Joignez-vous a la 3e Batterie de campagne Montréal

Par l'Adjuc (ret) Gilles Aubé et le Sgt (ret) Gary Menten

Il y’a un vieux dicton dans l'artillerie ; “Une fois un artilleur, toujours un artilleur."
La 3e Batterie de campagne Montréal ( BAM) est la preuve vivante de la véracité de cette déclaration. Fondée il y’a plusieurs années par l'adjudant-chef à la retraite Gilles Aubé, un ancien SMR du 2e Régiment d’artillerie de campagne (2ARC) et prenant son nom d’après un des anciens noms de la milice à Montréal. La 3BAM est un organisme sans but lucratif, voué à honorer les anciens combattants militaires, le maintien et l'enseignement de l’histoire, des traditions de l'Artillerie royale canadienne et le soutien des corps de cadets.

3BAM entretient et opère deux anciens canons de 25 livres et deux camions de modèle militaire canadien Chevrolet (CMP ) de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. Bien qu'une grande partie des membres se compose d'anciens artilleurs, notamment du 2ARC.  Il n’est pas obligatoire d’avoir servi dans l'artillerie pour en faire partie. Deux membres sont d'anciens officiers du R22eR . Un autre est un vétéran de l'Artillerie française. Quelques-uns n'ont pas de service militaire préalable, mais par contre un lien personnel ou familial proche d'un autre membre de la 3BAM et ils ont rejoint leurs rangs. L'adhésion est ouverte à toutes les personnes de bon esprit prêts à porter l'uniforme et à maintenir la tradition. 

Le 7 novembre, la 3BAM a contribué à un événement de la Compagnie Canada (CC). La CC est une œuvre de bienfaisance enregistrée ayant comme but de tisser des liens entre les dirigeants militaires et ceux du monde des affaires. Leur but est de s’assurer que les hommes et les femmes en uniformes militaires et leurs familles reçoivent le plus grand appui possible, dont la reconnaissance et les soins qu'ils méritent.  En vendant le droit de tirer le canon, elle a permis d'amasser des fonds pour cette cause.  Un total de six coups ont été tirés avec grand enthousiasme par les artilleurs honoraires. L'invité d'honneur pour l’événement était le Bgén Jean-Marc Lanthier, commandant de la 2e Division du Canada.

Mais la 3BAM est très demandée durant le weekend du jour du Souvenir et a été appelée à tirer, le samedi 9 novembre des saluts à Terrebonne et Ste-Thérèse, dimanche le 10 à Montréal-Est, à Mascouche, et puis avec le 2ARC à l'Université McGill lundi le 11. C'est beaucoup de travail pour un petit groupe de volontaires, mais la devise de l’artillerie est " UBIQUE" qui signifie "partout" et la 3BAM et ce petit groupe de bénévoles bien motivés fait toujours de son mieux pour justifier cette devise. Ayant de plus en plus de demandes pour la participation de la 3BAM aux événements militaires et communautaires, la 3BAM est toujours à la recherche de nouveaux membres et toutes personnes intéressées à se joindre peuvent contacter adjudant-chef Aubé directement au: (514) 249-6164 ou à: adjucgaube@hotmail.com.




L'article ci-haut fut publié dans "Servir" au mois de décembre.





Ubique!

St-Barbara's Dinner with General Roméo Dallaire at The Atwater Club.

General Dallaire poses with the colonels.

The 2nd Field Regiment, RCA held it's annual St-Barbara's mess dinner this past Dec 7. The event was heavily attended by the entire gunner community in Quebec, with delegations from 5RALC, 6RAC, 62RAC plus a solid contingent from 3BAM. The guest of honour was also an old gunner and true Canadian hero, Senator and retired Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire, who I will simply refer to as General Dallaire hereafter.

General Dallaire addresses the guests.

Now there were a lot of other Canadian heroes in the room; men and women wearing Afghanistan or UN service medals and I don't want to slight any of them by suggesting that General Dallaire was the only hero present. The fact is you couldn't throw a stone in this room without hitting one, but General Dallaire is without cavil, the best known among them, and rightly so.

In 1994, he was the UN's top man in Rwanda, a country on the verge of sliding into genocide. Knowing what was about to happen, he made plans to seize the weapons cache's of the Hutu militias that were about to carry out this crime against humanity. He was ready to act, but when he informed his superiors in New York of his plans, a bunch of clowns who couldn't tie their own shoe laces, much less find their asses with both hands decided that disarming the militias just wasn't part of the UN mandate and they tied his hands. 800,000 (possibly more) people died for this bit of stupidity and UN inaction.  General Dallaire himself paid a heavy personal price for having been forced to stand by while the slaughter took place.  Though his forces were still able to protect and save 30,000 plus lives in Kigali, both the UN and the world failed Rwanda in the implementation of what should have been the UN's most important mission. 

Col Tom Stafford, General Dallaire, and my first CO, Lcol Steve Goldberg

General Dallaire and Lsgt Gallant of 3BAM

But enough of politics. General Dallaire as an old gunner and former CO of 5RALC is well-known to many in the 2nd Field Regiment who are old enough to have served in those days. Being on private commission for the occasion I was instructed to stick close to the general and photography pretty much everyone he shook hands with. There were a lot of old acquaintances--I was surprised by how many--and many whispered something in my ear as I was shooting. "I knew him back in (insert time and place here) when I was just a (insert rank here) and he was (insert position here). Make sure you get a photo of us together." Surely the best photo I got that evening was of a moment shared by General Dallaire with former 2RCA commander, Colonel (Ret) Tom Stafford, who as always it seems, was the most animated guest at the event.

Lcol Garon and General Dallaire at dinner.

