ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER – SUMMER 2022

by | Aug 11, 2022 | Association Newsletters | 2 comments

ASSOCIATION NEWS

Vol. 1, Issue 2, Summer 2022

Greetings to our Members!

Yes, all former and serving members (Regular Force and Reserve) of the C&E Branch and its founding elements are automatically members in perpetuity of the C&E Association. Your family members are welcome to apply for Associate Membership. See everything about us and the rest of the C&E Family at https://cmcen-rcmce.ca/association

 

     C&E BRANCH 2023 VICTORY TOUR BATTLEFIELD STUDY

                        – NETHERLANDS 2023 –

The Communication and Electronic Branch Colonel Commandant Josée Robidoux is proud to launch  Netherlands 2023′, the latest in our series of battlefield study tours, to commemorate the legacy of our C&E Branch predecessors during the liberation of The Netherlands.This battlefield study is a look at our profession and a review of lessons from the past.  However, the true value is the pride instilled in our people, in the uniform they wear, and the camaraderie created by bringing veterans and serving Branch members together: through their common history.

 

Why a Battlefield Study? Our past C&E communicators ‘got comms thru’ as Canadians fought in, and over, the Channel along the coast of France and Belgium, and over dykes and the skies of the Netherlands. We liberated the Dutch and helped rebuild their lives. Canadian linemen connected the German commander for the surrender to General Foulkes. Our Museum holds the ceasefire message. Our RCAF colleagues supported all air operations playing a major role in Operation MANNA – delivering food to the starving Dutch population and participating in all the major air campaigns in support of the liberation including the Allied air campaign against the German Op Bodenplatte in 1945. The program remains superb: a 10-day Study trip in The Netherlands (Market Garden, Op VERITABLE and BLOCKBUSTER, Groesbeek and Holten War Cemeteries, and other commemorative events). This is not a wine tour! Everyone is expected to research the campaign and ‘signalling stories’, and present their experiences upon return. There will be interactions between historians, retired and serving alike, and reading material on www.cmcen-rcmce.ca. Liesbeth Langford will be again invited to join us. We intend to install a memorial plaque at the home of Dutch Signals at their barracks in Stroe, NL. C&E personnel in Europe may also tag-on. Our Tour will be lead formation for the ‘Sunset March’ over the ‘A bridge too Far’ Nijmegen bridge.

The C&E Branch, Corporate Sponsors, and Units will be co-sponsoring [Unit nominated] 40+ young Branch deserving serving Regular and Reserve members from Army and Air units all across Canada; other serving, veterans, family, and friends are also invited to attend.

 

Tour details:

  • All Tour members are invited to attend six Battlefield Study/Background/Discussion Zoom sessions held between Oct ’22 to Apr ’23;
  • Depart Canada: 28 Apr ’23, return 07 May ’23;
  • Staying at the Mercure Hotel Nijmegen, most meals provided;
  • Formal Tour registration closes 30 Sept ’22 for guaranteed Tour seats; Tour sales will continue up to day of departure upon availability;
  • Detailed Tour info can be found here: https://cmcen-rcmce.ca/the-netherlands-2023-battlefield-study/
  • Contact LCol (retired) Hubert (Hugh) Janssen 613-590-0565 [email protected] for any Tour questions.

JOIN US!

Velox Versutus Vigilans

 

 

Preserve Our Memorials

The management of our worldwide C&E memorials continues. Have a peek at https://cmcen-rcmce.ca/preserve-our-memorials/ for the latest. Joe Costello at is providing the data repository, which can be seen at http://www.rcsigs.ca/index.php/CandE_Memorials_Project. Our President recently reached out to CFB Kingston to see if we could coordinate our efforts to manage the creation and maintenance of the numerous C&E memorials currently residing on or planned for the Base. We were well received by the Deputy Base Commander and his staff and had a very productive meeting with them. We subsequently copied our extensive photo coverage of those memorials for their use and will continue our engagement over the coming weeks. MTF.

Finally, a small ask, we have a pretty good record of our Signals memorials but we need more data on our Air and EW/SIGINT communications memorials. To that end, if one of you readers thinks that you are just the person who could do a little online research on this subject, then please contact Tony Charters at [email protected].

Signallers Club dissolved

We are sad to report that the Signallers Club was officially dissolved on 21 Jan 2022.  Its webpage is still up, at least for now, but will not be updated.  Please check  https://cmcen-rcmce.ca/ for updates and information about the branch.

New Branch Leader

BGen Dave Yarker has been appointed Director General Information Management Operations in Ottawa, replacing BGen  James Lambert on his retirement.  He is also taking the reigns as the C&E Branch Leader.  Our thanks and best good wishes go out to BGen Lambert, and congratulations to BGen Yarker.

Looking for a Secretary

Are you looking for an opportunity to pitch in?  Do you have a good eye for detail and have a knack with words?  The Association is looking for someone who can help out and fill our vacant Secretary position.  For more information, please contact our President, John Leech, at [email protected]

Do you have news to share?

One of our five core functions at the C&E Association is to connect with all members of our community.  If you have any news you’d like to share with the community, let us know!  We can either publish it in an upcoming newsletter or get it posted to the CMCEN website.  You can send your news to [email protected]

 

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John Leech
1 year ago

I was remiss in not adding to our Summer Newsletter that we also have a new Branch Chief Warrant Officer: welcome to CWO Alex Arndt and thanks and all the best to CWO Gilles Philibert.

1 year ago

Does Dave Yarker have a bio I can check out?