Fort Fraser Despatches, December 2013

"The Reserves"

A word of advice for those who do not understand the value of the Citizen Soldier: Be careful what you say about those who volunteer to serve or those who have served in the Reserve components of the Canadian Armed Forces. Such dismissive comments as, “Oh, his/her service was only Reserve” or “He/She was in the Forces but only in the Reserve” not only show a lack of knowledge but do a great disservice to the Canadian forces as a whole which rely on augmentation (reinforcement) by the Reserves in order to function in critical times. The Canadian Army is defined as a Total Force comprising Regular and Reserve soldiers, which in wartime are combined by mobilization - the military term for rapid increase in trained personnel for equally rapid deployment in immediate operational tasks as determined by the Government of Canada. Without the full resources of a mobilized Primary Reserve, the Canadian Army would not exist.

 Of 40,000 Canadians who have served in Afghanistan, 12,000 have been Reservists (30% of the total).  Of these 1,080 (9%) were women. Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) says that of 4,181 veterans on disability from service in Afghanistan, 334 (8%) are women.  Trained soldiers who become casualties of war are defined by their distinguished service, valour and sacrifice; they are not separated by labels such as “Only a Reservist”. One of the first four of 158 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, Corporal Ainsworth Dyer, received his initial training as a Reservist in the 48th Highlanders of Canada before transferring to Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry for deployed operational service overseas. He represents thousands of volunteer Reservists who have served and thousands more who will continue to serve Canada with one uniform commitment: “Where we are needed, there we will be.”

Such “Citizen Soldiers” who devote parttime military service, in addition to their regular jobs, know the importance of being ready for anything in defence of Canada. Their dedication and sense of duty make each one of them “twice the citizen”. Bumper stickers proclaiming “Support Our Troops” don’t do it; Service supports our troops. Reserve service is not insignificant, incidental or inferior. It is an essential component of national defence comprising the caring, the disciplined, the ready, the willing and the able; in short - The Responsible Few who have always proved that they can always be relied upon in the long haul.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has famously conferred her tribute to Canada’s citizen soldiers with these words: “On every Canadian rests the responsibility of citizenship. There is no higher or better form of citizenship than service in the Canadian Armed Forces. As members of the regiments in which you serve, you discharge that responsibility with distinction.” from "The Falcon", newsletter of The 48th Highlanders, Toronto

The Pig War is commemorated in San Juan Island National Historical Park. In the early 1990's, although from a much earlier era, a contingent of Fort Fraser "soldiers" participated in the commemoration.

The Pig On June 15, 1859, exactly thirteen years after the adoption of the Oregon Treaty, the ambiguity in the treaty led to direct conflict. Lyman Cutlar, an American farmer who had moved onto the island claiming rights to live there under the Donation Land Claim Act, found a large black pig rooting in his garden eating his tubers. This was not the first "pig vandalism" and Cutlar was so upset that he shot and killed the pig. It turned out that the pig was owned by an Irishman, Charles Griffin, who owned several pigs which he allowed to roam freely. Griffin was employed by the Hudson's Bay Company to run its sheep ranch. Cutlar offered $10 to Griffin to compensate for the pig, but Griffin was unsatisfied with this offer and demanded $100. Following this reply, Cutlar believed he should not have to pay for the pig because the pig had been trespassing on his land.

When British authorities threatened to arrest Cutlar, American settlers called for military protection.

Military escalation

Brigadier-General William S. Harney, commanding the Dept. of Oregon, initially dispatched 66 American soldiers of the 9th Infantry under the command of Captain George Pickett to San Juan Island with orders to prevent the British from landing. Concerned that a squatter population would begin to occupy San Juan Island if the Americans were not kept in check, the British sent three warships under the command of Captain Geoffrey Hornby. Pickett was famously quoted as saying defiantly, "We'll make a Bunker Hill of it," placing him in the national limelight. The situation continued to escalate and by 10 August, 461 Americans with 14 cannon under Colonel Silas Casey were opposed by five British warships mounting 70 guns and carrying 2,140 men. During this time, no shots were fired.

The governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island, James Douglas, ordered British Rear Admiral Robert L. Baynes to land marines on San Juan Island and engage the American soldiers. Baynes refused, deciding that "two great nations in a war over a squabble about a pig" was foolish. Local commanding officers on both sides had been given essentially the same orders: defend yourselves, but absolutely do not fire the first shot. For several days, the British and U.S. soldiers exchanged insults, each side attempting to goad the other into firing the first shot, but discipline held on both sides, and thus no shots were fired.

Resolution

When news of the crisis reached Washington and London, officials from both nations were shocked and took action to calm the potentially explosive international incident. In September, U.S. President James Buchanan sent General Winfield Scott to negotiate with Governor Douglas and resolve the growing crisis. Scott had calmed two other border crises between the nations in the late 1830s. He arrived in the San Juans in October and began negotiations with Douglas.[10]

As a result of the negotiations, both sides agreed to retain joint military occupation of the island until a final settlement could be reached, reducing their presence to a token force of no more than 100 men. The "British Camp" was established on the north end of San Juan Island along the shoreline, for ease of supply and access. The "American Camp" was created on the south end on a high, windswept meadow, suitable for artillery barrages against shipping.

Today the Union flag still flies above the "British Camp", being raised and lowered daily by park rangers, making it one of the very few places without diplomatic status where US government employees regularly hoist the flag of another country.

During the years of joint military occupation, the small British and American units on San Juan Island had a very amicable mutual social life, visiting one another's camps to celebrate their respective national holidays and holding various athletic competitions. Park rangers tell visitors the biggest threat to peace on the island during these years was "the large amounts of alcohol available."

This state of affairs continued for the next 12 years. The dispute was peacefully resolved after more than a decade of confrontation and military bluster.

On November 25, 1872, the British withdrew their Royal Marines from the British Camp. The Americans followed by July 1874.

"Vestiarium Scoticum"

My favourite storyteller, John Prebble, stated "... fiction that serves a romantic yearning can easily replace a mundane truth ..." He went on to say, in his 1984 book Scotland, "There is no historical evidence for a belief in Clan tartans... all that are sold and worn today were designed a generation and more after a clan society had ceased to exist and while its bewildered people were being evicted and dispersed."

The wearing of tartan had become a romantic fashion shortly after the publication of Scott's Waverley in 1814. When King George IV visited Edinburgh in 1822, the same Sir Walter Scott and Alasdair Ranaldson MacDonell, chief of Glengarry, dressed the King and the city in the fanciful "dress of our Illustrious and Ancient Race" as Glengarry termed the outfits worn by his "Society of True Highlanders". It caught on, in spite of the fact that in reality a clansman's familial loyalty was not demonstrated by the pattern of his tartan but by the slogan he shouted in battle and by the plant badge he wore on his bonnet.

The so-called Clan Tartans we see and wear today were further espoused by James Logan in 1831 when he published a book of fifty-three tartan patterns attributed to various clans, and later collaborated with the artist Robert McIan to publish actual coloured drawings of what purported to be members of various clans in their clan tartan. All this was apparently verified by the amazing Sobieski brothers, who claimed to be descendants of Charles Edward Stewart, in their book grandly titled Vestiarium Scoticum, much talked about and finally published in 1842.The work was declared "spurious and absurd" by Sir Walter Scott.

The romantic myth has prevailed, and an enormous industry continues to supply the world with "authentic Highland Dress" - and we love it!

The 78th Regiment's winter of 1758/59: as reported by Capt. Earl Chapman, Regt'l Historian, May 2013

During the winter of 1758-59, nine companies of Fraser's Highlanders had spent a relatively relaxed winter in the Mohawk Valley in and around the prosperous Dutch town of Schenectady. Two more companies were stationed along the Mohawk at Fort Herkimer and another was detached on garrison duties in Schoharie, south of Schenectady. The majority of the officers and men had "enjoyed weekly dances or frolics in the inhabitants homes, skated on the river and attended sleighing parties." On the other hand, four companies under the command of Major James Clephane had been detached to Fort Stanwix at the western end of the Mohawk Valley and had faced mortal danger every day - ten Highlanders failed to answer the final roll call having perished at the Fort over the course of the winter; six from unknown causes (likely scurvy) and four from enemy action.

