Veteran Alex Cameron is probably thankful that a friend dared him to join the military as a young man, because if he hadn’t, he likely wouldn’t have met his wife or Queen Elizabeth II.
Cameron was born in Nova Scotia in 1937 and later moved with his family to Saskatchewan in 1947 because the military wanted his father — a Second World War veteran — to attend the Fort Qu’Appelle Sanitorium for his tuberculosis.
The family was there for three weeks before the military sent their patriarch to a sanitorium in Saskatoon for better care.
Cameron joined the reserves at age 17 in 1954 and was posted to 406 Reserve Squadron. Two years later, he and a friend were talking when the friend suggested they join the military as part of a bet to “see who would make it.”
At the time, the latter was working for a Massey Ferguson farm implements dealer and the former was working in a clothing store. This was a “distinguished time” in Cameron’s life because he sold a Homberg hat to not-quite-yet prime minister John Diefenbaker.
“... he used to come in quite often,” beamed Cameron.
After going through the preliminary recruitment stages, the friend was made a clerk and Cameron was made an airframe technician.
“My dad served in the army in the Second World War, so he was upset that I went into the air force,” Cameron chuckled.
The two friends took a train from Saskatoon to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., for basic training. They were still on the rails when Remembrance Day occurred, which Cameron noted was the first time he had ever missed attending a service.
After boot camp, Cameron was made a leading aircraftman mechanic and shipped to Ottawa, where he served in 412 VIP Squadron from 1957 to 1961.
The unit was nicknamed the “VIP Squadron” because of all the very important people it served when they were in Ottawa. Two important people whom Cameron remembers most are former defence minister George R. Pearkes and Canada’s former head of state, Queen Elizabeth.
“I was on her honour guard a couple of times,” he remarked.
The military sent Cameron to Germany in 1961, where he served until 1965. During that time, he met his wife, Canadian Eleanor (Taffy) Taft, and the two married in 1962. Her main role with the military was as a phone operator, while she did some work reading maps of air traffic.
Serving in Germany was a great experience since it was a relatively peaceful time — most of the debris from the Second World War had been cleaned up — even though the Berlin Crisis of 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 did occur, Cameron said.
However, those moments were offset by the couple’s travels, especially to Munich, where they enjoyed several Oktoberfest festivals, friendly people and great food and drink.
After Germany, Cameron was stationed at Trenton Air Base in Ontario from 1965 to 1974 with 6 Repair Depot, later named Aircraft Maintenance Development Unit. While there, several crashes occurred involving planes and helicopters, which meant he helped salvage that equipment.
Cameron remembers one mid-air collision during an airshow, which killed one pilot and injured the other. He recalled watching first responders pick up a body but was too far away to see its condition. Meanwhile, he and others picked up “little wee pieces” of planes and attempted to put them back together like a jigsaw puzzle.
The military next sent Cameron to 15 Wing Air Base, where he arrived just after the major flood of 1974. Besides his usual duties, he was also the crew maintenance chief of 413 Air Demonstration Squadron — the Snowbirds.
“I had two years with them. We saw every province in Canada and then half of the United States,” he said. “(There were) lots of Holiday Inn Hotels and airports.”
Participating in sports was also a big part of Cameron’s life in the air force and with the legion after he retired. He played fastball in Germany and Trenton, while he curled in Moose Jaw with Charles (Chuck) MacMillian, James (Jim) MacNeil and Stan Wheatley. The team — which stayed together after they retired from the military, Cameron in 1987 — made it to nationals one year and placed fourth.
A visit to Cameron’s home features several pictures of his time playing sports and the awards and championships he won with his teams.
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