Another 2RCA alumnus who had path had previously crossed General Dallaire's back in his 5RALC days was William Gallant, now a member of 3BAM. Will waited patiently by my side as a snapped photo after photo of the general greeting senior officers and captains of industry, but jumped in to introduce himself and shake hands with the general as soon as the opportunity presented itself.  I shot so many photos of General Dallaire greeting so many people in fact, that it's difficult to decide which ones to include in this post and which ones not to, not wishing to offend anyone of course, for not including their photo. But I guess that's what the regiment's FB page is for!

As I pointed out earlier, there was a significant 3BAM presence among the guests, including our Sunray, retired CWO Gilles Aubé, Lcols (Ret) Yvon Bégin and Jaques Borne, MWO (Ret) Tom Savoie, WO's (ret)  Michel Lepage and Gilles Pelletier, and Lsgt Will Gallant. I myself was present of course, but was private working for the regiment's honourary colonel rather than shooting for 3BAM.

Always the tallest guy in the picture, Colonel Dave Patterson.

It was a great opportunity to see many old faces, including my first CO, Lcol (ret) Steve Goldberg, who commanded the regiment when I joined in 1982.  I have not seen him in perhaps 20 years. The district commander at that time was Col (Ret) Tom Stafford, Col (H) de Kovachich was regimental adjudant at the time. Col Dave Patterson, also present, was a lieutenant then, a Col Pronkin was then a major and my BC in 7th Bty. All were present for the event. Colonel Patterson was another popular guest that evening and was kind enough to pose for photos with a good many different people. He's so damned tall however, that it's often a challenge pose him with other individuals.

Well, that about wraps it up. The evening was a smashing success with about 180 guests, all it seems having a good time. I was fun to be there, even though event photography is not and never will be my personal cup of tea. It was an honour to be asked to shoot the event, and a greater one still to be introduced to and shake hands with General Dallaire.

Ubique!


Gary Menten
Photographer and,
Blogmeister, 3BAM, etc, etc.

Salut McGill / McGill Salute

                                 JOUR DU SOUVENIR À L'UNIVERSITÉ McGill 
                                                  L'ARTILLERIE Y ÉTAIT,
                              
                              COMME TOUJOURS




Texte: Adjuc (ret) Gilles Aubé, MMM,CD.
Photos: Lcol (ret) Yvon Bégin, CD.

La 7e Bie prépare les pieces pour le tir

En appui au 34e Groupe-brigade du Canada, le 2e Régiment d'artillerie de campagne de Montréal (2RAC   ARC) avec sa batterie affiliée, la 3e Batterie d'artillerie de campagne de Montréal (3BAM) ont animé la cérémonie.  Le maître de la cérémonie était le Lt Christophe Leong,  officier du tir, appuyé par le SMT, Sgt Robert Étienne Cases.  Il y avait sur place l'Adjuc João Barros  actuel SMR du 2RAC ARC et plusieurs anciens membres du régiment (RGT).

Caission et obusier de 25lb de la 3BAM a gauche de la batterie.

La  cérémonie a débuté par un foudroyant coup d’un canon de la Deuxième Guerre Mondiale, un obusier de 25 lb,  appartenant à la 3BAM, et tiré par le Lcol (ret) Steve Goldberg, CD.  La 3BAM est composée de bénévoles très motivés essayant d'égaler les artilleurs du 2RAC ARC.  Le RGT a continué à tirer les autres vingt coups protocolaires avec leurs redoutables Howitzer C3, de 105mm.  Comme convenu le tir a cessé après que la 3BAM eut tiré le magistral dernier coup de la cérémonie.

C'était la première fois depuis longtemps que la 3BAM tirait avec son RGT, car habituellement elle anime la cérémonie au Champ d'honneur (Mémorial national de guerre canadien) à Pointe-Claire dont la cérémonie a été annulée cette année.

La 3BAM est en période de recrutement perpétuel, si vous êtes intéressé à nous joindre SVP, communiquer avec l'Adjuc (ret) Gilles Aubé aux: (514) 249-6164 ou par courriel à: adjucgaube@hotmail.com.

                                     

                           REMEMBRANCE DAY CEREMONY AT MCGILL UNIVERSITY
                               THE ARTILLERY WAS PRESENT ON HAND
                                                                  AS ALWAYS


Acting In support of the 34th Canadian Brigade Group, the 2nd Field Regiment, Royal Canadian

CWO Barros of 2RCA joins members of 3BAM for a photo

Artillery, (2RCA) along with its affiliate battery, the 3rd Montreal Field Battery of Artillery (3BAM), led the ceremony at McGill University. The master of the ceremony was Lt. Christopher Leong, in command of the gun position, assisted by the TSM  Sgt Robert Étienne Cases. Also present were CWO João Barros current RSM, 2 Fd Regt, RCA and several former members of the regiment.



The ceremony opened  with a thunderous cannon shot from a Second World War 25-pdr howitzer  belonging  to 3BAM, and fired by LCol (Ret'd) Steve Goldberg, CD . The 3BAM is composed of highly motivated volunteers seeking to equal the high professional standards set by the gunners of the 2nd Field Regiment. Thereafter the regiment fired the remaining twenty shots required by protocol with their powerful C3 105mm howitzers. 3BAM then fired the closing shot of the ceremony as previously arranged.

CWO (ret) Gilles Aubé


It was the first time in years that 3BAM participated in a mission alongside 2RCA chiefly because 3BAM traditionally participates instead in another ceremony at the Field of Honour (Canadian National War Memorial) in Pointe- Claire, which was cancelled this year.

The 3BAM is in a perpetual recruitment mode.

If you are interested in joining us please, contact CWO (ret) Gilles Aubé at: (514) 249-6164 or by email at: adjucgaube@hotmail.com 



Common Objectives

Lcol Garon and CWO (R) Aubé prepare to lay a wreath on behalf of the 2nd Field Regiment

A few weeks ago, 3BAM had the honour of being accompanied on one of our missions by the 2nd Field Regiment's RSM, CWO Joao Barros. This past weekend, it was our honour to have the regiment's CO, Lcol Richard Garon join us for a Remembrance Day salute in Terrebonne. Now when I say join, I don't mean that he came by for a visit and watched we we do. I mean that the CO participated in the even, both as a guest of honour, as well as a gunner on the 25-pdr detachment.

