A sea cadet at RCSCC LION from 1963 to 1968, I joined the Naval Reserve at HMCS STAR in 1968 as a Bos'n. I was an Officer Cadet in the ROUTP, commissioned in 1971, and awarded my watchkeeping ticket in 1973. I served at sea, at one time or another, in all five Gate Vessels and HMCS FORT STEELE & CHAUDIERE as well as the Coast Guard icebreaker Louis St. Laurent and served as OIC of the patrol vessels RALLY and RAPID. At STAR from 1968 to 2007, I served as XO twice and then as CO from 2002 to 2005. I rounded out my career by serving as SSO Training at NAVRESHQ in Quebec City in 2008, retiring in 2009 as CO of HMCS HUNTER in Windsor. I was Executive Director for the Friends of HMCS HAIDA till 2011 and have been an active volunteer onboard HAIDA since she arrived in Hamilton in 2003.
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Canadian Forces Dress Instructions Chapter Two, Section One, Paragraph 31b
Retired Members.
Mess Dress (No 2). The wear of Mess Dress (No 2 or 2A only) after release is permitted. Former members are to wear the style of Mess Dress authorized by their Branch/Corps or Regiment at the time of their release, this includes their rank, decorations, skill insignia which they were entitled to. To distinguish retired members from serving members, retired members are to wear the distinctive CAF Retiree Insignia on the lower left sleeve of the mess dress jacket 1.5 cm above the cuff, or any embellishment including PO1/WO, CPO2/MWO or CPO1/CWO rank insignia.
While the instruction refers to the “distinctive CAF Retiree insignia”, there is no explanation or example
The Shearwater Aviation Museum being under renovation, a three day Canadian Naval Air Remembers (CANAR) weekend is being held in Hamilton on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of May at Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum and includes attendance at the Battle of Atlantic commemoration with HMCS STAR alongside HMCS HAIDA on Battle of Atlantic Sunday, 5 May. The Friday Meet and Greet coincides with the Battle of Atlantic Mess Dinner being hosted at LIUNA Station by the Hamilton Naval Association and HMCS STAR.
Canada has a lengthy and distinguished connection with naval air beginning in the First World War and continuing to the present day. The three-day Canadian Naval Air Remembers (CANAR) weekend provides us with an opportunity to rejoin our former shipmates and their families at a museum dedicated to Canada’s military aviation heritage. It is open to all military, Honoraries, and civilian personnel who served at sea or were involved in naval air, including their immediate families.
In addition to a Meet & Greet reception on Friday evening, Saturday will feature presentations on naval aircraft in the museum’s collection as well as the unveiling of a mock-up of a Commemorative Memorial dedicated to those that lost their lives in Canadian naval air operations over the years. Saturday will conclude with a Gala Dinner in the CWHM hangar. On Sunday, 5 May, you are invited to join HMCS Star at their Battle of the Atlantic service alongside the HMCS Haida National Historic Site.
