171 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca Many good things happened during this second tour. East-West relations were better and therefore the stress and tension were less. Unification of the Armed Forces came into being and with it came new uniforms and new pay structure. Other things happened, such as the new Canadian Flag being raised for the first time at 1200 hours on February 15, 1965. Arnold was the guard commander for the quarter guard that presented arms during the lowering of the old flag and the raising of the new one. As mentioned, many new and exciting things came about on the second tour of duty. It was on this tour of duty that he married his wife, Ilse. They received new guns, U.S. - designed 155mm Howitzers. Being masters at gunnery, it was not long before they mastered this new piece of equipment. The following story of Arnold and his gun crew appeared in the gunner’s salvo section of the Canadian Brigade newspaper. FASTEST GUN IN GERMANY CRA PAYS THE WAGER - Last spring the Commander Royal Artillery Second British Division Brigadier Philip Rooke asked Sergeant A.C. Sinclair of 2RCHA if he could improve on the accepted intense rate of fire of three rounds a minute for the U.S. designed 155 Howitzer. Sgt. Sinclair confidently claimed his gun crew could fire 15 rounds in three minutes. Brig. Rooke said if the Sergeant could make good his boast during the annual CRA’s practice camp in July, he would give two cases of beer to the gun crew. During the fire-power demonstration for the 2,500 soldiers of the division that made up the CRA’s camp, Sgt. Sinclair said that his “Fox Charlie” gun crew were firing fast and true when his shoot was called off after thirteen rounds because of equipment failure. Brig. Rooke however told the spectators that the rate they were firing, the “Fox Charlie” crew would probably have got off 17 rounds in three minutes and sportingly presented Sgt. Sinclair and his men with two cases of brew. The other members were: Gnr Graham Linny; Gnr. Gordon MacLean; Gnr. JPM Vaillancourt; Gnr. Carl Nutley; L/Bdr. Robert Lavoie; Bdr. Lealie Mason and Gnr. Thomas Taylor. On January 8, 1967, he returned to Canada with his wife and their two children, Robert and Susann. Their flight this time took only nine hours. He spent the rest of the year and a half with the regiment in Gagetown, again catching up on some of the career courses in Montreal, Quebec; Shilo, Manitoba; Chilliwack, British Columbia and Rivers, Manitoba. On May 28, 1968, he was posted to the newly formed Airborne Battery in Edmonton, Alberta. However, this posting was cancelled en route and he went instead to RCSA in Shilo, Manitoba. There, he attended the group 4 course which started on September 4, 1968.When this course was completed, he remained with the school in Shilo as instructor in gunnery until May 4, 1970 when the school of gunnery was transferred to Gagetown. To become part of the combat arms school he was assigned to the special warfare company, instructing in subjects far removed from my gunnery training in the company. They had the AirBorne element and conducted courses in mountaineering, watermanship, helicopter repelling winter warfare in the Arctic, mine warfare and survival. There were twelve instructors in the whole Coy. They called them“The Dirty Dozen”. This experience was one of the highlights of his career. He was promoted to Warrant Officer on July 9, 1972. On September 1 of that same year, he was posted to the “E” Battery 2RCHA in Gagetown as Troop Sgt. Major, where he served until July 24, 1973. He was then posted to RSS Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia to serve as regular support staff to the militia for the next three years. He was promoted to Master Warrant Officer on July 10, 1976 and was posted to 3RCHA in Shilo, Manitoba on September 6, 1976 as battery Sergeant Major “G” Battery where he remained until his retirement. On August 10, 1979, at the age of 44, with 25 years and 5 months experience, he left the Canadian Armed Forces. Upon his retirement, he moved to Dallas, Manitoba where he designed and built their home. His wife and family joined him at Christmas 1979. In September 1981, he returned to school.This time, he attended Red River Community College to take training as barber stylist.When the course was completed in June 1982 he returned home to Dallas, Manitoba and opened his own salon. As is the story of life, some bad things happen with the glad and some happy with the sad. Sadly, their son Robert passed away in his early years. He succumbed to cancer in December 1985. Their daughter Susann married, has made them proud grandparents and had secured her license in barber styling as well. She joined him in his shop. SINCLAIR, Arnold C. (continued)
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