3 Mech Cdo Guard of Honour 1971

[Dan Martel]

A single from Al Ditter.

Spring, 1971. Sometimes they made us dress up and go out in public, too.
Note that berets were not yet permitted to be worn with the then-new green uniform.

Al did not provide a little aside for this copy of an article from 'Der Kanadier' showing the visit of MND Donald Macdonald to Lahr.  While I have not commented on any of Al's pictures to date (they are so good, how could I?), I find myself unable to keep restrained whenever I look at this picture.  Since it was taken from the public domain I will take a little liberty and comment.

First, when I went into the Forces in 1977 we wore what, I assumed, was the same CF Green uniform that had been around for close to 10 years by then.  It was well-tailored, could be made to look sharp, we were all allowed our regimental distinctions and there were parade up-grades.  Regimental details included shoulder flashes and collar dogs as well as cap badges.  Everyone wore an enameled Command badge on their right breast pocket.  Parade up-grades included white belts with shiny buckles, hooks in the tunic to hold the belt high and gloves (if required).

When I look at this picture I realized the uniform I wore bears absolutely no resemblance to what the soldiers of only a few years earlier were forced to wear.  The cut of the tunic worn by the Guard is shapeless, limp and too short, and the pant cuffs are (shudder!) pegged.  No regimental distinctions are worn save the cap badge, and no parade accoutrements are seen.  Did no one designing the uniform ever wonder where the bayonets were to go when the Guard was done?

I had read stories and heard stories of how the first CF Green uniform made soldiers look like busmen.  After I joined I wondered what all the fuss was about.  My uniform was quite sharp.  After seeing Al's picture I now realize what everyone was talking about.  My uniform was a far cry from what had gone before.

While I realize that 3 Mech Cdo would not have yet been presented with their Colours by this date, the necessity of having to use the tri-service CF Ensign would have just been another blow to the psyche.  The grit and determination to soldier on through this era, rather than to opt out, is only something that I can marvel at never having been confronted with a similar situation.

My kudos to those who obviously fought the good fight to get CF Greens properly designed, have the parade accoutrements re-issued as well as getting the regimental distinctions returned, all in time for my lacklustre arrival in Gagetown that cloudy day in April.

Then again, looking at the MND schlumping along in a rumpled, single-breasted, rain coat, I'm thinking that he is probably telling himself 'we sure dun good!'

Cheers,
Dan.

[aldi]

Dan,

Everything you say is true.  Bear in mind that the picture is of an event held a mere three years after passage of the 1968 Canadian Forces Unification Act and everything, especially the uniform, was meant to portay a single service.  That being the aim, it was deemed to be essential that all of the fiddley bits --like shoulder titles, collar dogs, distinctive headdress -- which would have distinguished one element from another be stripped off, in the interest of projecting that image of uniformity.

But as bad as it was for the army, it was ten times worse for the navy.  Imagine the chagrin of pulling into a foreign port or participating in a NATO naval exercise in your green uniform and having your ship's captain introduce himself as "lieutenant-colonel, martiime."  To be a sailor in those days was to be utterly ashamed of what your country had done to the international and universally-accepted norms of the naval tradition.

It was a long, hard slog, taken in incremental steps, to win back the things which meant so much to the people wearing the uniform, some of which were actually quite rebellious.  For example, at the mess dinner celebrating the end of the 1974 Canadian Forces Staff School, Bud Dion and I said screw it, punched our beavers into our messkit lapels and dared anyone to comment.  Some of the instructors raised their eyebrows but said nothing and when our fellow students went back to their home bases it seems they liked the idea and took the plunge.  But the biggest impetous, I think, came from the RSM's, through the CFCWO, and the various regimental and branch associations who constantly lobbied for the necessary changes to be made.  In the final analysis, if there's one person who finally made the ultimate shift to separate uniforms, with the necessary accoutrements, happen it was the ADM Personnel who bacame the VCDS -- LGEN Jack Vance -- whose study on the military ethos, commonly called The Vance Report, provided the irrefutable evidence that change was necessary.

[ranrad]

Yes , as i recall that first green uniform was a disaster.. and everyone had only Canada as their shoulder flashes.. RSMs soon went to work on that, but like anything to do with Gov. it took many yrs for Regiments to get their " BEING " BACK.. THEIR IDENTITY.... and the uniform was changed as you say.. and was more of a uniform.. that looked good.. ahhh the good ole days.. ranrad

[woody]

At least the ol Battle Dress although ichey kept us warm in the winter.
Bob

[aldi]

This by way of FYI . . . I was at an airline training convention in Orlando yesterday and got chatting with a pilot who'd spent lots of time in the US navy and had met with Canadian sailors during the years after Unification.  He said he truly pitied the poor buggers whose pride in their service had been gutted by their government.  He described them as "good sailors, but totally demoralized."  I told him everybody got their service uniforms back about 20 years ago and he actually applauded. aldi

[PatRossiter]

I remember when that MND (Dan MacDonald) came to Baden on this trip.  He carried out an inspection on the North Marguerite while wearing that raincoat, with a coffee stain on the front of it.  :-( 
It would be fair to say that we had little respect for our political "masters". 

[woody]

Aldi, I remember we were in Maple Leaf Gardens at a Pipes & Drums concert when it was announced that the services would be going back to their own identity.
Let me tell you there was one heck of a cheer went up and quite a lot of us stood. My wife looked surprised as well as the friends who we were with wondering what I was cheering about.
I think my reply to them was "You'll Never Understand" if you weren't there when it happened.
Bob (Woody)

[aldi]

Woody,

How true.  The green uniform and the rationale behind it -- make everything and everybody the same, as though we were bolts in a bin from which any one could be selected for the job -- was an utter failure and did much damage to morale.  For our political leaders it probably seemed to be a perfectly reasonable proposition but for those of us who lived through it, it was humiliating.  aldi