April 2010

the Signal THE NEWSLETTER OF THE VENTURE ASSOCIATION

Published roughly twice a year by the Venture Association. Send Letters to the Editor and Pay Dues (by cheque) to the Venture Association, c/o Gordon Longmuir, 903-168 Chadwick Crt, North Vancouver, BC V7M 3L4; e-mail: thesignal@shaw.ca . Changes of address and other personal information should be sent to your Class Rep (see p 6) who will forward them to the Registrar. AND: go to the Venture Website for breaking news: www.hmcsventure.com . The new webmaster is Darryl Harden (Class of ‘65), e-mail hmcsventure@bell.net. Download back copies of The Signal as .pdf attachments (Acrobat Reader is free at http://www.adobe.com/downloads/ ) And, finally, please let us know if you no longer wish to receive the print version of this newsletter, thus saving printing and mailing costs, as well as a lot of the Editor’s valuable time; send your e-mail address to thesignal@shaw.ca .

The Battle of Nanoose Bay Episode #1

By Ken Scotten, Class of ‘61 and Past President [Ed note: we ran a piece on this skylark by Venture Historian Wilf Lund in the October 2005 issue of the Signal, but this is a little dif-ferent and more detailed: enjoy!]

J ust prior to the graduation of my year, Class of ’61, Venture found they had a week where they had no training planned and NDHQ would not let Venture

graduate us early with additional leave. Hence, the staff task was to find some-thing for us to do!

The Navy had just procured a site at Nanoose Bay to expand and build the deep water test range that exists there to this day. In ’61 nothing existed but the beach: no fences or facilities of any kind. Someone had the idea for our class to build a small boat jetty so that boats could properly land at the site when ships visited and anchored in the Bay – which they often did. That would consume idle time for the class and get them out of sight/out of mind into the woods for a week and a half.

We needed bell tents to live in, food to eat, vehicles to transport us and all sorts of equipment to build the jetty (chain saws, wire cable, spikes, hammers, bolt cutters, clamps and the like). The Cadet Captains, of which I was one, got DND 404s to drive service vehicles and we loaded up a 3-ton truck with whatever we thought we would need. I recall we had the 3-ton, a panel truck and an old Navy jeep. We needed fire fighting equipment in case we had a fire problem (P250 pumps, fire hose and lots of bags and barrels – more about this later).

Naturally, we needed a few whalers, dinghies and a couple of motor cutters. Our Chief Cadet Captain was from Powell River and brought over his fast runabout for fun and waterskiing. Lt Goeff Craven, our CTO, was an avid fisherman, as was the Petty Officer – [whose name slips my mind] and they promptly “went fishing” every day “leaving us to our tasks.” This wasn’t work – it was a fun week that people would pay money to enjoy.

The first story I want to relate is a “Run to the Dairy Queen/A&W in Parksville.” Being fresh from our Cadet cruise we knew how to con a ship, so we loaded up the jeep for the run. I don’t know how many people you can get in a jeep but we must be near the record: over 14 cadets on this occasion. Now the trip is about 10 miles, initially over a rough trail through the woods, then paved road to the Island Highway which was then, and is today, a busy road. With this mass of the Navy’s finest piled in – hood full, bumpers full, inside full - of cheering good looking cadets yearning for treats, we set off. I was the driver and couldn’t see forward for the bodies on the hood. However, I must have got excellent conning directions from just about everyone on the hood because we all returned without injuries or other problems. Now do you have this picture: a huge lump of male humanity — the Navy’s finest —piled high on a jeep travelling down the road, steering with port/starboard conning orders, adjusting speed with slow ahead, half, full etc., and cheering at all passing cars, in particular the girls, all the way to Parksville. I think about this event every time I pass Parksville, which is reasonably frequently since I live on the island. I seem to recall we did this twice successfully during the week and to our good fortune were never stopped or challenged by any authority. The jeep survived also – at least for awhile longer..