Lcol Garon at the head of the parade

This was a great thing for 3BAM. First, to have the CO show his deep interest in what we do by participating in the event is a great morale boost for the membership of 3BAM. Not that our morale is low; it was already quite high, but it's a bit higher still knowing how deep an interest the CO takes in 3BAM. I had myself been repeatedly telling our Sunray, CWO Aubé and anyone else in 3BAM who would listen just how important it would be to invite Colonel Garon to one of our events, pretty much from the day he assumed command of the regiment. Not that Gilles needed me to tell him this; he's been around for quite a while.  It's simply that I have a particular gift for stating the obvious.  Neither was  there was much doubt that Colonel Garon would accept our invitation at the earliest possible moment, since he has shown a keen interest in 3BAM since assuming command of the regiment. For what it's worth, I would be very happy to have ANY serving members of the regiment accompany us on missions, provided of course they have permission from their chains of command.

Colonel Garon's presence was fortuitous in another way. Providing detachments to fire salutes in four different locations on this weekend, we were stretched a bit thin on manpower in Terrebonne on Saturday, and the CO, ever the gunner, agreed to be our #3 on the gun once we got to the ceremony.

3BAM members Gilles Pelletier and Denis Dumas are both old 2RCA members

Though the regiment and 3BAM have completely different missions (3BAM is not a not a real military unit, much less real combat unit tasked to provide combat-ready soldiers) we have common goals, and 3BAM basically lives under the regimental umbrella. The regiment helps us enormously by allowing us space on the parade square to park our guns and vehicles and we do our best to support the regiment in any way we can, including firing salutes at regimental events. We all recognize the importance of honouring and supporting Canadian service veterans and I think it's understood that supporting the regiment's affiliated cadet corps, an important source of recruits to the regiment, is also important.

Lcol Garon, serving as #3 fires a shot.

Freelance gun batteries are rare in Quebec; we are pretty much the only one, and I mostly see 3BAM as publicity tool for the 2nd Field Regiment and for teaching and promoting the history and traditions of the artillery in Quebec and Canada. Drawing attention to ourselves at public events is something we do pretty well. Focusing that attention back towards the regiment is something we need to do a bit better. For instance, having serving members of the regiment participate in our missions from time-to-time to talk to spectators about the regiment, opportunities in the reserves, or their service to country might be away we can achieve this. However hard we try, 3BAM are a sort of old guard and many of us have been out of the military for over 20 years. Serving members are in a much better position to talk about the regiment today than we are.

Again, having the CO and RSM accompany us on a couple of our recent missions and 3BAM's recent

O Canada

participation the the regiment's Remembrance Day salute at McGill this past Monday are important steps in the process of learning how we can better help one another out.  After recent events, I am convinced that this is the way of the future.



Ubique!


Gary Menten
3BAM Photographer-Blogmaster,
Ex-Sergeant, 2RCA,  etc, etc.

Having a Blast: Canada Company Fundraiser, November 7, 2013

It's frankly almost impossible to refuse any opportunity to photograph artillery firing at night. If you have the right gear, know what you are doing and get the timing right, the shot will be more spectacular than most any you can do in daylight. It's the nature of the beast. There is a tiny split second, the decisive moment, when a linear stream of orange flame expands into large ball of gas before contracting and vanishing altogether. Only still photography does anything like a passable job of capturing the moment. At normal speeds, be it the human eye or film, it all happens much too quickly to properly take in the moment and in all its splendour.

But spectacular as it is, the 25pdr howitzer in the photo is a tool of war that was designed for the sole purpose of killing men. Whenever 3BAM fires one or the other of our guns, it's always as a solemn salute to those who serve or have served our country, and most especially to those who've lost their lives in the service of our country. But you don't have to be dead to be a hero. As Patton once remarked, "there are a hell of a lot of alive ones."

Dinner guests listen attentively as the procedure for the military toast is explained

Canada Company fundraising events are are held with the aim of helping the families of Canadian veterans and helping Canadian veterans reintegrate into the civilian work force after serving their country. 3BAM is all about supporting Canadian veterans, it's always an honour for us participate in the event, and we generally do so by providing one of our guns and giving contributors to the event the opportunity to fire a shot. We fired six this night, and all our VIP gunners seemed to truly enjoy the opportunity to pull that firing lever. Some of our gunners that night had military backgrounds, others didn't, but all were eager and excited to sit on that #3 stool and pull that firing lever when the order came to fire.

Bgen Lanthier saying a few words.

The guest of honour or the event was Brigadier-General Jean-Marc Lanthier, commanding general of the newly reconstituted 2nd Canadian Division. Other guests included Brigadier-General (R) Ernest Beno, whom I met once briefly before, more than twenty years ago, Colonel (H) Charles de Kovachich, the 2nd Field Regiment's honourary colonel, Lieutant-Colonel Richard Garon, the regiment's current CO, Lieutenant-Colonel Steven Dubreuil of the Royal Canadian Hussars, and various officers and NCO's of Montreal area reserve regiments, and of course members of the business community who constituted the majority of the guests. It should be mentioned here, that many reserve members ARE leaders in the business community, and so these last two groups are not mutually exclusive.

A caterer prepares the entré.

The main dish.

