Question of the Hour

[gun plumber]

The Rifle assumed the role of armd recce during ww2 overseas(23 armd regt)
My old regt pulled fort duty during ww2 on the islands.Can u guess what it is?

 

[gun plumber]

By the way,just read your profile.I myself was on OP persistance.Where were you based?Peggy"s Cove or Blandford?

 

[Scott]

I do not know. I was going to say the PLF, I know that they were overseas but I thought that they did some time in Point Pleasant as well. I learned this once but that was many moons and almost as many beers ago.

Traffic in Halifax is better than when I left, but that still leaves alot to be desired. The last two years that I have been home I have only gone into the city for nocturnal activities I promised myself that the next time I go that I am going to spend more time in the city.

I was at Blandford. Lovely staying at that fire hall, no beer, no food for the first two days, sleeping on top of one another. It was an experience. I also went into Shearwater, did you spend all your time on the beaches or get elsewhere? When I did beaches I went from Publicover (the Whaling Stn where the black boxes came ashore) to the east, we also put troops on Big Tancook Island.

It's amazing, you're the first person I have met here that did that Op.

 

[Michael OLeary]

Bonus Question-What 2 infantry regiments came from that city that were known as the "66th" and the"64th"and which regiment still exists today?What about the status of the other one?

Actually, the Halifax Rifles were the "63rd The Halifax Volunteer Battalion of Rifles" in 1869 and went through a few name changes before changing to simply "The Halfax Rifles" in 1920. (http://regiments.org/regiments/na-canada/volmil/ns-inf/063halif.htm)

The Princess Louise Fusiliers were the "66th The Halifax Battalion of Infantry" in 1869, and similarly were renamed before becoming "The Princess Louise Fusiliers" by 1920. (http://regiments.org/regiments/na-canada/volmil/ns-inf/066PLF.htm)

The PLF do perpetuate the 64th Battalion, C.E.F., of the First World War.

Aye, memory jogged, didn't the Halifax Rifles become the group that watches over the Citadel? Or are they a straightforward Highland Unit?

The PLF once provided the staff for the summer employmewnt programs that ran a scarlet suited guard on the Citadel in Halifax in the 70s and into the 80s. The unit never actually garrisoned the Citadel, except perhaps providing troops during the wars to the local garrison. When Parks Canada last executed a significant rebuilding of the Fort, the period selected to be presented, and re-enacted was the 1880s (If I recall correctly), and the garrison these days is a reenactment organization of the 78th Highlanders and the Royal Artillery.

http://www.tourcanada.com/citadel.htm

 

[Scott]

Thank you, Michael.

 

[gun plumber]

I stayed mostly around the Peggy's cove area.After the debris field"Relocated" further down the coast,my duties became that of driver,lug and carry,sig op and security platoon 2ic.Still no awnser on what's my old regt?
PS you to are the only one I have found that served there as well.How soon it is forgotten....

 

[winchable]

I hav'nt been home in almost 3 years(Halifax)and am just wondering if anything has changed.

I'm here, if you have any specific questions about the city now just PM me.

Bloody sailors, bad sailors..damn bad sailors.

 

[NavyGrunt]

Bloody sailors, bad sailors..damn bad sailors.

Muah haha. And we wouldnt have it any other way- would we Che?

 

[winchable]

Yarr matey and ye bos'ns are the worst of the lot

War's me grog n' wench

I hate to perpetuate the stereotype, but if you go into any pub or bar and find the drunkest guy there I'll bet you that 80% of the time it's a sailor!

 

[Scott]

War's me grog n' wench

Che, I walked into the Stag's Head Pub (Is that it's proper name? The one in Keith's Brewery) and hollered this, I was very, very drunk and The staff got MAD. Period actors my arse! I was only overcome by the history and tried to play along :

 

[winchable]

Period actors being politcally correct?
A travesty.
I was at a pub with period actors in England and it was greeeeeeeeeeeat. The wenches had bustiers and their hair up and they were in period dresses and they'd sit on your lap and entertain the table (not stripping or anything, just good company) and once you get drunk enough you started to really get into it because they had the music and the one old man with a peg leg playing a piano and "fights" would break out....*sigh* yarr.

