780-594-4414 5118 50 Avenue, Cold Lake Helping you is what we do! www.northernlightsrealestate.com Approved Relocation Supplier Nous offrons un service bilingue Northern Lights Realty Ltd. INDEPENDENTLY OWNED AND OPERATED Volume 52 Number 18 www.couriernews.ca May 14, 2019 RCAF shows the flag in the North AB Justin Spinello 4 Wing Commander Colonel Paul Doyle, Sergeant Major Paul McKenna Command Senior Enlisted Leader for Headquarters, NORAD Command Force, NORAD Command Commander General Terrence O’Shaughnessy, United States Air Force and 4 Operations Support Squadron Lieutenant- Colonel Seane Doell walk towards “Green Hanger” during a visit to Forward Operating Location Inuvik, Northwest Territories on April 23. CLIFF KENYON North America. Col. Doyle said they toured the area with flights Col. Doyle, with the U.S. officials, visited Inuvik over Tuktoyaktuk, about 140 km north of Inuvik, Inuvik isn’t a place you think of visiting. Or think facilities and held informal discussions about the which included air-to-air refuelling with a tanker about at all. future of the facility and its role as well as its vital link aircraft from 437 Transport Squadron from 8 Wing It’s cold and distant, about 3,700 driving kilometres with 4 Wing. Trenton. northwest of Cold Lake on the edge of the chilly “I believe we have a key role and an active role in Using satellites, NORAD can track North Beaufort Sea. With a population of only about 3,500 4 Wing and experience in operating in the Arctic,” he American air space and detect missile launches almost there’s not much going on. It’s not a tourist hot spot. said in an interview after his return to Cold Lake. ”We anywhere in the world. It can also track all man-made Although it seems quite insignificant, it isn’t and have a job to do there.” objects in space. Information is cross-referenced enjoys a solid link with Cold Lake, its distant southern He said a skeleton crew of Canadian Armed with civilian and military air traffic control to detect cousin. Forces (CAF) personnel is deployed at Inuvik, at all unauthorized flights, such as drug smugglers. The Inuvik, with Cold Lake, holds a key role in North times, with many of the service personnel from their Canadian NORAD region monitors all air traffic American defence and that’s where 4 Wing Cold Lake permanent base in Cold Lake. approaching Canada. Wing Commander Colonel Paul Doyle met recently “We are looking into the 21st century and beyond,” Last week in a one-day exercise, NORAD with U.S. officials in NORAD (North American Col. Doyle told The Courier. “There is more and more conducted an air defense exercise over the Prairies Aerospace Defense Command). interest in maintaining a strategic presence in the and near the east and Pacific coasts. He was accompanied by four star General Terrence Arctic and Cold Lake is key to that future. We want to F-15 and CF-18 fighter jets and a Royal Canadian O’Shaughnessy of the U.S. Air Force, commander of see what opportunities there are for using Inuvik well Air Force CP-140 took part in the exercise, all U.S. Northern Command and NORAD Commander. into the future.” conducted above 14,000 feet. “They were making a swing through the Arctic He said although Inuvik is not a high population, To test responses, systems and equipment, touring,” said Col. Doyle. Earlier, U.S. commanders area accommodations for CAF members deployed in NORAD routinely conducts exercises using a variety had stopped in Alaska. the northern post are “well appointed” with regular of scenarios, including airspace restriction violations, NORAD, established in 1957 with the U.S., has updating. Canadian air defences assigned to NORAD hijackings and responding to unknown aircraft. been the backbone of an early warning radar system include 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron at Cold Lake. Operation NOBLE EAGLE is the name given to that has been called our “first line of defence” for “We must make sure we can ensure a strong and the military response following the terrorist attacks of North America. NORAD says its role is to detect secure presence for the RCAF in the Arctic,” he said. September 11, 2001, and applies to all air sovereignty aircraft and space vehicles deemed to be a threat to “We use our air power to show the flag.” and air defense missions in North America. NATIONAL LOCAL LOCAL WEEKLY May memorial Zzzzzzz…is good for you Fitness can be fun Entertainment & more! Royal Canadian Air Force marks 4 Wing Health Department focuses Canadian Forces Morale & Fitness Movies .................................Page 3 victorious Battle of the Atlantic on Better Sleep for Better Health. celebrates Staff Wellness day with Padre ..................................Page 6 during May. 10, 2019. Page 5 some fun. Page 