3BAM members who participated in the event included Lcol (R) Yvon Begin, CWO (R) Gilles Aubé , WO (R) Gilles Pelletier, myself, Lsgts Marc-Antoine Gervais-Hotte, Denis Dumas and William Gallant. Both Gilles Aubé and Gilles Pelletier were dinner guests, I suppose having paid some steep sum of money, all of which is for a good cause, while the rest of us, contented ourselves with rubber chicken dinners eaten on the fly wherever we could, in typical gunner style. This is how I prefer it, incidentally, as it's much more typical of army days of years gone by than having formal dinners in the officer's mess, which I was not a part of at any rate. As gunners, this is what we are used to, especially those of us who were once gun-detachment commanders or RECCE TSM, or both. In any case, I've never had much patience for sitting through long dinners or listening to speeches.  It was more fun to slip away when I could and chat with Will Gallant and Denis Dumas who both spent most of the evening downstairs by the armoury's side door, keeping an eye on the gun, the truck and the ammo, and oh yes...my photo gear. How is it you can pull sentry duty on a cold night more than 20 years after leaving the army? Easy...join 3BAM! I volunteered for a shift myself in Terrebonne two days later so that the guys who did all the real work while I stood that day while I just stood around shooting the occasional photo, could go and eat. Surprisingly enough, or perhaps not that surprisingly, it's actually kind of fun.

After dinner and the speeches guests were invited downstairs (and outdoors) to either participate or witness what was for me, and I suppose the other 3BAM members, the best, most important part of the evening; the gunfire! Everything went without a hitch, and having learned from previous experience to prepare everything in advance and not to wait until the speeches were over to get myself into position, I was pretty happy with the outcome, though a few points still need to be smoothed out with the team about properly posing the guest gunners for a photo prior to firing the shot, and especially afterwards, to pose with the still smoking shell casing. This is largely being forgotten in the high of the moment, but we'll get the hang of it sooner or later. It would be easier if I had a second camera body with different lens on it as most event photographers and photojournalists do, but I'm neither, so I'll just have to make do with what I have.

Lcol Garon shares a laugh with some of the guests

After the shots were fired, the crew packed up the gun and brought it back to the barn as I packed up my gear and disappeared to the mess for cocktails, which again from my perspective, were the SECOND best part of the evening. After all, I can have a cocktail most any evening I want to, but I don't get to photography gunfire at night all that often. It was a lively evening, especially after Colonel Garon rang the bell to declare an open bar.

Most of the other members of the detachment came up to the mess as well, and I was once again surprised to have people, some of whom I don't know personally but who obviously follow the blog to come up to me and tell me how much they like it, and of course, this is

One of the guests recounting a lively story.

what it's there for; for all members of the regimental family to be able to follow what 3BAM is up to. And with five salutes to fire between the Canada Company fundraiser and the 11th of November, 3BAM is up to quite a lot.

From where I stood, the Canada Company dinner was very successful and it was an pleasure to lend our service to the event, chat with old friends, and just have a good time.  But however fun it was, however much liquor was consumed, what has to be remembered is that this is event is all about helping Canadian service veterans. The world outside continues to be a dangerous place, and the international demand for Canada's military participation in missions ranging from peacekeeping to combat operations is unlikely to end any time soon and there are a hell of a lot of living heroes we need to be thinking of.


Ubique!


Gary Menten
Photographer-Correspondent, 3BAM

Some Thoughts On Remembrance

A Canadian veteran's chest full of medal defines a lifetime of service to our country.

Sometimes I wonder what's going on in some people's heads. White poppies for instance. What's that all about? Well, it seems that some people today believe that Remembrance Day is all about celebrating peace. It isn't really, though it is celebrated on the anniversary of the armistice that ended the Great War To End All Wars, (WWI).  It's all about commemorating the sacrifices that Canadians (and our allies) had to make in order to benefit from that peace.It's not about glorifying war either, and  We don't need  special day to celebrate peace because we reap its benefits EVERY day that we live in peace. But that peace did not come cheaply. Nearly 100,000 Canadians died in the last century alone so that we can enjoy that peace. That's a steep price.

The red poppy was chosen as a symbol of remembrance by the UK and Canada, precisely because it of its attachment to the battlefields of Flanders where tens of thousands of our soldiers lie buried. It is a symbol of the terrible cost of war, and has deep meaning to anyone who has ever worn a Canadian uniform, including myself. A white poppy on the other hand is symbol of nothing at all.

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
  Between the crosses, row on row,
  That mark our place; and in the sky
  The larks, still bravely singing, fly
  Scarce heard amid the guns below."

I have a second, perhaps deeper connection to the red poppies of Flanders insofar as both my parents, indeed, my entire ancestry hails from Belgium. My father's father Alexander Menten served in the Belgian Army for four horrible years in the trenches during the Great War, being wounded twice, gassed, and though he survived, his health was ruined by the exposure to poison gas, the effects of which plagued him for the rest of his life.

My parents lived through the Nazi occupation of Belgium 1940-1944, and my mother's father, Guillaume Mommaerts fought the Nazis first in the regular army in the spring of 1940, then in the resistance after Belgium's capitulation. He and my mother's cousin were arrested by the Gestapo. My grandfather spent six weeks in solitary confinement before being released, if my memory serves, with a case of pneumonia.* The cousin was not so lucky and was tortured, being eventually released on the intervention of a German military doctor. His mother was taken in his place and sent to Ravensbruck and Mathausen concentration camps. She and my grandfather survived the war, her son did not.
 
My parents both lived through the occupation and were on hand when the British 2nd Armoured Division liberated Brussels on Sept 3, 1944. My parents met after the war, married and came to Canada in 1956, and I was born here, in freedom, in 1962. But many, many young men, a lot of them Canadian,  died or were maimed or forever changed by the horror of war to buy that freedom. They died in Flanders fields, they died on the beaches of Normandy, in the skies over Berlin, in hills of Sicily and Italy an in the flooded fields of Holland.

"We are the Dead. Short days ago
  We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
  Loved and were loved, and now we lie
  In Flanders fields."