[To be continued…]

April 2010

2 the Signal

Letters to the Editor From Trout Creek, ON

Dear Editor,

Veterans Affairs Canada put out a newspaper-type publication entitled Canada Remembers Times for the period of Veterans’ Week November 5-11. On the front page of that publication is an article titled “Up the Taedong river in a De-stroyer”. The squadron of Canadian ships that went up that river was navigated up and back using radar, at night. The Squadron navigator who accomplished this feat was a young Lieutenant who subsequently retired as a Vice-Admiral. For this hazardous but successful task, the officer was awarded the DSC (or was it the DSO?). The reason I raise this was that this officer was the XO of HMCS Venture when I was there as a cadet. His name was A.L. “Andy” Collier. This is just another piece of Venture history which probably very few of us know about.

F. Stuart Taggart Class of ‘60 [Ed note: The Taedong River is in North Korea, and the operation referred to by Stu occurred during the Korean War — 1950-53 — when the RCN deployed three destroyers to serve with UN forces. Andy’s ship was HMCS Cayuga, the time was December 1951, and the award was the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC). Not incidentally, Cdr R.P. Welland, later the first CO of Venture, commanded HMCS Athabaskan during that same operation and was awarded a bar to the DSC he had earned in WWII. On a personal note, my late brother, Cal, also served in Cayuga during that action, and I recall him telling me about the “trainbusting” exploits of HMC Ships in Korea. ]

From West Vancovuer, BC Dear Editor,

Stan Brygadyr (the Signal August 2009) makes an interesting point about Venture. ... the federal government had the first two-year colleges in Canada and that they later became a trend as Community Colleges. Venture was certainly one of those and it also had what is known as the university transfer feature in that we had to take 1st Year UBC examinations at the end of our first year. The second year with naval arts and sci-ences also had strong university content with the physics, languages and even subjects like navigation. I think the first public post-secondary col-leges in BC started in the mid-60s (1964-ish).

The role the Navy played in developing this model of education in Canada is not well known. It is too bad they didn't implement the Venture Plan by calling it a Naval Officer College. I suppose, with Royal Roads across the way, some would have considered it confusing with its roots.

Jack McGee Class of ‘60 From Brentwood Bay, BC Dear Editor, ... another excellent edition and thanks for that! I note in Stan's letter (the Signal August 2009) re: Two Naval Colleges in Canada, and the Ven-ture Plan, that he includes two Venture members who reached Vice-Admiral. There's another: Vice-Admiral: Lynn Mason of our class of '62. Also, of course, we had Peter Baldwin who retired from the New Zealand Navy as a Commodore (designate). And then there is Norm Burt who retired from the Australian Navy as a Commodore. These are pretty significant achievements for Canadians (let alone ex-Ventures) in Common-wealth Navies. Cheers

Phil Johnston Class of ‘62

[to which Wilf Lund, Class of ’61 and Venture Historian adds: “Lest we forget, Commodore JC Bergeron (65) who was Chief of Naval Re-serves. Venture is a "star-studded" class act”, and I would add BGen Jean Veronneau.] From Crescent Beach, BC Dear Editor,

[ re: the Reunion Special edition Nov 09]: Excellent issue of "The Signal", especially the front page!

Bob Welland, CO Venture 1954-56

HMCS Cayuga—1953

Newsletter of the Venture Association

April 2010

3

From Victoria, BC Dear Editor, I'm in the midst of researching the History of Canadian Football in Victoria, B.C. and was wondering if it would be possible to men-tion in your Newsletter that I'm looking for copies of game photos, team photos, game programs and stories from any of the players who may have been a member of a Venture football team. Venture had a team entered in the Victoria Junior Football League from the years of 1954 to 1957. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I can be contacted via email at paul_shortt@telus.net Thank you,

Paul Shortt From Victoria, BC Dear Editor,

Great … news on this side of the continent! It seems that all those years that Keith G Nesbit (Class of '62) spent playing the piano in dingy Victoria bars have finally paid off for the erstwhile submariner. Keith was indoctrinated into the Victoria Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on September 20, 2009 for his band days in the KGN+3, and the Pink Panther. With the award of this trophy, the old relic’s wayward musical apprenticeship is apparently over!

Bravo Zulu Keith or should we say “Dolphin 72A.”

Congratulations also to Ian Follis (Class of '57) who was in that group when they were called were called “Ron Tuele & The Mon-archs” and played at the Fleet Club. Ian was indoctrinated on September 20 as well.

