercise objec-tives,” says LCdr McDermott. “Feedback from partici-pants allows us to fine-tune our plan.”

LCdr McDermott says the lessons learned from aSMASHEX can also be applied to just about any othermajor disaster, such as a fire on a cruise ship or adowned airliner. “In the end, we all learn to be betterprepared to work together to save lives and protectproperty,” he says.

While the ships were overseas, they visited 22nations to improve diplomatic ties and work withregional navies, and also visited (with other alliedships) 200 vessels to build cooperation with localmariners. As well, the ships supported Ville deQuébec in the delivery of thousands of metric tons offood to Somalia and deterred numerous piracyattacks.

Vice-Admiral Drew Robertson, Chief of the MaritimeStaff, greeted the ships as they arrived home andcongratulated them on a successful mission. “Yourdeployment, so skillfully executed by yourselves andso capably supported by the defence team throughout

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Ships arrive home

Canada, brought Canadian leadership to an impor-tant theatre, dealing with all major maritimechallenges across the theatre, including counter ter-rorism, piracy, narcotics and proliferation. You did thisall while building maritime security that serves thecoastal states and all mariners in the region, includingthose who maintain the vital flow of world trade. Youhave all set the example for other navies to follow.”

As for future deployments to the area, CmdreDavidson says that Canada’s contribution and levelof effort in the Arabian Sea will be studied based onthis mission’s success, and in consideration of othercommitments and the level of contribution desired bygovernment.

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A Cormorant helicopter flies over the flight deck of HMCS Montréalduring a SMASHEX.

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Familyand friendswelcome homecrew membersof HMCSIroquois.

A crowd greets sailorsof HMCS Iroquois.

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Amajor milestone in the Canadian Navy’s sub-marine program was marked this fall with theopening of the new Victoria Submarine

Command Team Trainer (VSCTT) at the CanadianForces Naval Operations School in Halifax (CFNOS).

This multimillion dollar trainer, which replaces a20-year-old system, allows submariners at all levels totrain in a far more realistic setting than ever before.

“The new trainer allows submariners to integrate theentire control room team into the training scenarioinstead of just a few key individuals,” says Lieutenant-Commander Mike Mangin, Submarine DivisionCommander at CFNOS. “This means that individualoperators can learn basic skills ashore, saving valuablesea time for more advanced training and operations.”

The VSCTT is light years ahead of the previous train-er, the Submarine Operations Team Trainer (SOTT), intechnology and realism according to LCdr Mangin “TheSOTT was limited to fire control and a periscope, alongwith some very basic positional information. All theother game elements were injected to the trainees bystaff from behind the desk. There was no sonar infor-mation, no electronic warfare equipment, and only

a few ships. The realism of the game was really basedon how creative or imaginative the staff was.”

Additionally, the SOTT was very limited geographical-ly – the submarine could be put either in the openocean, with no land around, or in a small area off theScottish coast. With the VSCTT, submariners canmanipulate the databases to simulate the seaward sideof any coastline in the world.

The VSCTT is a complete simulation of the opera-tional side of a Victoria-class submarine control room. Itincludes the sonars, fire control consoles, radar, naviga-tion stations, a periscope, and eventually electronicwarfare equipment. “For the first time in our trainers allthis gear is connected together so that what the officerof the watch sees through the periscope is actuallyheard by the sonar operator and will paint on radar,”says LCdr Mangin.

When the training provided in the VSCTT is combinedwith the training delivered in the Naval CombatOperator, Ship Control and Machinery Control Trainers,every member of a submarine crew is able to carry outalmost every facet of his or her job without ever takingthe submarine to sea. “Using these trainers we canstart with baby steps as the sailors learn the individualparts of their jobs, then make the team progressivelylarger until virtually the entire submarine team is partici-pating in the training together,” says LCdr Mangin. “Wecan also progress the submarine’s team from simple tocomplex scenarios such as coastal surveillance, arcticsovereignty and multi-threat warfare, better preparingthem to carry out these operations at sea.”

New submarine trainersaves valuable sea time

Interested in becoming a submariner? Visit www.forces.ca for more information on this and other naval trades.

Leading Seaman Ferris Tobin, a sonar operator aboard the subma-rine HMCS Corner Brook, works in the new trainer.

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Lieutenant (Navy) Mike Spearman, a weapons training officer at theCanadian Forces Naval Operations School, checks out the trainer’speriscope.

Fleet Facts

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Type: Guided missile area air defence destroyerDisplacement: 5,188 tonnes (full load)Length: 129.85 metresBeam: 15.24 metresDraught: 5.0 metresSpeed: 29 + knotsComplement: 300 (including airdetachment)Range: 3,500 nautical milesAircraft: Two CH-124 Sea King helicoptersEngines: Two shaft COGOG systems; two Allison570-KF cruise gas turbines (producing 6,500 eachshaft horsepower); and two Pratt and Whitney FT4-A2

The Iroquois-class ships of the Canadian Navyare a class of four helicopter-carrying, guidedmissile destroyers. Launched in the 1970s,

they were originally designed for anti-submarine war-fare, but a major upgrade program in the 1990s over-hauled them for area-wide anti-aircraft use. The fourwarships in the class originally included Huron,Athabaskan, Algonquin and Iroquois. However, Huronwas paid off in 2005 and sunk in 2007 during a live-fireexercise, leaving three ships in the class.