So Canada's military history is deeply tied to the history of the land of my ancestors, to my own life
and my freedom, and it was an honour to have served in it for a time. That the entire nine years I spent in it was spent in peace has much to do with the sacrifices made by others before my time, the symbol of which is a red flower that grows in Flanders Fields. 

  

"Take up our quarrel with the foe:
  To you from failing hands we  throw
  The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
  We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
   In Flanders fields."


Ubique!


Gary Menten
Photographer, 3BAM


*There is some question as to the accuracy of my recollection with regards to the pneumonia.

The Battle Of Chateauguay, 200 Years Later

The Honour Guard

It seems that every time I make the effort to spit shine my boots  or press razor-sharp creases into my uniform in advance of a 3BAM event, it rains throughout that event, and my efforts  essentially are for naught. This October 26th, when 3BAM accompanied by the 2nd Field Regt's RSM, CWO Joao Barros helped the armed forces, re-enactment groups and various government officials, VIP guests and local citizens commemorate the Battle Of Chateauguay, which took place exactly 200 years today.

Depiction of the battle.

Every school child in Quebec was taught about this when I was a kid, I think in 5th Grade. Unfortunately, the government-sanctioned version I was taught in the early 70's was pretty much what Naploeon would have called "a set of lies, agreed upon."

In this version, the gallant Lieutenant-Colonel de Salaberry with a force of only 300 men sent an an American army of over 7000 running for their mothers by shooting at them from behind rocks and running around in the woods making native war-cries that frightened the inexperienced American troops as they blundered about in the woods, lost and confused, much like the British regulars had at Monongahela (Fort Duquesne if you are French or a Canadien) 58 years earlier.

Canada's First Nations were represented at the ceremony.

There's probably a little bit about this that is true; de Salaberry is credited by many sources as having used deceptions, and he did have 180 fierce Mohawk warriors in his force, but his total force numbered around 1,600, not 300 and the American force under General Wade Hampton numbered more like 2,600 troops, not 7,000. Even today, Oct 26th, the Montreal Gazette continues to report the myth, rather than the facts, claiming de Salaberry had 300 men versus 3000. When the legend becomes fact, you print the legend, you print the legend, right?

Neither did the Americans scurry home in panic as I was taught.  They retired the next day in good order, and without pursuit,  reporting a total of 23 killed, 33 wounded and 29 missing. Canadian losses were 2 killed, 16 wounded and 4 missing. The Battle of Chateauguay when you boil it down, was more of a skirmish than a pitched battle.

Reenactors depicting de Salaberry's Voltigeurs. .

The feat of arms remains impressive in the sense that de Salaberry was nonetheless badly outnumbered and could have been defeated had he not commanded his little force with far more skill his opposing number.  General Hampton convinced as he probably was that de Salaberry disposed a somewhat larger force than he actually did, and convinced that he could not possibly carry the position by renewing the attack the next day, decided instead to withdraw back to Four Corners, NY.

Even a defeat however, would probably not have resulted in the capture of Montreal by the Americans, as Hampton had received an order from the Secretary of War on the eve of the battle, ordering him to put his force into winter quarters on the Saint-Lawrence. Battle or no, there would be no attempt to capture Montreal for the rest of the year. Hampton only committed to battle because prior to receiving this order, he'd  committed a brigade of 1000 men to attempt a flanking movement against de Salaberry's position and to have withdrawn on the 25th would have left them exposed and without support.

American re-enactor

De Salaberry of course knew none of this, and the American mismanagement of the entire campaign does not in any way detract from his reputation or from the the bravery and dedication of his outnumbered command.  He disposed and commanded his forces with skill and guile and won the day. If he is not quite David defeating Goliath, he is still a national hero and rightly so. Vive la Canadienne!

As much as I complain about the rain taking the crease out of my trousers and the shine out of my boots, everyone I was wearing an old Cold War era Canadian winter parka over my WWII era DESERT uniform, as were most 3BAM members present, if our dress was anachronistic in the extreme we were probably also among the most comfortably attired of the uniformed participants in this event. The poor blighters in the honour guard were were stuck standing in the rain in their service dress uniforms without overcoats the whole time.


Unlike our last mission, things went smoothly. We were not beset by mishaps, breakdowns or dud rounds. We were even provided with a collapsible white tent to place over the gun, looking for all the world like a chuppah, as if we were about to conduct a Jewish wedding ceremony rather than a gun salute. When finally the time came to fire, we fired our two shots without SNAFU, somewhat shocking some of the onlookers who because of perhaps inadequate planning on the part of the organizers, were standing a bit closer than we would ordinarily like them to be.

The detachment fires the gun from under the "chuppah" while RSM Barros looks on diligently.

The detachment was commanded by WO (ret) Michel Lepage, and included Lcol (ret) Jaques Borne, Lcol (ret) Yvon Bégin looking after security, MWO (ret) Tom Savoie, WO (ret) Gilles Pelletier, Mbdr (ret) Denis Dumas, Ocdt Robert Ouellette, and making her first uniformed appearance, our newest gunner, Gnr Nathalie Millette. As previously mentioned, we had the honour to be accompanied by RSM Barros of the 2nd Field Regiment and in case you haven't figured it out, I was there in my usual capacity of photographer.

Voltigeur 2Lt watches the rehearsals

Given the number of military participants involved in this event, it's hard to imagine why this mission wasn't tasked out to the regiment, but it was an honour and a pleasure for 3BAM to fire the salute.  This is what 3BAM is all about, and of course, we always attract attention and questions at events like this, which I always view as central to our objective of teaching the history and tradition of the Royal Canadian Artillery. As always, I relish in explaining how artillery works and I try to pretend that I'm sort of like the Carl Sagan of artillery, explaining our methods to non-gunners the way Sagan used to explain science and the scientific method to non-scientists, but without the "BILLIONS."
A particularly fun moment came when two young members of the R22R came up to me as I was waling around, camera slung around my neck and asked me politely but with keen interest, to what regiment we belonged.

