Who am I? (By E3161 Victoria Edwards (RMC ‘03)
- I was born in 1913 at Moosomin, Saskatchewan.
- I was raised at Trenton, Ontario, where I joined the Royal Canadian Artillery in 1934.
- I graduated from RMC in Kingston.
- Following the outbreak of war, I joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in July 1939.
- I earned my wings as a pilot in Trenton in 1939. I completed my flying instructor course at Camp Borden in 1939.
- I spent over four years [51 months] on instructional duties in Alberta, before being posted overseas as C.O. of No. 408 Bomber Squadron, 6 Bomber Group 26 November 1944.
- I attended the War Staff College in 1944. I won a Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 4 May 1945 with No. 408 Goose Squadron.
- In 1946, I was a member of the Chelsey committee which was instructed to make recommendations about the provision of officers for the active force, about the educational requirements of candidates, and about the way they should be trained. The committee, headed by Brigadier Leonard McEwan Chelsey (RMC 1917) favored three plans. Plan A proposed to eliminate RMC as a source of officers and to use the site as a two year course for military training of university graduates. Plan B proposed to enlarge RMC so it could provide the total annual requirements of the active force, to make it free and to impose an obligation on graduates to serve in the active force. Plan C proposed to enlarge RMC to produce 50-70% of the officers needed and to have a parallel officer training system in universities to prepare the balance.
- After the war, I served in the directorate of postings and careers at Air Force Headquarters and as officer commanding the Central Flying School, Trenton.
- I studied business administration, at the University of Western Ontario.
- I was an exchange officer to the directing staff of the RAF Staff College.
- I served as Commander, RCAF Station North Bay.
- I served at the directorate of organization and establishments, later the directorate of management engineering, Air Force Head Quarters.
- I was a student at the National Defence College, Kingston.
- I served as Deputy Commander, 25th Region, North American Air Defense Command.
- I was Commander, Bangor Sector, 26th Region, NORAD.
- I was Director General, Management Engineering and Automation, Canadian Forces Headquarters.
- I was Commander, Training Command, to July 1966.
- I served as Air Marshall -Vice-chief of the Defence Staff of National Defence, Canadian Forces Headquarters, Ottawa, Ontario from 1967.
- I wrote a paper for the July-August 1967 Air University Review on the Reorganization of the Canadian Armed Forces.
- I served as Chief of the Defence Staff as general from 1969-1972.
- The papers I collected on the reorganization and the unification of the Canadian Forces are included in the Robert Lewis Raymont fonds at Wilfred Laurier University.
- I died in 6/10/1992.
a) 2435 General (ret’d) Bob RT Bennett (RMC ’35)
b) 2474 General (ret’d) W.F.M. Newson (RMC ’35)
c) 2420 General (ret’d) Frederick Ralph Sharp (RMC ’34)
d) 2424 General (ret’d) George H Spencer (RMC ’34)
e) 2357 General (ret’d) Denis WD Whitaker (RMC ’33)
Answer: c) 2420 General (ret’d) Frederick Ralph Sharp (RMC ’34) CMM, DFC, CD (1915-1992)