Phil Johnston, Class of ‘62 [Ed. Note: At the request of Ian Follis, I had the pleasure of hand carrying Keith’s award to Halifax and getting it to him during the 2009 Reunion. “Rock and Roll”, at our age, probably has less to do with music and more to do with rocking and wheeling!]

From Port Coquitlam, BC Dear Editor,

… While publicity has not yet been issued, here is a "peek behind the curtain". Please mark Saturday September 4th, 2010 on your calendar. While Victoria and Halifax will be holding Naval Centennial ship assemblies, only Vancouver will be holding a naval cen-tennial tattoo. It will be held at the (recently renovated for the Olympics) Coliseum at the Pacific National Exhibition, which seats 15,000 in new seats. The PNE is also celebrating its centennial this year so they are providing us the facility and advertising, and promoting the Naval Centennial Tattoo as a PNE event. There will be two shows (2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.), and admission is free with general admission to the grounds. The host band is our Vancouver Naval Veterans Band http://vannavyband.spaces.live.com/ and, in addition to us, so far participation commitments have been received from the Naden Band, the 15th Field Regiment Band, a British Royal Marine Band, and a few others I don't recall. When I get the publicity info, I'll forward it to you for circulation (at least to our west coast members who might find this event of interest).

... We are always looking for players to join us and you can first learn something about the group on the website. I...only joined last year. The original membership is dwindling and they would dearly love to supplement with people who have been in the service post WWII. Bob Juulsen is the band president and joined the RCN here in Vancouver in 1953. He retired as a LCdr some years ago and plays a tenor horn in the band. Some of you may know him thru the Vancouver Naval Veterans Association. Do you know of any of our other former Venture members who live in the Greater Vancouver area (I might approach them)?

Ian Follis, Class of ‘57 [ From Langley, BC Dear Editor

I have received the Signal since I discovered that there was a Venture alumni association, and attended the 1999 and 2004 reun-ions. I was one of several too-young castoff’s of the class of 63-II, but I stood as class rep for several years, found a bunch of our classmates and added them to our email group. ...

I digress. My father was a sailor, joined in 1939, was a C2ER4, patrolled the Atlantic in WWII, became a submariner in the 1950’s, retired from the RCN in 1964, same year as I was released, and passed away in 2001. He had a bunch of books, and I will offer them to any Venturian who wants them at no charge, just pay shipping (e-mail ironpeddler@shaw.ca )Prefer that someone take the lot; they are:

April 2010

4 the Signal

RCN in Retrospect, 1910-1968; Boutilier. Hardbound, RCN in Transition, 1910-1985; Doug-las. Hardbound, The Ships of Canada’s Naval Forces, 1910-1993; Macpherson and Bur-gess. Soft bound edition (see p 8), Naval History of World War II; Jane’s. Hardbound, Sub-marine Warfare, An Illustrated History; Preston. Hardbound, Undersea Warriors; Schwab. Hardbound.

Garry Fullerton, Class of 63-II

Visit our Naval Museums and the Canadian War Museum

Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum Building 20N, CFB Esquimalt (Naden) Esquimalt, BC Telephone: +1 (604) 363-4395 www.navalandmilitarymuseum.org Vancouver Naval Museum P.O. Box 91399 West Vancouver, BC V7V 3P1 Telephone (Curator): (250) 752-1291; Fax: (250) 752-1292; located at HMCS Discovery, 1200 Stanley Park Drive, Vancouver, BC

The Naval Museum of Alberta HMCS Tecumseh, 1820 - 24th Street S.W., Calgary, AB . T2T 0G6 Telephone: (403) 242 - 0002 Fax: (403) 240 -1966

www.navalmuseum.ab.ca The Naval Museum of Manitoba HMCS Chippawa, 1 Navy Way Winnipeg, MB R3C 4J7 www.naval-museum.mb.ca/

HMCS Haida National Historic Site Pier 9, HMCS Star, 658 Catherine St, Hamil-ton, ON L8L 4V7 Musée Naval de Québec, 170 rue Dalhousie, Québec, QC G1K 8M7; Tele-phone: (418) 694-5387 www.mnq.nmq.org Shearwater Aviation Museum 12 Wing, P.O. Box 5000 Stn Main Shearwater, NS B0J 3A0 E-mail: awmuseum@ns.sympatico.ca www.shearwateraviationmuseum.ns.ca Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, 1675 Lower Water Street, Halifax, NS B3J 1S3; Telephone (902) 424-7490; e-mail: mooreme@gov.ns.ca; www.museum.gov.ns.ca

