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#101 Cadet Corps

Name -  Vancouver Public Schools Cadet Regiment

Location  Vancouver, BC

Formed November 18, 1903      Disbanded  January 21, 1941

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History - roots of corps start as early as 1895. 5 Bns, 22 companies. reorg: 101, 433, 434, 435, 436, 439, 443, 445 to 1 Bn. 437, 438, 440, 442, 446, 462, 509, 522 to 2 Bn 101 Vancouver Public School Cadet Regt Jan 11, 1915

The High School Cadet Corps waiting before the Hotel Vancouver to escort Earl Grey to the opening of the new Granville Street Bridge over False Creek, Sept 6, 1909 (BC Archives B-07258)

101 Vancouver High School Cadet Corps on grounds of King Edward High School, prior to departure on Australian tour 1912. Capt R.N. Davey in front, Cadet Capt R.A. Seymour to his rear, both with drawn swords. Building is science Bldg, McGill University College, 12th Ave, Vancouver (prior to establishment of University of British Columbia)  (National League Office collection)

Name -  Vancouver Schools Cadet Regiment

Location  Vancouver, BC

Formed  January 22, 1941     Disbanded  January 1, 1945

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Senior Cadets

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History -

"City Of Vancouver C.C." flocked shoulder title ca.1943

Name -  Kitsilano High School Cadet Corps

Location  Vancouver, BC

Formed  March 22, 1945     Disbanded  November 1, 1946

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History - H.Q. 12-189-23

Students heeded war's call

By Lisa Smedman-Staff writer

In the 1940s, with the world at war, students at Kitsilano High School weren't just learning reading and writing. Marching in close order was also part of the curriculum. For those who joined the cadets, map reading and marksmanship were also on the agenda.

With the outbreak of war, high schools across B.C. formed cadet corps. At Kitsilano High School, boys in Grades 7 to 13 could join the 4th, 5th and 6th Battalions of the 101st Vancouver Schools Cadet Regiment. Each battalion included about 200 to 240 students.

Once a week, the cadets paraded outside the school or in Connaught Park-except in winter, when bad weather forced them inside. The boys wore civilian clothes, but although shirts could be open at the neck, cuffs had to be buttoned at the wrist and shoes polished. Many wore military caps, pulled down to the regulation distance of one inch over the eye. Hair cuts were mandatory.

Under the direction of naval, army and air force officers, the cadets learned how to signal with flags, using the letters of the semaphore alphabet. They were also taught first aid-bandaging, splinting and "stretcher work"-map reading, knot work, and the rudiments of military engineering, such as bridge building. Lessons in the art of military scouting taught them about "reconnaissance and determining the position of the enemy and the general lay of the land."

What had formerly been the boys' cooking club was turned into a course on military-style "camp cooking." The boys also learned to shoot .22 rifles.

The school formed a marching band, under the leadership of music teacher Ivar Parfitt.

Girls could also join the cadets. Their "uniform" consisted of a dark skirt and white blouse.

As of June 1940, the B.C. government made "squad drill" a mandatory part of physical education classes for all boys in Grade 7 and up. All that marching put boys (and girls) in a military frame of mind, and the high school cadet movement flourished.

By the end of the school year in 1940, there were 27 school cadet corps in B.C. with a total enrolment of about 2,700. By Dec. 1941, that number had climbed to 101 school cadet corps in B.C. with a total enrolment of 16,672. About 12,000 cadets chose army training, while 3,000 were in air training and 1,500 were in naval training.

Ottawa did its bit by publishing an Advanced Training Syllabus that contained chapters on everything a cadet needed to know, including fieldcraft and scouting, hygiene and sanitation in the field, woodscraft, model building, airplane recognition and the inner workings of the internal combustion engine.

A wartime publication that focused on the school cadet corps in B.C. included a column by District Cadet Officer Major W.R. Critchley, DSO, who listed the benefits of cadet training. Not only, he said, did it instill discipline and respect for authority, it also built self-confidence while showing boys their duty to society.

"The future of any country, whether large or small, lies in the hands of its youth, who must be prepared to take up the burden laid down by older men," he wrote.

"For some years there was a noticeable and growing laxity in discipline, loyalty and service among Canadian youth. Cadet training aims at correcting this by teaching the habits of discipline, self-discipline and service.

"By the word discipline we mean correct living and thinking, unquestioned obedience to the laws of the country, and the prompt carrying out of orders given by those in authority. This does not, however, imply slavish obedience such as we find in countries governed by dictators. On the contrary, the cadet is taught to think for himself..."

The Kitsilano student body as a whole aided the war effort by knitting, sewing and sorting rivets. The fighting services committee sent more than 1,400 parcels to soldiers overseas. These parcels included gum and chocolate bars collected in "self-denial" drives. Students also held scrap paper and silver foil collection drives. Individual students wrote letters to servicemen on active duty, and the school as a whole "adopted" the Fort St. James, the first merchant navy ship built in Vancouver.

A 1942 Victory Fair raised $525 to send quilts to British civilians who had lost their homes to bombing raids during the Blitz. That same year, the shelling of Estevan Point on Vancouver Island prompted evening blackouts in Vancouver. The school was forced to cancel evening activities, including a planned opera performance.

In 1943, shortages of coal-used to heat the school-forced Kitsilano to close for two weeks.

Many of the Kitsilano cadets went on to become full-fledged soldiers, sailors and airmen in the latter years of the war. A total of 54 medals were awarded to former Kitsilano students who fought in the Second World War, including one George Cross, the highest Commonwealth decoration for gallantry in extreme danger but not in the face of the enemy.

In 1945, the school held a Memorial Fair that raised $870 to erect a plaque honoring the 141 "Kitsies" killed during the war.

published on 10/05/2005 Vancouver Courier