"We don't belong to any regiment," I explained. "We're a bunch of old soldiers who who had such a hard time dealing with civilian life that now we dress up in WWII uniforms  and do this SH_T for free. We're mostly old gunners, but hell, we even have a couple of ex-Van Doos within our ranks. We take ANYBODY"

I didn't really use exactly those words, being a bit more diplomatic, but the gist was pretty much the same. 3BAM stands out among the crowd and these guys were curious and full of questions, and I was glad to answer them. Now to figure out ways to get more people to ask us more questions because WE NEED RECRUITS! 


Ubique!


Gary Menten
Photographer-correspondent,
Blogmeister,
Sgt, (ret), etc, etc.

Dimanche Noir Pour La 3BAM

Voici un résumé de cette journée que je ne suis pas près d'oublier!!!!!!

L'Adj Pelletier explique qui a preparé la munition.

Arrivée à la caserne, problème de transport.  Nous devions prendre les deux obusiers de 25 lb pour saluer le navire coréen Dae Jo Yeong entrant dans le port de Montréal. Je ne voulais pas prendre de chance, si il y-aurait un problème avec un obusier on transfère la munition a l'autre.  Mais on a dû se contenter du pick-up du bon Lcol Borne car nos deux FATs n'ont pas démarré. 

En chemin avec notre seul obusier, après un arrêt brusque l'extincteur de 5 lb se vide dans la caisse du pickup, tout, mais tout est blanc neige.  On prend place près de la vieille Horloge pas de problème. Le bateau tire ses 11 coups:  à nous de jouer.  Pas de problème jusqu'au 8e coup. Nous avons subits un raté, et par malheur toute la Marine est là avec commodore  en tête. La procédure de sécurité est enclenchée, 30 minutes plus tard on découvre que le raté a été causé par l'absence de poudre.  Celui qui avait assemblé les douze douilles avait oublié de mettre de la poudre dans celle-là. 

Leçon tirée de cet évènement: À partir de maintenant, celui qui remplira les douilles devra être
À part cela tout a bien fonctionné.

PS: J'oubliais celui qui a rempli ces douilles c'était moi!
accompagné par un autre membre pour vérification.


Adjuc (ret) Gilles Aubé



Black Sunday for 3BAM
What follows is a recap of our mission and I am certain never to forget it! No sooner had we arrived at the armoury then we found we had a problem with our transportation. We had planned to take both 25-pdr howitzers to salute the Korean destroyer Dae Jo Yeong that was visiting the port of Montreal that day. I wanted to take no chances whatsoever; if we had a problem with one gun, we could transfer the unfired ammo to the other one. Unfortunately, as neither FAT wanted to start up we had to content ourselves with using Lcol Borne’s pick-up as a gun tractor, meaning we could take only one gun. En route with our lone gun, the 5lb fire extinguisher in back of the truck went off as a result of the truck braking too suddenly, leaving a snowy white coating of dry chemical powder over EVERYTHING.

Arriving at the port, we took up our place near the old clock tower, thinking our problems were finally over. The ship duly arrived and fired its allotted 11 shots and it was our turn to reply. Again, no problems until the 8th shot was loaded and the firing lever pulled. We had a misfire right in front of the navy boys with Commodore Craig at the head of the delegation. We had no choice but to enact misfire drill and 30 minutes later, upon examination of the misfired cartridge, that the cause of the misfire was a complete absence of gunpowder in the casing. The person who prepared the 12 cartridges obviously forgot to load the powder into that one.

The lesson drawn from this event: from this moment on, the person preparing the ammo will always be watched over by another member when preparing the ammo.

Aside from these little problems, everything was fine.

P.S. I forgot to mention that I am the one who prepared the ammo.



CWO (ret) Gilles Aubé

Ships Ahoy!

ROKS  Dae Jo Yeong

I have to confess that I've always had a great deal of respect for those in peril on the sea. In my youth, enamored of tales of submarine warfare in WWII, I had mostly wanted to serve in the navy rather than the army. I obviously didn't and served in the finest arm of service in the army instead, but I still carry great respect for seafarers and consider it an honour that 3BAM had the opportunity to engage in an age old naval tradition of firing a salute when foreign warships, in this case the Korean destroyer ROKS  Dae Jo Yeong and the combat support ship ROKS Hwa Cheon entered the Port Of Montreal this October 13th.  Maybe we should have looked at the date a little more closely.

The number 13 is considered unlucky in western culture. I don't know why, but it is and if I weren't a skeptic, disbelieving in all things supernatural or that can't be explained by science, or at the very least by careful examination, I'd be sorely tempted to believe there was something to this or that we were cursed. From the beginning, nothing went according to plan this day, including my participation in the event which was only made possible by the cancellation of a boudoir / pin-up shoot which was supposed to have taken place at 11.000 AM. Good for 3BAM, bad for me.

Our gun tractor.

But this isn't about me; it's about the mission. The mission however, just didn't go according to plan. We had planned to have two guns for the salute. We actually had enough personnel present to man two guns, but as luck would have it, both FAT's had mechanical problems that day and we were forced to use only one gun and tow it behind Colonel Borne's red pickup truck. In retrospect, it was a good thing that we had decided to have it present to serve as a support vehicle. If not...we'd have had major problems.

Cmdre David Craig, RCN (right) and Lcdr Geoff Hamilton, RCN (left)

On the way to the Old Port, one of the two fire extinguishers in the truck back of the vehicle somehow "went off," making what looked like smoke and prompting those of us in the other vehicles to think the brake on the 25pdr had not been properly released or had somehow become engaged, causing it to overheat and smoke. That wasn't the case, but all of our stores were now covered in fine white dry chemicals. The gun too, come to think of it. At this point in the game, one might be tempted to think that we'd had our quota of screw-ups for the day, but as I will shortly explain, the best was still to come. Needless to also say, as soon as we got to the Old Port, I realized that the sun would be in entirely the wrong place for good photos of the ship, creating severe contrasts and creating yucky hard shadows on everything. But as I've learned...this is pretty much par for the course in 3BAM and hardly worth commenting on.