2 Page 6 Entertainment.....................Page 7 Page 2 The Courier News & Publishing Tuesday, May 14, 2019 May marks victorious Battle of the Atlantic for RCAF JOANNA CALDER The Royal Air Force’s Coastal Command, which U-Boats during the Battle of the Atlantic. included seven Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons, His heroism earned him the Victoria Cross. He The Battle of the Atlantic, which continued fought against the enemy’s U-Boats, merchant ships was the first member of the RCAF to be awarded the throughout the Second World War, was the longest and warships. Coastal Command aircraft escorted Victoria Cross and one of only two RCAF members and largest campaign of the war. Canadian men and convoys sailing from North America to Britain, and to earn this highest decoration for valour during the women, serving in the Royal Canadian Navy, Royal searched the seas from Iceland to Gibraltar. Coastal Second World. Canadian Air Force and the Merchant Navy, bore Command crews destroyed more than one-quarter of Flight Lieutenant Hornell, who was born in a heavy burden in this struggle for control of the all German U-Boats “killed” during the war: 212 out Ontario in 1910, was the aircraft captain of a PBY- shipping lanes on the North Atlantic Ocean. of 800. 5A Canso amphibious aircraft with the RCAF’s 162 Britain desperately needed supplies, particularly RCAF squadrons in Coastal Command and in Squadron, temporarily attached to Coastal Command from North America. Germany, however, was Canada accounted for 19 U-Boats, while RCAF crews and conducting anti-submarine warfare in the North determined to sink that incoming shipping with their serving in Royal Air Force squadrons involved in Atlantic. stealthy U-Boats (submarines). So feared was this many more “kills” in the North Atlantic. On June 24, 1944, he was on a patrol out of undersea menace that the Allied war leaders at the The tide began to turn against the German Iceland; his wireless gunner – Flight Sergeant Sydney 1943 Casablanca Conference declared the elimination submarine “wolf packs” in 1943, in part due to the Cole – spotted a sub in the distance and Flight of the U-Boat threat as its number one priority. introduction of American-made Consolidated B-24 Lieutenant Hornell turned to attack it. But the U-Boat The Battle of the Atlantic is commemorated Liberator bomber. The aircraft, used by Coastal had already seen the aircraft and the sub commander annually on the first Sunday in May. Command as a long-range patrol aircraft, helped returned heavy and accurate anti-aircraft fire. close the “Atlantic Gap”, the part of the ocean where Just as he gained speed to attack the submarine, U-Boats had prowled unmolested because they were one of Flight Lieutenant Hornell’s guns jammed out of range of aerial attack. Technological advances and two shells hit his aircraft, starting a fire inside Office Closure Notice such as sonar helped Allied ships and aircraft the plane and knocking out one engine. Despite the The Courier office will be closed target U-Boats that had previously operated safely chaos, he still managed to drop his depth charges and under cover of darkness. Losses to German U-Boats send the U-Boat to the bottom of the ocean. Monday, May 20 for the Victoria Day holiday. continued, however, right up until the end of the war. After the Canso crash-landed into the rough We will reopen on Tuesday, May 21 at 8:00 am. The cost of winning the Battle of the Atlantic and icy sea, only one of the two inflatable dinghies Have a safe and happy long weekend! was high. Most of the 2,000 members of the Royal was serviceable. It was too small for everyone, so Canadian Navy who died during the war lost their lives crew members took turns sitting inside or partially in the Battle of the Atlantic. More than 750 members immersed in the water while clinging to the dinghy’s of the RCAF died in maritime operations as a result of sides. Two of the crewmen died during their 21-hour enemy action and flying accidents in the unforgiving ordeal. By the time the remaining crew were rescued, environment. And the Book of Remembrance for Flight Lieutenant Hornell was blind and completely the Merchant Navy lists the names of nearly 1,600 exhausted; he died shortly after being picked up. He Canadians and Newfoundlanders – or those who is buried in Lerwick Cemetery, located in Scotland’s served on ships of Canadian or Newfoundland registry. Shetland Islands. The Battle of the Atlantic is commemorated Flight Lieutenant David Hornell’s Victoria Cross annually on the first Sunday in May. was announced in the London Gazette on July 28, 1944. He was inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Centennial Building(#67), Meet Flight Lieutenant David Hornell – Fame in 1974.