The Canadian War Museum, 1Vimy Place, Ottawa, ON K1R 1C2; Telephone (819) 776-8600; www.warmuseum.ca

The Canadian Aviation Museum, 11 Aviation Parkway, Ottawa, ON K1K 4R3; Telephone 1 (800) 463-2038; www.aviation.technomuses.ca

HMCS Sackville—Canadian Naval Memorial Trust, PO Box 99000, Stn Forces Halifax, NS B3K 5X5; Telephone (902) 427-2837 (winter); (902) 429-2132 (summer) berthed at HMC Dockyard, Halifax www.hmcssackville-cnmt.ns.ca

Maritime Command Museum, 2725 Gottingen St, Halifax, NS B3K 1A1; Tele-phone (902) 721-8250 www.pspmembers.com

HMCS/CFB Cornwallis Military Museum,PO Box 31, Clementsport, NS B0S 1E0 www.cornwallismuseum.ca.

Attention Venture Class of '56

D uring Reunion 2009 in Halifax last September, there was some discussion amongst members of the Class of '56 about holding a class reunion in Victoria sometime in 2011 to mark the 55th Anniver-sary of our Graduation from VENTURE. The Class of '56 had a very successful gathering on Ottawa, September 2006 to mark the 50th Anniversary.

As Class Rep, I would like to hear your views on a proposed "mini" class reunion. Other than a gen-eral YES/NO response, please include any ideas you might harbour on the proposal, e.g., location, time frame, duration, programme, etc.. And please indicate if you would be prepared to "honcho" or "work on" whatever may come from this short survey.

I can be reached by any of the following means: e-mail: casalanc@eastlink.ca; tel: (902) 446-7107

Canada Post: Forrest Green, PH9 - 211 Willett Street, Halifax, NS, B3M 3C7.

Yours respectfully,

Lanc

Newsletter of the Venture Association

April 2010

5

“NELSON’S EYE” Restored? The following is an edited version of the full report forwarded by Doug Hen-derson (Class of ‘57); please note, however, that a Motion of this kind is not binding on the Government, so this is only step one! From: LaViolette Cdr DA@CMS MSPA@Ottawa-Hull Subject: Private Members' Business - Motion 459: Executive Curl Unanimously adopted

We have received confirmation from Director Parliamentary Affairs that this motion was unanimously adopted by the House:

Mr. Guy Lauzon's PMB, Motion 459, was adopted unanimously by the House after an hour of debate. All parties expressed support for the motion. ... The motion reads: "That, in the opinion of the House, in light of the upcoming centennial of the Ca-nadian Navy, the government should consider reinstating the Navy executive curl on its uniforms."

Mr. Lauzon (CPC), supported by John Cannis (Liberal), Mario Laframboise (BQ), Jack Harris (NDP) and several other MPs, all expressed the hope that the Government would follow through on this motion of Parliament. …. For more information, contact Britton MacDonald, Policy Officer, Directorate of Parliamentary Affairs, Dept of National De-fence, Ottawa: britton.macdonald@forces.gc.ca; tel: 613-995-0312; fax: 613-995-5908

RCSCEF Scholarship Update By Tim Porter (Class of ‘58)

The Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Education Foundation (RCSCEF) is now entering its 3rd Year as a fund raiser with

the same aim: “to assist at least 10 graduating sea cadets with a $1,000 scholarship each”. In the past 2 years, 2008 and 2009, thanks to our many donors, we were successful in raising sufficient funds to award 10 scholarships to deserving sea cadets each year to assist in their post secondary education. But even though the RCN Benevolent Fund also matches our number of scholarships, we have still had to refuse many other applicants. This year, in honour of the 100th Anniversary of the Navy we hope to award 12- $1,000 scholarships.

