Kingston & area Ex Cadets & Club Members – Don’t miss the luncheon this Wed
At the meeting of the Kingston Branch on Wednesday, 6 August 2014, we will welcome another ex-cadet as our speaker. 10982 Chuck Oliviero had a wide ranging career starting as an Armoured Corp officer and ending as Special Advisor to the Commander of the Canadian Army.
He also was Chief of Staff at the Canadian Army Staff College in Kingston. For many years he has been in charge of the CF’s simulation training as Calian Technology’s Contract Wide Coordinator at the Canadian Army Simulation Centre at CFB Kingston. He will tell us about this simulation training.
Join us a for a casual gathering before lunch (approx 1230); followed by the presentation from Chuck. Summer dress is in effect at the SSM – note in photo above.
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A tip of the hat to the following members who just recently updated their Club membership status: Chapeau aux membres suivants qui ont tout récemment mis à jour leur adhésion au Club:
8698 Pierre Lagueux – Lifetime Membership; 9844 James Simpson; 20657 Danic Parenteau.
Club Membership Info Join, Update or Renew ‘Now’
In This Issue 30:
Opinion: Aug 4, 1914
“Germany and the Origins of the Great War”
Class notes –
Ex-Cadets & More in the News…
Claude Scilley In Conversation: 22909 Kevin Dulude
Jen Ochej Tells Us: Where are they now? 17825 – Kirsti Domay ‘91
Tony O, Does It Again!
Direct from Panet House
Keeping Tabs…
We Remember
Riley coaching legacy still strong at West Point
Jobs – Careers / Carrières
We get emails
Deaths
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ENCORE:
To find an article: copy title into the search bar on the top of the website and press the ‘enter’ key.
To search for an individual: type their name into the search bar and press the ‘enter’ key.
Help needed to locate a number of “buds” & others / Nécessaire
Thank you to those who have posted our notice on Facebook, LinkedIn etc. The feedback has been steady. Some of you have wondered why couldn’t track down the Provost Marshal and other “low hanging fruit”. The reality is unless Ex Cadets & former students contact us, and provide their coordinates, we’re obliged to respect their privacy. The “buds” talking to “buds” is the best method that we are aware of to date for updating our data base. Thank you again; and we are hoping to receive more updates to flow into Panet House for days to come.
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Silent Auction for the RMC Club (e-Veritas)? Yes or NO?
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CMR SAINT-JEAN – 5/7 SEPT 2014 – FIN DE SEMAINE DES RETROUVAILLES – HOMECOMING WEEK-END
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QUOTE(S) OF THE WEEK
Morale building quotes from General James Wolfe :
“The impossibility of a retreat makes no different in the situation of men resolved to conquer or die; and believe me, my friends, if your conquest could be bought with the blood of your General, he would most cheerfully resign a life which he has long devoted to his country.”
“You know too well the forces which compose their army to dread their superior numbers.”
“Now, God be praised, I will die in peace.”
James Wolfe (1727–59) was Britain’s most celebrated military hero of the eighteenth century. His important victory over the French at Quebec on 13 September 1759 resulted in the unification of Canada and the American colonies under the British crown. But his death at the moment of victory earned him a reputation as a patriotic martyr that was unmatched by any British hero until Nelson.
Wolfe was born at Westerham, Kent, the eldest son of Lieutenant-General Edward Wolfe. He was a career soldier and entered the Army in 1741 aged 14. At the Battle of Dettingen in 1743 he caught the attention of the Duke of Cumberland, who then helped to promote Wolfe’s early career. Wolfe fought at Culloden in 1746 and saw further service in Scotland and Ireland during the 1750s. His tactical theories and significant improvements to firing and bayonet techniques were an important part of his legacy and were posthumously published as ‘General Wolfe’s Instructions to Young Officers’ (1768).
During the Seven Years War (1756-63), Wolfe distinguished himself during the aborted assault on Rochefort in 1757, going ashore to scout the terrain prior to the raid. He also tried to persuade the commander of the operation, General Sir John Mordaunt, to act more decisively. Wolfe informed Mordaunt that he could capture Rochefort if he was given just 500 men but the general refused him permission. He again came to prominence at the siege of Louisbourg in 1758, commanding a brigade there with great skill. This led to his appointment, at the age of 32, as major-general in command of the Quebec expedition in 1759.
Wolfe experienced months of frustration and ill health, and many thought the operation would fail. Then, at dawn on 13 September, Wolfe led his men in carrying out a plan for which he took full credit: using flat-bottomed landing craft to take his 4,500 troops up the St Lawrence River, landing them south-west of the city, and scaling the Heights of Abraham to surprise the French and draw them out of the city and into battle exactly where he wanted to fight. It was a bold plan which relied on a mix of good-judgement and luck, but it worked.
Wolfe was fatally wounded early in the battle but lived long enough to hear of his victory. He was an inspirational leader, who, like other great generals, was loved by his men. After the battle, Lieutenant Henry Browne, who held Wolfe as he lay dying, wrote to his father of the Army’s reaction to Wolfe’s death: ‘I cant compare it to any thing better, than to a family in tears & sorrow which had just lost their father, their friend & their whole Dependance’.
When news of Wolfe’s death reached Britain, it seized the public imagination. He was seen as a young, heroic martyr and a paragon of martial virtue. As the greatest military hero of the mid-eighteenth century, Wolfe was universally celebrated in paintings, prints and other forms of popular culture.
Major (later Major-General) James Wolfe, c1750. Miniature, Indian ink and pencil on paper, by James Ferguson (1710-76).
“Mad, is he? Then I hope he will bite some of my other generals.”
King George II on James Wolfe.