National Ceremony To Honour WW I Vets

This is a recent CBC News Story

The federal government will hold a national commemorative ceremony in April to honour Canadians and Newfoundlanders who served during the First World War, Veteran Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn announced on Tuesday.

Newfoundland, then a separate dominion before it became a Canadian province, sent thousands of troops to fight in the war. More than 1,200 of them died.

The ceremony, to be held April 9 on Vimy Ridge Day at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, follows the death of Canada's last known First World War veteran.

John Babcock, who died last month at age 109, was the last link to the 650,000 Canadian men and women who served in the First World War, Prime Minister Stephen Harper remarked upon his death.

Babcock's death marked the end of an era, Blackburn told CBC-TV's Power & Politics with Evan Solomon.

"When Mr. Babcock died … we thought it was important to take the opportunity of this occasion to remind Canadians what those 650,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders have done for [us] in this great war," he said.

"And we should realize 68,000 of those Canadians have lost their lives. They have done the great sacrifice for us to have a better life. And also 170,000 Canadians in the first war came back with injuries."

Other ceremonies will take place across Canada, along with events at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France and the Canada Memorial at Green Park, in London, England.

The government is also providing "books of reflection" for the public to sign to pay their respects. An online version will also be available at the Veterans Affairs Canada website.

Crew members must have firefighting training

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Firefighting is viewed by most people as a very difficult and sometimes dangerous way to earn a living.

Onboard HMCS Fredericton, this idea takes on a new meaning as every member of her crew could be called upon to perform the duties of a firefighter.

The ship has a complement of four professional firefighters at her disposal. At sea their primary responsibility is providing fire protection for the ship's CH-124 Sea King helicopter.

Throughout the day and night, firefighters are required to don their bunker gear and man their positions whenever the aircraft lands or takes flight.

Should any incidents occur, such as a crash on the flight deck, firefighters can immediately intervene to execute a rescue of the crew and extinguish any fires.

Firefighters may also be called upon in the event of a shipboard fire.

Once confirmation of a fire has been made the ship's RAT (rapid attack team) is utilized. The team is comprised of two firefighters and two sailors who have received extensive fire training. The team's primary role is rescue of trapped personnel. Once the benchmark "all clear" has been achieved after a primary search of the space, the team can focus on fire suppression.

Concurrently, the ship establishes a command area where orders are issued to the ship's section base teams.

Each section base provides a fire attack team to help fight the fire and relieve personnel who were involved during the initial response.

Once the crew becomes involved in firefighting activities, primary jobs are put aside. Every person who sails in Her Majesty's Canadian Ship's undergoes training at the Navy's damage control training facility.

This training enables any member of the ship's company to fill a fire suppression role, assisting in extinguishing and overhauling a fire.

These are some of the duties crew members may be expected to perform in the event of an emergency.

The responsibility for fire prevention and firefighting activities falls on the shoulders of every man and woman serving on HMCS Fredericton. This level of teamwork is what brings the ship and her crew home safely at the end of the day.

Naval Term of the Week:

Scuttlebutt: Gossip or rumours. This term originated from the crew of ships talking while at the scuttlebutt. The scuttlebutt was a water cask, called a "butt," which was "scuttled" by making a hole in it so that water could be withdrawn.

Cpl. Garrett Powers is a firefighter on HMCS Fredericton who's originally from Toronto, Ont.