Capt Richard Ayoub "hoists" our "colours" so to speak. 

This being a naval event, steeped in naval tradition, there was of course a naval delegation present, headed by Commodore David Craig, RCN. Also present, Lcdr Geoff Hamilton, CO of HMCS Donnacona, our local naval reserve unit, currently located just a few blocks from where I work in St-Henri. It was from Commander Hamilton that I finally obtained the names of the ships that were coming into port. Tall and very athletic looking with a commanding presence, he reminded me somewhat of Colonel David Patterson, late of our own regiment, the 2nd Field Artillery.

Crew members of the Dae Jo Yeong rendering a salute from the stern as she passes by us.

There was time to rehearse a few times, chat with the naval delegation and the forces photographer, go over the routine, safety procedures and make sure everyone had earplugs, and we were joined by a small Korean diplomatic delegation, and frankly, I thought nothing else could possibly go wrong. The lead ship, the Dae Jo Yeong arrived on time, it's officers and crew lined up on deck in their blue uniforms and it fired the planned 11 shots from some small unseen saluting gun forward of the ship's 5" gun, and 3BAM got off 7 rounds in return before the SH_T hit the fan and we had a bloody MISFIRE! Short of the gun exploding and wiping out the detachment, there wasn't a whole lot that could have gone more wrong.

The last shot before we misfired.

The combat support ship ROKS Hwa Cheon

Cmdre Craig thanks Quebec's only "freelance" gun battery.

The misfire drill is very clear and so the last four rounds went unfired as the ship sailed right past us. There wasn't much to do but stand there and salute in silence. Had we ben able to bring along two guns, there would have been no problem as the other gun could have fired the remaining rounds; We had prepared a spare and could still have fired 11 shots. But it wasn't so.

My mind raced back to an incident in 1986 where a salute had been fired at Quebec city by 6RAC for a visiting Japanese vessel bearing a Japanese royal family member and in which the officer in charge (not to mention his TSM) had miscounted the number shots fired and fired only 18 or 19 of the requisite 21. A formal diplomatic protest had been filed in this incident, and the officer in charge, a 6RAC lieutenant ended up with rather a long spell as duty officer at Camp Farnham that summer.

Sunray douses the dud before examining the charge.

I digress. Misfires are a part of life in the artillery, especially when your guns are 70 years old and you load your own ammo. And therein lies the simple truth of the matter. For when the mandated thirty minutes were up and we unloaded the unfired cartridge from the breech, we could clearly see the primer had been fairly struck. The round was doused in a bucket of water, thoroughly soaked as per our procedures, and though found to have more than sufficient wadding, properly tamped down, there was not an ounce of powder behind that wadding. We had built, loaded and attempted to fire a dud round. Worse still, the culprit in this case, was our Sunray, CWO (ret) Aubé who had prepared all the ammo by himself. To his credit, he made no effort to mitigate it or blame it on circumstance, though I have never seen him so down as after he discovered the cause of the problem. Though one might be tempted to say we were cursed that day, that nothing went right because it was the 13th, the truth is that human frailty, not curses or demons or unlucky numbers were to blame for this mess.  Move on and learn from your mistakes.

The navy of course, was still very appreciative and Commodore Craig came over and said a few kind words of thanks. We had done our best for them when no-one in the regulars or the reserves had been available or had the budget or whatever to come out this beautiful autumn day to come keep up this important tradition. But maintaining tradition is what 3BAM is all about. We'll do better next time.

Ubique!

Gary Menten
Photographer-Correspondent,
Sgt (ret)
Blogmaster-general, etc, etc

Contributors Wanted! / A La Recherche De Contributeurs.

The reasons for the existence of 3BAM are to honour Canadian veterans, teach and promote the history and traditions of both the regiment and the artillery in Canada, and to support the cadets who are an important source of recruits to the regiment. The purpose of the blog, by extension, is exactly the same except that it’s done by relating events as seen from one point of view. Though I’m usually writing about some 3BAM mission, it’s really for and about the entire regimental family.

I not only welcome, but desperately want editorial contributions from other members of that regimental family who are interested in sharing their photos and gunner experiences on the blog. I have a few simple rules; try to keep it about the artillery, keep it clean (no foul language), no politics, and no badmouthing anyone.  Try also to write in the first person from your personal perspective.

If you write something, it would be great for you to send me a few photos from the event. It doesn’t

Your editorial contributions can be emailed to garymenten@videotron.ca

Instagram Photos are completely acceptable. Les photos sont acceptables

matter if you have a decent camera or not, or how good a photographer you are! Just send the photos. Yes, I carry a very expensive pro camera and lens when I go out with 3BAM, but I also shoot photos with my iPhone when by Nikon is packed away in its case or simply when I want to be inconspicuous. Often I use one of the great retro filters. You won’t often hear me admit to this, but when telling a story, even a crappy photo is better than no photo. So…..send me what you have.

Francais
 
Les raisons de l'existence de 3BAM sont de rendre hommage aux anciens combattants canadiens, d'enseigner et de promouvoir l'histoire et les traditions du 2e régiment et l'artillerie au Canada et à appuyer les cadets qui sont une source importante de recrues du régiment. Le but du blog, par extension, est exactement le même, sauf que c'est fait en rapportant les événements comme vu d'un point de vue subjectif. Même quand je racconte l'histoire d'une mission 3BAM, c'est vraiment pour toute de la famille régimentaire.