The Iroquois-class destroyers are fitted with state-of-the-art weapons, sensors, command-and-control sys-tems, and propulsion equipment. Together these sys-tems make her capable of carrying out a variety oftasks, aimed at protecting Canadian interests in theoceans adjacent to the coastline, and beyond.

These warships have a long and successful recordwith Canada’s Navy, having seen service during theGulf War and continued deployments to the ArabianSea region in support of the international war againstterrorism.

Fleet Status

HMCS Iroquois: Returned to her home port ofHalifax in October after six months serving in theArabian Sea with ships of NATO’s Combined TaskForce 150. Iroquois was the flagship of CommodoreBob Davidson, who commanded the task force fromJune 3 to Sept. 15.

HMCS Algonquin: Has just returned to dockyard inEsquimalt, B.C., after an eight-month refit program in

Iroquois-class destroyers

Victoria Shipyards. More work will be carried out on theship at the Fleet Maintenance Facility in Esquimaltbefore sea trials begin next spring.

HMCS Athabaskan: For the past year the ship hasbeen undergoing a tiered readiness program to prepareher for taking over as Canadian Fleet Atlantic flagshipin 2009.

gas turbines(producing25,000 eachshaft horse-power). Armament:SM2 sur-face-to-air missiles; one 76 mm/62 OTO Melaradual-purpose gun system; one Phalanx 20mmclose-in weapons system; two triple Mark-4612.75 in (324 mm) torpedo tubes firing Mark-46Mod 5 torpedoes ; and 0.5 in (12.7 mm) machineguns.

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HMCS Algonquin firesher 76mm gun duringan exercise.

Feedback is always welcome and can be sent to blakeley.d@forces.gc.ca

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by Second-Lieutenant Ian McIntyre

The highs and lows of a career in the military canbe compared to a roller coaster ride. This wascertainly one of many thoughts on the mind of

Petty Officer First Class Paul Walsh as he stood in themiddle of Trafalgar Square at a unique Canadian warmemorial in London, England in early November.

PO1 Walsh, a clearance diver with Fleet Diving Unit(Atlantic) in Halifax, was one of three military members –one per navy, army and air force – to have been select-ed to represent the Canadian Forces at Vigil 1914-1918.Developed by Gemini award-winning actor R.H.Thomson and lighting designer Martin Conboy, the eventwas held at Canada House, the Canadian HighCommission in London, and was attended by Her RoyalHighness Queen Elizabeth II. Using special lightingequipment, the names of fallen soldiers from the FirstWorld War were projected on the walls of the building

Diver represents navy at vigil held in London

one after the other, commencing Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. localtime and continuing until sunrise on Nov. 11, commem-orating the 68,000 Canadian soldiers who died in theFirst World War.

“It was a truly humbling experience,” says PO1Walsh. “There were probably thousands of peoplestanding around Trafalgar Square. It was the proudestmoment of my career in the military.”

Originally from New Glasgow, N.S., PO1 Walsh hasseen his share of high and low points in his career. Hegraduated as a clearance diver in June 1990, participat-ed in the Swissair crash recovery efforts in 1998, anddeployed with Operation MEDUSA in Afghanistan asthe head of an explosive ordinance disposal (EOD)team in 2006.

“To take the salute for Oh Canada and The Last Post– it was an incredible feeling,” says PO1 Walsh. “Weweren’t there as individuals, but to represent those whowere lost. I wish my grandparents were alive today tohave seen this.”

A vigil similar to the one held in London began sever-al hours later as night fell in Canada, starting in AtlanticCanada and moving gradually from east to west. Themain Canadian display was at the National WarMemorial in Ottawa adjacent to Parliament Hill,although official vigils using the same technology werealso held in Fredericton, Halifax, Toronto, Regina andEdmonton.

At the ceremony in London, the Queen and PrincePhillip stopped and spoke to each of the Canadian rep-resentatives, one by one. PO1 Walsh says she greetedeach of the three members and the veterans, dis-cussing how important this event was to her and dis-playing a sincere respect for Canada.

The Crowsnest footnote saidthat comments are alwayswelcome and I just wanted tolet you know that I haveenjoyed the recent publicationsof the Crowsnest. I do nothave a military or navy back-ground (I am involved with

agricultural and forestry bioproduct research in thePrairies!) but I do have an interest in Canadian navalactivities and the role the navy plays in Canada andaround the world. Thanks for putting the Crowsnestmagazine together; I am finding it quite informative.Looking forward to the next issue.Richard Gibson

I would like to report an error on page three (in theFall 2008 issue), third picture. The caption reads“Leading Seaman Darren Cordell and Petty OfficerSecond Class Nathan Martell examine Ville deQuebec’s shaft system”. In fact, what they areworking on is the oscillator module of the SHIELD IIdecoy launcher. Exposed are the barrels, recoilcylinders and anti-condensation heaters.Petty Officer Second Class William Van Den BergeMaritime Forces Atlantic Headquarters, Halifax

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Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by James Wright, HighCommissioner for Canada, approaches three Canadian Forcesmembers representing Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan atVigil 1914-1918 in London. From left to right: Major Chris McKenna(air force), Lieutenant-Colonel Claude Fournier (army), and PettyOfficer First Class Paul Walsh (navy).