Whitby Free Press, 8 Feb 1978, p. 4

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PAGE 4, WEDRESDAY, FEBRUARY 8,1978,WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby Volce of the County Towà Mîçhael Lt MWe only Whtby newsPaper.independently owned and open ÇERVING OVER 28,000 READERS mn Burgess, Publisher-Managing Editor atedbv hfrv rovIn*c4~.wiL. £D vIIL resuifdfltq Comnmunity Editor -Brlan Wînter Publshed every Wednesday Contruî.ating Editor -Jim Quail Production Manager -Marje Burgess Print & Promnotiona# by M.B.M. Publisluing. Manager -Robin Lyor and Photography me.- Classifiled Ad Manager '-S. van Deelén Phone 668-6111 'Circu lation Manager -S harôn Lyo&n Mailing Permit No. 460 hIe Free Press Bulding, Member of the* 121 Brock Street North, Btter Business Bureau of Toronta P..Bx20.Wib, n. WibyCabrofCmec project deserves support Dear Sir: Congratulations to Alderman Alan Dewar, Alan Longf"ield, Lynn Hodgson, Mayor Gart- shore and others who worked on the $7 million Camp X project. The old- saying "born too soon" seerns toý be my dilemma at times. The idea for the museum was one 1 pioneered back in' the early sixties and discussed at considerable length with now Director of' Developmnent, Bob Nicol. I had plans'for a build- ing to be located between the pié-shaped piece of land where ]King and Bond join just north west of the Oshawa, Shopping Centre. The plans and pictures of a proposed ifype building were dis- cussed with the President and a - member of the Junior Chamber of Com- merce. 1, wrote to the owners. of the. copyright James 'Bond 007 tade name in New York and to the movie-makers' Brocolli and, Feldmann in Holly- wood with the idea of getting the movie props to be used in the museumn. I also wrote to British R.A.F. Group Captain who manufactured one of the ."suitcase" heli- copters used in one of the James 'Bond 007 movies. I got a full page air 'Mail reply from the' inventor. As it has now been made public, the, cover for the_ operation was that Camp X was a radio' transmitter' for the CBC, overseas service. 1 was employed at the National Program office of the CBC at the time,knew of its existence,, but did not actually see it until I moved to Oshawa in l94ns joining CKLB.a site was used by ti Oshawa Flying Club an emergency landir field and 1 have flow over the old buildit during my training sorr 23 years ago. The late Col. Bc Smith, of the Ontari Regiment told me number of secrets th, went on during the tin Ianî Flemming was - Camp X. I swore not t reveal them nor eve mention them until th Museum was finalized. am sure that Bob Nicolj as happy as I arn that th dreani we had man, years ago has finali, hatched.* While no mention c the name Roht. Stuar has been muade inany c the five or so articles have read, honourabit mention should be rnad( for Stuart. It was lie whc slngle-handed invested his lifes savings and all hig spare time to cletn aircraft engines and -partf for the Air Museum-nov at the Oshawa Airport. A truly dedicated Canadian, Sincerely, Dean J. Kelly Box 1000 Port Perry, Ontario. J the as mg Mn [ng. ne 'o ai a lat t ef I he iman Winter's Hist'orical" W.hitby* -J CAMP X,9 PART TWO EDITOR'S NOTE The following is the second part of a history of Camp X, prepared by the project team in charge of planning a mernorial museurn at the stie of the World War Two spy camp. Much of the -material is flot found inithe best-selling book about Britis secu-rity operations, "A Man Called Intrepid,"ý and was obtained by two Whitby residents, Alan U.ngfield and Lynn Hodgson. Excerpts froni this histôry of Camp X will be published in subsequent issues of the Free Press. Recr-uitment and Trainin, e As the Camp came into operation it was early reaiized o that considerable manpower was to be required' to operate [s the installation effectiuely. An agentof Sir Wilhlam's while i London approached a -senior officer of the Canadian ig Army to ask if the assistance of Canadian Army personnel ts could be obtained. Within 24 hours authorization had been w received by Headquarters Military District No.2 in Toronto V to provide 150Q army personnel, as required, for detached duîty. Recruiting procedures were established by Charles Vinintg with the co-operation of J. L. Ralson, Minister of Defence, and the R.C.M.P. .Carefullyr chosen recruits were inducted into the Canadian army with rank, uniforni and concomitant pay and