In March 1759, orders were received that Fraser's Highlanders had been chosen for the expedition then being planned for the capture of Quebec. The Highlanders were delighted to learn that there would be "Danger, Glory and plentiful War" for all concerned, as they were ordered on service once again with the "Red-Haired Corporal" - James Wolfe.

The first step was to move the Regiment close to New York prior to shipping out to Louisbourg. Marched to New York and billeted at Jamaica on Long Island, on 23 April, 1759 nine companies of the Regiment were reviewed by the new Commander-in-Chief, Major General Jeffery Amherst.

"take pride in the heritage"

Remembering:

Captain (78th) Robert Buller 1946 - 2013

A former director at Fort Fraser and recently active with the Fort Victoria garrison, Robert was commissioned Lieutenant while serving with the 48th Highlanders in Toronto. He was the founder and managing partner of Reikos International in Nanaimo, BC. His written work has been published in daily newspapers, including the Kingston Whig-Standard, the Ottawa Citizen and the Toronto Star. His feature magazine articles have appeared in dozens of monthly publications across Canada. As a consultant he worked for dozens of corporations including Shell Canada, Warner Lambert, Ontario Hydro, Simplex Grinnell, Gillette Canada, Dunwoody BDO, and many others. Not-For-Profit clients have included the Alpine Club of Canada, The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Wooden Boat Society. As an academic, he taught at Queen’s University, Cornell University, Algonquin College and Kwantlen Polytechnic, where he was also Head of the Marketing Department.

Padre Lieutenant (78th) Philip Louie CD BA BD passed away October 9, 2013. Padre Louie graduated from McGill University, the University of Manitoba and St. Andrew's College. He was ordained by the United Church of Canada and served pastorates in Toronto, Saskatchewan and BC. He was a Major in the Canadian Army serving as Chaplain, and as Padre at Fort Fraser Garrison of the 78th Fraser Highlanders. After retiring he mastered the art of piano tuning, built and flew model airplanes and helicopters, loved ballroom dancing on cruises and at military balls, was a certified pyrotechnician and had a keen interest in history. He was loving, generous, a great raconteur and such a smart dresser.

gone but not forgotten

Expanding the concept ...

Garrisons of the 78th Fraser Highlanders are mandated to preserve the memory of the 78th Highland Regiment and its social traditions, tactics and equipment, and to bring that memory to life through activities of garrison members while supporting a variety of charitable causes. Some garrisons achieve this by fielding an "Honourable Guard" of authentically uniformed and equipped officers, some train and present a youth Pipes and Drums contingent, both as vehicles to bring the 78th into public display and as ways to raise funds to support the charities they have designated in their Canada Revenue Agency charitable commitment - all the while preserving that 78th memory. The Fort Fraser command group would like to expand the concept and present an Historical Display Unit which includes the Officers of the 78th and also displays a larger historical social scope of those times with representatives of the civilian participants - the cooks and washers, the ostlers and suttlers, and, to complement the Pipers and Drummers, a few "Fifers" just for fun. It seems an ambitious plan, but consider that we have a good start; we are soon able to assemble up to a dozen uniformed Officers, completely equipped with swords, muskets, spontoons and halberds to march proudly behind the Regimental colours. We have patterns for all manner of 18th century civilian clothing, from bonnets and bodices to breeches and buckles to outfit members who would like to join the fun and help to raise funds for Fort Fraser's designated charities - which we have pledged to be: a children's medical facility such as CHAMPS and a youth support group such as Vancouver's Kidsafe or a kids' camp; educational grants to Scottish Studies at SFU, the Stewart Museum, and the HDU itself. As well, Captain "maestro" Ken Whitney will teach anyone interested the finer points of the Fife.

The Historical Display Unit to raise funds for charities:

The HDU will be guided by a Historical Display Committee comprised of members at large and members of the command group. We expect to see our HDU in action at events like the St. Patrick's Day Parade, Hyack Festival, Canada Day events, Remembrance Day, Highland Games, and other cultural celebrations. We anticipate receiving the CRA's blessing of charitable status before the new year so we will be able to act as a charitable organization - to legitimately hold fund-raising events, issue tax-beneficial receipts and begin donating to our chosen charities. The Kilt and Red Coat, the Pipes and Drums and our thrilling and romantic stories of the Fraser's in action will be our principal theme and the draw to such events, and our historical diorama with all the costumed participants "encamped" at Highland Games and other cultural events, along with the efforts of members of our Speakers Bureau, will publicize our existence and our charitable causes.

