Canadian Naval Air Group Reunion In British Columbia

On the Canadian thanksgiving weekend (October 10), 165 former aviators of the Canadian Naval Air Group and their spouses gathered at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, to renew friendships and remember times past.

Although 35 years have past since the decommissioning of Canada's last Aircraft Carrier HMCS BONAVENTURE, the spirit of Canada's naval aviation community lives on. The weekend commenced with a meet and greet Friday afternoon. Saturday saw the annual directors' meeting, followed by "Up Spirits", a well attended portion of the proceedings with Pusser's provided of course...

Saturday evening's dinner dance began with Royal Canadian Sea Cadets of RCSCC Admiral Budge (a name well known to older members of the naval community) parading in the White Ensign followed by the head table. The buffet dinner and music provided by the Swiftsure Band was enjoyed by all. A number of door prizes and auction items were donated by many local businesses and were distributed during the evening. A Pusser's decanter was one of the most sought after items and was carefully packed by Carl Snelgrove to be prominently displayed at his home in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Sunday's events included a buffet breakfast followed by a church service presided over by Padre Bill Howie, a retired Naval Padre who had a long association with Canadian Naval Aviation, serving on HMCS BONAVENTURE and at HMCS SHEARWATER.

Retired LCDR and author Stu Soward and retired LCDR Dick Bartlett presented copies of "A Formidable Hero", an account of Hampton Gray VC, and "One Man's War", an account of Dick Bartlett's wartime experience, to Cadet P2 Megan Pratt and Cadet P1 Greg Dyer of RCSCC Admiral Budge, on behalf of the CNAG Banshee Chapter. Dick Bartlett was shot down flying a Skua off HMS Ark Royal with the FAA against Scharnhorst near Trondjeim Norway and spent five years as a POW.

Lcdr. Stretch Arnold (Ret.) read out the honour role of some eighty former naval aviators who had passed on in the past year. While some attendees took their leave on Sunday afternoon, many gathered in the hospitality suite to continue swapping tales.