Nearly 100 Canadians had been deployed on a United Nations mission supervising a ceasefire between warring India and Pakistan in the fall of 1965. The Canadians provided air transport and reconnaissance with three RCAF Otters and three Caribous. They were led by Major-General B.F. Macdonald and located at a base along the India-Pakistan border between Lahore and Amritsar, India.
Aside from aerial reconnaissance, the Otters regularly flew between Rawalpindi and New Delhi. But the extremely hot weather caused problems. The Otters could only fly three hours a day, as they burned seven and a half litres of oil an hour. Drums of oil were cached in the desert for refuelling.
It was hot and dirty work, so a reminder of home, and crisp weather, was welcome.
The 53rd Grey Cup, known as the Wind Bowl, was played in Toronto on Nov. 27, 1965, plagued by intermittent snow flurries and wind gusts topping 50 kilometres per hour. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 22-16, all points scored when the offensive team was going with the wind. This year, the Blue Bombers and the Tiger-Cats were again contesting the Grey Cup but this time the Blue Bombers won.
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