Je suis présentement a la recherche contributions éditoriales des autres membres de cette famille régimentaire qui sont intéressés à partager leurs photos et leurs expériences de canonnier sur le blog. J'ai quelques règles simples, essayer de parler de l'artillerie, garder votre langage propre (pas de langage grossier), pas de politique, et de ne dénigrer personne. Essayez aussi d'écrire à la première personne de votre point de vue personnel.

Si vous écrivez quelque chose, ce serait formidable pour vous de me faire parvenir quelques photos de l'événement. Ce n'est pas grave si vous avez un appareil photo de qualité ou que vous êtes adepte come photographe! Il suffit d'envoyer les photos. Oui, je porte un appareil de premiere gamme  quand je sors avec 3BAM, mais j'ai aussi prendre des photos avec mon iPhone quand par Nikon est rangé dans sa boite ou simplement quand je veux être discret. Souvent j'utilise un des fabueleux filtres rétro disponibles avec les apps d'iPhone. Vous n'entendrez pas souvent en avouer, mais en racontant une histoire, même une photo médiocre, c'est mieux que pas de photo du tout. Alors ..... envoyer-moi ce que vous avez.

Vos contributions éditoriales peuvent être envoyées par courriel à garymenten@videotron.ca

Assemblée annuelle.

Samedi 14 septembre 2013, à 13 :30, la troisième batterie d’artillerie de Montréal a tenu son assemblée annuelle.


En sus de la 
routine habituelle, nous avons eu le plaisir de recevoir le Lcol Richard Garon, commandant du 2RAC,  qui est venu nous assurer de sa collaboration, avec la 3BAM, afin de favoriser les contacts entre le Régiment et notre organisation.

Nos véhicules

Des ententes ont été prises avec différents membres pour l’entretient de nos véhicules et de nos canons, y inclus notre nouveau Jeep-ambulance pour lequel nous sollicitons l’aide financière de nos membres et collaborateurs.

Notre organisation va bien, et nous sommes de plus en plus reconnus et recherchés.

Lcol  Yvon E. Bégin,  CD, retraité;
Directeur, 3e batterie d’artillerie de campagne de Montréal (3BAM)

Better Late Than Never.

The newly promoted CWO Barros issues his first order.

 

WO (ret) Gilles Pelletier brought us up to date on the vehicles.

Sometimes, things are kind of late to happen. Take for instance, 3BAM's annual members meeting, which was supposed to have taken place in April, but because we were too damned busy all spring, only took place this past Sept 14th in the officers mess at CDN Armoury. It's not really very exciting; just a lot of really boring stuff gets discussed like the state of finances, what needs to be done on our equipment to pass government inspection, are we shooting a photo for a Christmas card this year? Oh...and a rather heated if somewhat pointless discussion as to the proper designation of our newly acquired M38 jeep.  Not really a snoozer, but I wouldn't want to go through this more than once a year. Probably the high point of the meeting was when the CO and RSM came to talk to us a for a few minutes.

The meeting was attended by most of the usual suspects, and it was the first time I had seen any of them since the beginning of July when we stood down for a month.  I didn't participate in any events that took place in August, so it was good to see everyone again.

Craig Berendt, Rob Larivée, Will Freedman, Frank Baker

Way more important than 3BAM's annual meeting however, was RSM Joao Barros's long-deserved promotion to CWO. Long deserved in many ways, I should add. Joao is not only the longest serving member of the regiment, (he joined seven years before I did and has stayed twenty-two more since I left) but he's been RSM without the rank that goes with the title for a few years now. It's about bloody time he got the recognition! Congratulations, Joao!

Derek Bayliss

The occasion of his promotion brought together many old members of the unit, and I frankly haven't seen so many of my old regimental friends gathered together at the same place and time in many years. Two former RSM's-both memebers of 3BAM- were present; Gilles Aubé and Normand Roberge.  Also present were fomer members Laurent Guyon,  Tom Savoie, Gilles Pelletier, Ambert Fong, Rob Larivée, Sébastien Picard, Bob Hotte, Frank Baker, Ben MacNeil, Will Freedman, and Derek Bayliss.

Normand Roberge, Laurent Guyon, Philippe Dalphond. 

Joao and family

But this story is supposed to be about Joao Barros, so let's get back to that. I first came to know him in 1982, not long after completing my gunner's course. He was a bombardier then, and sort of known as "The Animal" of the regiment. Outspoken, profane, and frankly, a bit scary. On the occasion, he introduced himself to us new gunners as "The Animal" and emphasized the point by banging the rust off the tailgate of an old five-quad with a golfing putter. In the time I was there though, I can't remember him ever being lost for words or not having a wisecrack handy, or ever addressing me as "sergeant." But I also can't remember a single time that he ever shirked his job, bullshitted anyone , played politics, or did anything other than lay it straight on the line when his opinion was asked, or even when it wasn't.  I am certain there is no-one who knows the regiment and its men and women better than he, no-one who cares about it more, and no-one who is more deserving of the rank that's finally been bestowed upon him, long after he earned it.

The man of the hour.

There were other promotions being passed out that day, and it's not my aim to ignore or gloss these over, only I most of them, save one, Lt Christophe Leong's, were people I don't know, or at least people who I don't think I know. I got a bit of a surprise Major Sylvie Pelletier came up to me during the reception in the mess and addressed me by name and rank, explaining that she remembered me from way back when, though I had no recollection of having previously met her. I had heard about her in the intervening years however and of her gallant struggle with breast cancer, which disease struck my  mother some years ago and claimed my grandmother a few couple of years later.  I'm pretty sure she would have been CO of the regiment today had it not been for the cancer and Colonel Garon made it pretty clear to me he fully expects her to be the next CO when his term is up. So good luck and good health to you Sylvie, both on behalf of 3BAM and on behalf of someone who lost two grandparents to cancer. I'm sure you'll be the next CO, and I wouldn't be surprised if Joao Barros is still there when it happens!




Ubique!

Gary Menten
3BAM Photographer-Correspondent.