The following extracts are from the letters of recommendation we have received and they are but a small SAMPLE of the calibre of this year’s RCSCEF scholarship winners:

By a CO….”I have seen ( ) mature into a dedicated Cadet Instructor, leader and a very dependable young man.”

By a Principal….One of the most impressive aspects of ( )’s character is the way in which his involvement with a group raises the level for everyone.

By a CO….”She has shown good leadership and discipline, and her dress and deportment are outstanding. She has been awarded the Lord Strathcona Medal, the Royal Canadian Legion Medal of Excellence, the Navy League Medal of Excellence…”.

By a Principal……”( )is a leader in many extracurricular activities. He is the co-chair of the Youth and Philanthropy

Committee and a member of the Student Council & Leadership Team.”

As we noted last year, the Department of National Defence, the Navy League of Canada and various sponsoring Ser-vice Clubs do a great job of preparing these young men and women to assume responsible and leadership positions in society. It is then the Foundation’s mission to recognize the importance of their post secondary education and strive to support them as they enter the next phase of their lives.

To donate: Please send cheques to: The Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Education Foundation:

602-1180 Ohio Street

Ottawa, ON

K1H 8N5

Or go to our web site: www.canadianseacadetscholarships.ca and go to “contents” then RCSC Donation page”.

The Foundation thanks all of its donors and potential donors.

April 2010

6 the Signal

Distribution of the Signal As of this edition, 503 copies distributed: 427 electroni-

cally via the website or direct e-mail; 76 by snailmail. To

addresses in: Australia, Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, Mexico, New

Zealand, Norway, Thailand, the UK and the USA.

The Executive*

John Westlake (‘67) - Presi-dent: (613) 837-0081; west-lake@rogers.com

Ken Scotten (‘61) - Past President: (250) 472-6187; kscotten@shaw.ca

John Carruthers (‘56) - Secretary: (250) 478-7351; johncarruthers@telus.net

Ron McLean (‘65) - Treasurer: ((250) 595-5087; ronmclean@shaw.ca

Gordon Longmuir (‘57) - Registrar and

Editor of The Signal: (604) 980-1718; thesignal@shaw.ca or dglo@shaw.ca

Darryl Harden (‘65) - Webmaster-designate; (514) 428-4354; hmcsventure@bell.net

Doug McClean (‘64) - Director-at-Large Victoria: (250) 658-3554; dmcclean@telus.net

Tim Porter (‘58) - Director at Large Ot-tawa: (613) 843-7004;

timporter@rogers.com

Matt Durnford (‘65) - Director-at-Large Halifax: (902) 766-4104; cormorant@eastlink.ca

George Kolisnek (‘67) - Chairman 2014 Reunion Ottawa: (613) 837-0463;

kolisnek@rogers.com

Wilf Lund (‘61) - Venture Historian: (250) 598-5894; wilflund@telus.net

Class Representatives 1956: Bob Lancashire, (902) 679-0601; casalanc@eastlink.ca

1957: Don Uhrich, (902) 462-2980; dgu@ns.sympatico.ca

1958: Tony Smith, (250) 479-5676; afsmith@trilan.com

1959: Tom Essery, (250) 477-9321; tessery@shaw.ca

1960: Pierre Yans, (250) 592-5997; pjyans@telus.net

1961: Wilf Lund, (250) 598-5894; wilflund@telus.net

1962: Phil Johnson, (250) 652-0264;

johnstonsp@shaw.ca

1963-I: Russ Rhode, (250) 642-0086;

russal@shaw.ca

1963-II: Tim Kemp, (250) 494-5043 timkate@shaw.ca

1964: Gord Oakley, (250) 544-1616; gordon_oakley@telus.net

1965: Graeme Evans, (250) 361-2646; gnbevans@shaw.ca

1966: Ross Beck, (613) 492-0130; rpbeck@rogers.com

1967: Errol Collinson, (250) 704-0048; erroni@shaw.ca

Staff: Joe Cunningham, (250) 360-0450; josephcunningham@shaw.ca

*NB: Class Reps are members

of the Esecutive

ΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨΨ

The Editor’s Corner Gordon Longmuir (Class of ‘57)

T hose of us with the luck to live out here in Lotusland were treated in

February to the spectacle of the Olympic Games, enlivening this laid-back city for 17 days. Most agree that the Games were good for the city, the province and the country. We were at the Closing Ceremony when Sid the Kid scored the gold medal goal; BC Place rose as one to sing ‘O Canada’ .