The caution must be that unless The HDU and The Speakers Bureau has the support of all members and an enthusiastic bunch of participants to portray the 18th century cast of characters - officers and civilians - the project will fail to measure up to its potential.

Join in to have fun, live our motto - "je suis prest" - and make a difference for youth in BC.

Live the heritage!

coming soon ...

The Bard of Scotland celebrates his 255th birthday at the renowned Fort Fraser Burns Supper on the date of his birth - 25 January in the Mess - details follow.

Robert Burns 1759 - 1796 tentative schedule of events 2014 - watch for confirmation:

Sat 15 March - AGM - luncheon Sat 08 March - 15 Fd RCA Whisky Tasting Sat 26 April - Ste. Foy Remembrance - Dining-in buffet Sat 17 May - Victoria Highland Games & Fort Victoria Mess Dinner Sat 29 June - BC Highland Games Sat 12 July - Louisbourg Commemorative - Garrison BBQ Sat 27 September - Plains of Abraham Commemorative - Mess Dinner Sat 29 November - Feast of St. Andrew - Christmas Mess Dinner

hmmm, I should probably get a Scarlet tunic like all the other cool guys...

Garrison "Feast of St. Andrew":

One week ahead of the official St. Andrew's Day bank holiday, Fort Fraser welcomed 44 members and guests to another sumptuous dinner in the Officers' Mess at Bessborough armoury. The occasion doubles as our Christmas donation night, and a goodly hoard of food and toys was collected.

Inducted as V/Sgt. was Ms. Kellie Buis, resplendent in her 78th Tartan sash. (shown here with the high-powered Induction Party).

Fort Fraser recognized our long serving OC's Piper Lt. Ed McIlwaine, a world-class Piper and Piobaireachd expert, who became an Honourary Life Member of the garrison; and HLtCol. Bob McIlwaine who received the Service Medal and certificate marking his 25 years of service to the garrison and the regiment.

Dr. Holly Nelson, as guest speaker, informed and entertained with her talk "St. Andrew and Scotland: Saints, Soldiers and the Spirit of Sacrifice"; which included an audience participation choral salute to the Scottish military tradition. OC Major Mike Redmond included in his closing remarks the Garrison's thanks to Dr. Nelson, and announced the formation of the "Fort Fraser Speakers Bureau" which, if all goes according to plan, will enable dissemination of the romantic and heroic story of the 78th Highland Regiment of Foot to a wide audience in the lower mainland and beyond. and finally, from the "now you know" file, WWII section:

The Shetland Bus was the nickname of a clandestine special operations group that made a permanent link between Shetland, Scotland, and German-occupied Norway from 1941 until the German occupation ended on 8 May 1945. From mid-1942 the official name of the group was "Norwegian Naval Independent Unit" (NNIU). In October 1943 it became an official part of the Royal Norwegian Navy, and was renamed the "Royal Norwegian Naval Special Unit" (RNNSU). The unit was operated initially by a large number of small fishing boats, and later augmented by three fast and well-armed submarine chasers – Vigra, Hessa and Hitra. Crossings were mostly made during the winter under the cover of darkness. This meant that the crews and passengers had to endure very heavy North Sea conditions, with no lights, and constant risk of discovery by German aircraft or patrol boats. There was also the possibility of being captured whilst carrying out the mission on the Norwegian coast. However, early on it was decided that camouflage was the best defense and the boats were disguised as working fishing boats, with the crew as fishermen. The fishing boats were armed with light machine guns concealed inside oil drums placed on deck. The operation was under constant threat from German forces, and several missions went awry, of which the Telavåg tragedy is a prime example. Several fishing boats were lost during the initial operations, but after receiving the three submarine chasers there were no more losses.

Leif Andreas Larsen (popularly known as Shetland Larsen) was perhaps the most famous of the Shetland Bus men. In all he made 52 trips to Norway, and became the most highly-decorated Allied naval officer of the Second World War.

Shetland Bus memorial in Scalloway, Shetland

(source: Wikipedia)