The Memorial Dedication Service was dedicated 18 April 2004 in the rain at the Museum
of Military Communications and Electronics at CFB Kingston. Below are photos taken during the ceremony and of the
cairn.
History of the Memorial
Photos of the dedication ceremony and the cairn
"This is the spirit of the men of the flag and lamp, the semephore and
the key. It has come down through the ages. It is as old as time and immortal
as the gods. These are the heralds of the world. By their noble devotion and
self-sacrifice they have contributed to the advancement of mankind. By this
you shall know them. Since the realization of the dignity of man, their kind
has been the messengers. Proudly they have proclaimed the birth of monarchs,
sadly have they announced the death of the lonely soldier on a far-off foreign
battlefield. Their roots are sunk deep in the past, and are enmeshed along the
path of Man's forward march towards happiness and peace. Two thousand years
ago the "V"s' which in these modern times symbolize the Corps,
attained immortality when used to announce the glory of Caesar. Within our
day, it stood alone-as the Empire stood alone - to stand for victory: the hope
for all the then enslaved, for whom men served and sacrificed and died. To
these men of Signals we owe much for they have given much. Civilization in its
relentless march towards progress has changed the means by which they toil,
but the spirit remains, constant and unchanged throughout the ages. Gone is
the swift runner with the flaming torch held high. Relegated to the past are
the signal tower and the pony rider. The smoke ring remains only in song and
story; and the throb of the distant jungle drum is muffled and faltering. But
the spirit lives on, and is richer for having been in their keeping."
To understand the concept of the memorial for communicators, we
must take a brief look at history.
After the second world war the British dedicated a Cairn at
Blandford England in honour of Canadian Signallers. As all memorial Cairns
decayed to a point that it had to be replaced. The Cairn was disassembled,
and the time capsule (an ammunition box) was taken out and is now in the
Communications and Electronics Museum at CFB Kingston. The British Royal
Signal Corp decided to erect another monument to show the fond feeling and
respect they had for the Canadian Signallers who had helped them during
the second world war. They decided to place a large piece of stone with appropriate
encryptions on it. The stone is the same stone that Windsor Castle is made
of and came from the same quarry as did the rock for the castle.
Signallers Bill Richard and Bill Marshall from the Signallers Club of
Canada were in attendance for the dedication. The monument is located at
the British School of Signals at Blandford England.
With the 100th Anniversary of Military Communications in
Canada, just around the corner, the then president of the Signallers Club,
Bill Fallows, suggested that we should also dedicate a memorial to all
communicators and support staff who served and supported communications in
the forces. The executive went out to the membership to ask for ideas for
an appropriate memorial.
Ideas from bursaries, to travelling around the world were
submitted. Regrettably, many ideas that were submitted were far beyond the
club's ability or finances.
The executive sat down and put their heads together and Ron Knapton
came up with the idea of matching the British idea and recommended we put
a large rock, from the greater Kingston area, as this is the home of
communications, as the centre piece of the memorial. The executive
supported the idea in principle and gave Ron the go ahead to look for an
appropriate rock.
Through Ron's contacts in Gananaoque, he was able to find a rock
that might meet the requirements. Having found a rock with a sense of
might and character, he contacted the museum staff and they went and had a
look at the big rock.
With agreement from the club's executive and the museum staff the
task for Ron was now to get the rock to the museum. Well, after some delay
Ron finally got the rock in place but a little to late to have it
dedicated in time for the 100th Anniversary Reunion on Labour
Day Weekend in 2003.
The memorial is now in place at the C & E Museum with the
Signals hat badge and the plaque on the rock.
The monument represents all communicators in the Canadian Forces,
from Engineers who developed the communications equipment, the staff who
trained the people to use the equipment and the individuals who used the
equipment, no matter what shoulder flash you had or have on your shoulder.
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VVV