T hree things to draw to your attention as we come off the “high” of last fall’s Reunion: (1) Wilf Lund is still seeking memoirs of

as many members as possible for the history project: see page 8 for details; and (2) We don’t usually do advocacy in these pages, but last fall, I pasted in a little article from the Globe suggesting a return to the executive curl on the uniforms of Naval officers. Somehow, a unanimous parliamentary motion has passed urging the Canadian Forces to restore the curl (see p. 5). (3) I appeal once more to mem-bers to keep sending in stories, letters, photos, anecdotes, etc., to fill

our pages and make the Signal a fun part of your life every six months or so. I agreed at the Reunion AGM to stay on for awhile, but I cannot and will not do this alone; I need your support and in-put. So, if you like receiving this little newsletter, get with it, guys! Yours aye,

Gordon

The President’s Message John Westlake (Class of ‘66)

S pring has sprung across Canada and the weather is certainly improving. I have been asked to provide some thoughts for

this issue of the Signal. There are only two items that I am aware of that could be of interest to the Association.

The first item involves support to the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Navy. In recognition of the contribution of the Venture Plan, we, the Association, were asked to support the Victoria B.C. Homecoming Pro-ject. This project will see a statue erected in the Inner Harbour. As part of the statue there will be two stones placed with sponsors’ info on them. One of the stones will note the organizations that supported the project. We were asked to sponsor and the Executive agreed to this proposal. Information on the Homecoming Project can be seen at www.homecomingstatue.com . [Ed note: two classes, those of 1957 and 1965 also bought inscribed “bricks” to be part of the statue founda-tion].

T he second item concerns our website. As noted in my last message, our webmaster, Harley Kieran, has tendered his resignation as web-

master after nearly 20 years. The task of webmaster has been taken on by Darryl Harden. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Harley for a job well done. His efforts were outstanding in developing the web-site and providing information to our membership. Harley, we thank you for your efforts on our behalf. I would also like to thank Darryl for tak-ing on this task and to thank Sieg Deleu as well for considering succeed-ing Harley. For technical reasons involving the usual Mac vs PC, this wasn’t possible.

I wish you and yours a great spring and summer. Yours aye

John

Newsletter of the Venture Association

April 2010

7

In Memoriam

Bob (Windy) Geale, Staff

Greg (Chuck) Kamenka,

Class of ‘57

CPO Mike Gallo, Staff

Bob MacKay, Class of ‘59

Register Changes Class of ‘56

Reg Hardy, e-mail anchored@ballaliant.net

Harley Kieran, e-mail kieranh@eastlink.ca

J.R.J. (Range) Rangel, 6268 Marie Mead-ows Rd, Victoria, BC V8Z 5Z8; celphone (250) 516-5388; e-mail

jaysjourneys@shaw.ca

Class of ‘57 John Grant, 72 Curtis Court, Bay Point, CA; tel: (925) 291-6383; cel: (309) 853-6542

Sharon Kamenka (Hon), PO Box 1069, Lillooet, BC V0K 1V0; tel: (250) 256-2188 Myrna McKenzie (Hon), 6337 Redonda Place, Nanaimo, BC V9V 1S8; e-mail bawtiemyrna@shaw.ca

Class of ‘58 Mark Crofton, e-mail markandjanecrofton@gmail.com

Class of ‘59

Mike O’Leary e-mail moleary@gmail.com Mike Hurford e-mail ms.hurford@seasidehighspeed.com

Mike Bowen e-mail mpbowen@pppoe.ca

Class of ‘60 Bob Tanton e-mail bobtanton@gmail.com

Class of ‘61

Lou Segui e-mail lmsegui@aim.com Sandy Farquhar e-mail letsgoflying@bell.net

VENTURE HISTORY PROJECT: Cadet Memoirs

By Wilf Lund, Class of ‘61, Venture Historian

A reminder that I will be presenting a paper entitled “By Sea and Air: HMCS Venture 1954-68.” at a history conference in Halifax this year commemorating the 100th anniversary of the RCN/Canadian Navy. To assist me in developing the paper, I am asking all former Venture ca-dets, graduates or not, to answer the following four questions on one page:

1. Why did you join Venture/RCN?

2. What were your initial impressions?

3. What person, activity or aspect of training do you remember and/or influenced you most?

4. How did the Venture experience prepare you for your service/civilian career and life?

Respondents should not feel restricted to one page and I would appreci-ate additional commentary on service/civilian career, rank/position at-tained, command time, etc. Send your responses directly to me at wilflund@telus.net. I have received over 70 responses already. My ulti-mate objective is to produce a book by the 2014 reunion

Editor’s Note:

The Executive has agreed that the Association should make a periodic contribution to the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust, HMCS Sack-ville with the passing of colleagues. Individual members are encouraged to make personal donations to the CNMT. The website is: www.hmcssackville-cnmt.ns.ca/ . Another worthy cause, although not a memorial, ishe Shearwater Air Museum www.shearwateraviationmuseum.ns.ca

Members will also, of course, want to continue with their own favorite charities, e.g., the Ca-nadian Cancer Society, Heart and Stroke Foundation, etc.

New Webmaster

As John has noted, our vener-able Webmaster, Harley Kieran, has stepped down in order to play a little more golf and spend a little less time fine-tuning the Venture website (www.hmcsventure.com). The new Webmaster is Darryl Harden (Class of ‘65) . While hard pressed to step into Harley’s size 12s, Darryl assures us that he is fully up to the task. Please test him at every opportu-nity — e-mail him at

hmcsventure@bell.net !

by Don MacMillan, Class of ‘58

April 2010

8 the Signal

EX LIBRIS:

THE BOOKLIST Sea of Glory

Philbrick, Nathaniel, Harper Perennial, London, 2005

Sea of Glory is the account of an extraordinary and surprisingly little-known US Exploring Expedition of 1838 to 1842 in the Antarctic and Pacific Ocean by six sailing ships and 346 men of the US Navy. This group explored vast tracts of the Pacific, including a new southern conti-nent which became Antarctica. They re-turned to the US with more specimens and artifacts than all three of Captain James Cook’s voyages of the previous century com-bined. This became the bulk of the Smith-sonian Museum col-lection, which was founded to house it. The author does a fine job of showing how important the Expedi-tion was to the emergent American nation as well as bringing the motivation and nature of exploration into sharp relief. This book tells a tale of maritime derring-do before steam spoiled the fun. It is a tale so brilliantly told by Nathaniel Philbrick that Sea of Glory has to be among the best non-fiction books about the sea to be had. This is a fascinating read, and will come as a revela-tion to many “Old Salts” as well as to the “Great Un-washed.” Highly recommended.

Doug Henderson, Class of ‘57 [Ed note: This will be a continuing column recommend-ing good reading, which many of us find more time to do these days. Please send us suggestions, primarily but not exclusively “naval” and/or Canadian, works. I also strongly recommend the website www.hazegray.org/

BUGGINS

Buggins, now pushing 75, walks into a jewelry store one Friday evening with a beautiful young gal at his side. He tells the jeweler he is looking for a special ring for his new girlfriend. The jeweler looks through his stock and brings out a $5,000 ring. Buggins says, 'No, I'd like to see something more special.'

The jeweler goes to his special stock and brings another ring over.. 'Here's a stunning ring at only $40,000' he says. The young lady's eyes sparkle and her whole body trembles with excitement. Buggins says, 'We'll take it.'

The jeweler asks how payment will be made and Buggins says, 'by cheque. I know you need to make sure it’s good, so I'll write it now and you can call the bank Monday to verify the funds and I'll pick the ring up Monday after-noon,'. Monday morning, the jeweler phones the old man. 'There's no money in that account.' 'I know,' says Buggins, 'But let me tell you about my weekend!'

Naughtical Terms*

VESSEL fr L vascellum diminutive of vase or urn which itself was a diminutive of vas – vessel, introduced into English about 1300 via OF vaisselle. Originally the English word ‘vessel’ re-ferred to a container, vase or bowl but by 1325 it was being used as a metaphor for a ship

*courtesy of our esteemed Past Past President, Joe Cunningham