service benefits. As the nature of the Camp demanded flexibility recruits were given their choice of regiments and rank was often decided by circumstances. One professor at the University of Toronto finding difficulty in dealing with bis American couniterparts as ho officially only held the rank of Second-Lieutenant found himself promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel over night. A request to Sir Winston Churchill froîn Sir William being sufficient to have the entry made on the British regimental establishment. The military staff headed by a succession of British commanders included four other senior British officers, and 10 N.C.O. instructors. These instructors where chosen carefully for their skills and included a former heavyweight wrestling champion of England who was one of the acknowledged world experts in hand to hand J7ombat. Others expert in explosives were so skilled in their trade that they could place a piece of shrapnel between twopoles 10 feet apart. Occasionally explosives were misjudged and on one occasion windows were broken several miles away in neighbouring Oshawa requiring sorte quick cover-up by senior camp personnel. Technical expertise was provided by Canadian civilians who had been, quietly approached and'recruited upon a, 46word of mouth" recommendation to Drew-Brook by bis talent spotters in the-field. The R.C.M.P. assisted this by providing4 facilities and manpower without asking questions, Canadian professors of, engineering, scientists, gifted amateurs in many fields were inducted for service in the Canadian army under the strictest. rules of secrecy. Poten- tial agents were recruited fromn Canada's large ethnic popu- lation to meet languqge and nationality requirements for projected missions. Obvious partisan syinpatl'ues, a promising psychological profile and other factors were equally considered in the final selection and screening processes. Canada's large Eastern-European popùlation was a particularly fertile ground for the recruitment of poten-ý tial agents.1 Typical of BSC's recruitment procedures was the request made to a prominent Canadian union leader for help in Io- cating potential operatives. Twenty Hungarian-born acti- vists frorn the Toronto area were quickly recruited and rapidly assimilated into the Canadian army, sent to Orillia for basic training and then had their skills fine-tuned by eight weeks of highly specialized training at Camp X. The agents, after training, were then flown to Scotland and Egypt. Briefed, they then proceeded to Brindisi; one of the, major jumping off points, and were then dropped into Eastern Europe by No. 148 Special Duty Squadron. Not ail of the recruitment and training were directed towards the European theatre. One of the most colourful, groups to go through training at Camp X were the South Americans, recruited by Nelson Rockefeller and trainied to counter-act Nazi sabotage plans directed against South American rubber plantations. During the period when Camp X was used as a comman- do training centre over five hundred agents were tramned here in any of fifty-two different courses, ranging in dura- tion fromn one to eight weeks. The courses, especially in the physical combat arts, were unrelentingly rigorous. Instructors were often eccentric and always effective. Techniques emphasized the "'make it and take it" approach to, success and survival in enemny country with minimum, resources available. On the Chief Instructor's loor was placed the 'unofficial slogan of the Camp KNOW YOURSELF, KNOW YOUR WEAPONS, KNOW YOUR ENEMY. Each recruit was assigned a project, a realistic facsimile of bis or her ultimate mission. Ail the agent's time was taken 'in acquiring and rehearsing the necessary skills and information for the project's succss. "Schemnes" or field training exercises were mounted whenever possible and were designed to stress:- observation, shadowning and evading surveillanke, physical self-defence, weapon training, sabo- tage, use Of secret codes and 'ciphers, interrogation of prisoners. When required specialized courses were given in such things as underwater demolition and the handling of two man submarines. In order to make the"e "schemes" as realistic as possible agunts Vere sent out into thse filId as often as practlcable. Letters te the Editor Box 206 Whitby ý iqftý w

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