 

[Spr.Earl]

Where does out present  quote of " 3 square a day"  a day come form?

 

[jmacleod]

The Princess Louise Fusiliers are still active in Halifax NS. There has been a continuing campaign to
restore the Halifax Rifles to the Militia List, led by several former General Officers in the Canadian
Army,including LtGen E.A.C Amy DSO,MC, (served in World WarII Strathcona Horse) and Korea
The recreated British Army Regiment at the Halifax Citadel Fortress, is funded by Heritage and
Parks Canada - comprised of university students for the most part. The MacDonald Trust Fund
(MacDonald Tobacco Co.) have funded restored historic regiments in the Quebec City garrison
- a French Colonial Regiment and in Toronto, at Fort York, but I don't know if they are still
involved in the worthy activity. MacLeod

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Where does out present quote of " 3 square a day" a day come form?

Meals used to be served on square shingles. Three squares meant three meals.

 

[Spr.Earl]

Meals used to be served on square shingles. Three squares meant three meals.

Wrong,I'll  re phrase the question.
"Which Service does the expression come from and why?"

 

[Spr.Earl]

What city in Canada was the site of a 3 day riot that involved service personal and resulted in the "city of glass"?

Lot's of good correct history about the Riot but WHY did it happen?
Answer me that.

 

[stukirkpatrick]

Lot's of good correct history about the Riot but WHY did it happen?

apparently, theres only a bunch of theories about it, including that the sailors were just fed up with Halifax and its citizens, and had been claiming for months that they would trash the city on VE Day...  but the definite spark was probably the thousands of sailors loose in the streets with closed liquor stores/places of entertainment.

What would you expect to happen?    :skull:

 

[jmacleod]

The VE Day Riot in Halifax NS was caused as Kirkpatrick has said, by the general feeling of the
members of the Canadian Forces   of the period, fed up with Halifax, it's crowded streets, theatres
restaurants, lack of drinking facilities, and hostility from the good citizens of what was then, an ultra
small "c" conservative city. I was 15 years old, and saw the "riot" at first hand - it was a very cheeful
"riot", mostly focused on a lot of people, military and civilians looking for something to drink - the
city in it's wisdom shut down every conceivable place to buy a drink. The actual looting was the
inevitible result of the breakin at Oland's Brewery, and came much later and for the most part was
undertaken by Halifax citizens (mostly   teenagers, I went to school with some of them) Admiral
Murray CNS RCN was faulted, but he could not have held his personnel in quarters or on ships on
VE Day - remember this was not a professional Navy, most of the sailors and officers in the RCNVR
RCNR etc. came from areas of Canada far away from the oceans. People too forget that the Battle
of the Atlantic, hunting the elusive U-Boats was very demanding, very uncomfortable and very
dangerous. There are several good books about the "riot" and the DND RCN official documents
are available. MacLeod

 

[stukirkpatrick]

Which version of the Ross Rifle (there were many) did Canadian soldiers ultimately take to the trenches of the First World War (to their misfortune)?

 

[para paramedic]

Is it the Ross Rifle Mk II and Mk III?

Taken from http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/rossrifle.htm
Ross Rifle
Updated - Sunday, 6 October, 2002

Considered one of the most maligned rifles in military history, the Canadian Ross rifle was used and subsequently abandoned by Canadian forces during the First World War.

Long and heavy the Ross, first developed in 1903 and named after its developer Sir Charles Ross, was considered by many a fine target rifle.  It was found however to perform poorly in wet and muddy trench conditions (by this time adopted in its Mk II 1905 and Mk III 1910 guises).

Under such conditions troops found it ill-suited to rapid fire scenarios, frequently locking, and complaints rapidly reached its chief sponsor, the Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence Sam Hughes.  He nevertheless continued to believe in its strengths even following professional advice to the contrary from Sir Edwin Alderson.  The furore over its performance ultimately contributed to Hughes' fall from office the following year.

Examples abounded of Canadian troops throwing down the Ross in preference to the British Lee-Enfield, although the Ross continued to be used for training purposes in both Canada and England.