by Ray Dick

From left: Canadian army signallers in World War II set up shop in a private home in Lembeck, Germany, in 1945; Linesmen travelling with an infantry brigade repair overhead telephone lines in Aurich, Germany, in 1945.

In a bitter winter in Northern Canada in 1932, in the early years of the Great Depression, instant communication as is known today was in its infancy and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were involved in a massive manhunt to track down a man called Albert Johnson, the Mad Trapper of Rat River.

As the manhunt unfolded, taking the life of one Mountie and seriously wounding another before the Mad Trapper was cornered and slain, the army’s Royal Canadian Signal Corps from a base in Aklavik kept the nation and the world informed of the mayhem in the Northwest Territories. A Signals Corps member also took part, and was wounded, in the final battle with Johnson on a snow-covered river in the Yukon.

The messages sent to Edmonton by the Signals Corp were picked up by newspapers and radio stations across the country, and for the first time radio listeners and newspaper readers were given up-to-date reports about a dramatic and extended manhunt as it was occurring in the Far North.

The role played by the Signals Corp in the capture of the Mad Trapper is only one of many historic events along the way as the military’s Communications and Electronics Branch this year marks a centennial of 100 years of military communications in Canada. The service was born as a separate corps of the army in 1903 shortly after the Boer War and became a vital service in times of war. Its peacetime contributions to national development include keeping the airmail moving, operating weather stations and providing the communications for High Arctic reconnaissance.

The communicators served in the air, on ships and on land for the last 100 years and are still serving throughout the world in war and in peacekeeping. At home they provided and sustained the communication backbone to support disaster relief operations, such as the Winnipeg floods of 1997 and the ice storm of 1998 in Ontario and Quebec. They provided communications and electronics support for the Pinetree, Mid-Canada and Distant Early Warning Line systems, and along with defence scientists and supported by industry developed the Isis, Alouette and Anik satellites.

Planning is well underway for the centennial celebrations, which will include various displays and activities across the country and climaxing with a huge party and reunion at the military communications home base at Canadian Forces Base Kingston on Labour Day weekend Aug. 30 to Sept. 1. More than 3,000 of some 20,000 serving, reserve and former members of the communications branch are expected at the big party.

And although her itinerary is not yet set, one of the highlights of the celebrations is expected to be a visit by Princess Anne, colonel-in-chief of the Communications and Electronics Branch. Princess Anne has already issued a royal proclamation congratulating the branch on 100 years of military communications in the service of Canadians.

“The Canadian military was one of the first Commonwealth military organizations to recognize the significance of military communications by formally constituting a dedicated communications unit,” she states. “From a humble start, you have grown into a professional and sophisticated organization with an international reputation for excellence.

“Over the past 100 years you have been instrumental in developing the Canadian North and assisting Canadians in times of need. On the world stage, you have represented Canada proudly during both world wars and actively participated in many United Nations operations. Throughout these commitments, communications has always played a vital role.”

As for the other planned activities across the country, “everything is looking good,” says Lieutenant-Colonel J.H.G Tremblay in Ottawa, executive director of the military communications centennial celebrations. The Royal Canadian Mint has produced a sterling silver medallion for the occasion, he says, and “more than half have already been sold.” Canada Post Corporation plans to issue a special commemorative envelope and there will be special displays at the Canadian War Museum and Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa.

Another highlight will be Exercise Mercury Trek, a cross-Canada bike ride by a group of military members and reservists, mostly from the Kingston area, who will start their ride in Victoria and end up in St. John’s. The trip is part of the military’s adventure training series, and the riders will be stopping in provincial capitals along the way.

The Communications and Electronics Branch traces its roots back to 1903, just after the South African War, when the importance of signalling was recognized and a separate corps was set up in the Canadian army. Over the years the Communications and Electronics Branch with home base at Kingston emerged from founding services such as the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, the Royal Canadian Air Force Telecommunications Branch, the Royal Canadian Navy Communications Research Branch and some elements of the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.

WW I saw the development of spark wireless, buried telephone cable and message rockets, as well as motorcyclist dispatch riders, messenger dogs, carrier pigeons and the old reliable lamp and flags. It also pointed out the need and benefits of continuing the young Signals Corps service in peacetime.

The opening of radio stations in 1923 at the Yukon mining communities of Mayo Landing and Dawson City grew into a system of 28 stations and became a vital link for mining companies, aircraft, trading posts and prospectors. When airmail was introduced in 1927, the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals was responsible for a nationwide system of radio beacons to guide the mail planes. In 1937 the Corps school moved to its newly constructed permanent home at Vimy Barracks in Kingston from its previous home in a collection of temporary huts at Camp Borden.

WW II saw a tremendous increase in the size and scope of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, and each of Canada’s five fighting divisions had a divisional signal unit of nearly 1,000 men. In Korea, the corps was represented by a brigade signal squadron and by men serving in infantry and artillery regiments. Since then, the corps has been involved in virtually all the United Nations peacekeeping missions, ranging from one or two radio detachments to a full signal regiment.

When the Canadian Forces were unified in 1968, communicators from air, land and sea were brought together to form the Communications and Electronics Branch, and the navy’s school in Ottawa and the air force school at Clinton were closed immediately. Most professional training for the branch was moved to the Canadian Forces School of Communications and Electronics at Kingston, the old home of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals.