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Western Command Trades Training Centre 1949-54
Vernon
Cadet Trades Training Centre 1955-61
Vernon Army Cadet Camp 1962-1996
Vernon Army Cadet Summer Training Centre
1997-2014
Vernon Cadet Training Centre 2014-
|
Info
- The only visitor access to the camp will be
via the tunnel. The Gate at Bldg C39 / Hwy 97 has been permanently
closed. All Guests are directed to enter the camp via the
tunnel and report to the New Reception Centre in Bldg B35. |
VCTC - A brief history
Located on the southern outskirts of the
City of Vernon, Vernon Army Cadet Summer Training Centre is perhaps one of the most picturesque Summer
Training Centres in all of Canada along with Quadra on BC's west coast and the former camp
in Banff, Alberta. The training centre sits atop Mission Hill
surrounded by hills and forested mountains.
Vernon has a long military history. Located on the southern edge of the
City of Vernon on Mission Hill, troops first trained on the hill in
1912. The 30th BC Horse was formed that year and a permanent annual
district summer training camp for cavalry and infantry militia units
was established in Vernon on the hill. In May of 1915 Camp Vernon
became a central mobilization camp and training centre. By 1916
there were more than 7000 men training at the camp while the city of
Vernon had a population of barely 3000. Between the wars, the hill was
home most summers to a concentration of BC militia regiments in the
summer for several weeks.
In the year after WWII broke out, Mission Hill
became busy. In July of 1940, work was underway to expand and upgrade
the facilities at the Vernon Army Camp. Water and sewer lines
were extended, and a few buildings slowly began to emerge. In
addition to the 5th Canadian Motorcycle Regiment (BCD), other units
began to arrive at the camp for training. By August 30th, 1940
the ranks had swelled to well over 400 men. In September it was
announced that the Vernon Army Camp would become permanent and would
be upgraded to comfortably house 1,200 soldiers. Indeed, by
mid-month hundreds were employed erecting barracks and storerooms, and
building roads. By the third week in September over 40 buildings
were under construction. At the height of World War II training,
there were in excess of 7,000 troops at the camp at any given time.
For those living near the camp, the constant sounds of bugle calls,
men shouting drill orders, trucks, and the distant resonance of
exploding mortar shells and gunfire during practice sessions became
part of their daily life. However, with so many soldiers in town,
Vernon’s economy thrived. Following VE Day in May
1945, the Vernon military camp's focus changed to becoming the
Canadian Army Pacific Force (CAPF) training base, the camp would
prepare Canadian units for battle in the Pacific and ultimately the
invasion of Japan. With the sudden of end of war in August 1945, the
camp quickly demobilized.
By the spring of 1946, just handful staff
remained at the camp. Many barracks on the upper camp were dismantled
sold and rebuilt as housing for returning soldiers and their new
families. The huts and barracks were scattered through the Vernon
area. Hundred Homes on Vernon's East hill was constructed from several
of these barracks.
Mothballed from 1946 to the spring of 1949, it reopened as an army cadet camp in July 1949, just 2 years after the
camp had been stood down as a WWII Canadian Army Basic Infantry Training
Centre and support camp for the Coldstream Ranch Battle Drill School.
That first summer, some 1000 army cadets from BC and Alberta arrived by
passenger train and trained for 10 days, a further 240 stayed behind to
take 6 weeks of trades training. Vernon joined Ipperwash, Dundurn,
Farnham and Aldershot as the main training camps for army cadets across
Canada that summer.
Since 1949 some 80,000 cadets from across Canada have trained at this
famous camp. In the 1940s and 50s, training focused on Infantry Basic
Training, Driver Mechanic and Signals, over the years training changed
with the times and today the emphasis is on leadership, adventure
training, and fitness all with a military flavour.
Looking over the Camp, 1959 (Cam
Leblond)
The camp's name has changed
over the years, "Alberta - British Columbia Western Command Trades
Training Camp" 1949-52, "Western Command Trades Training
Camp" 1950s, "Vernon Cadet Trades Training Camp" 1956-61,
"Vernon Army Cadet Camp" 1962-1996, but it very much still reflects its early days with most
of it's WWII constructed H-Huts barracks and mess halls still standing
and used every summer albeit updated. HM Queen Elizabeth II visited
the camp in 1959 during her cross-country tour. In the 1967 celebrating
Canada's centennial, Band Company and the Guard toured the province
after camp for a 2-week Tattoo tour of BC, that summer and for the first
time, sea and air cadets also attending courses at Vernon. In 1974, the
most important change occurred, the
first female cadets attended an experimental 2 week course at the end of
the summer to prepare them to be the first female staff cadets for the following
year when female cadet would finally attend course at Vernon alongside
the male cadets. With just a few years years female cadets were fully integrated
into the training program in all courses with female CIL officers in
various company and headquarter roles. Ex Rambler began as the main six
day training exercise for all CL course cadets culminating with a three
day 45km route march over the commonage.
In 1977, USMC Jr ROTC Cadets
from Washington State began a 13 year exchange program with the camp. In
1979, the camp celebrated it's 30th anniversary and the centennial of
Royal Canadian Army Cadets with the first ever Freedom of the City
Parade for Cadets anywhere in Canada. On Aug 4 that summer some 1300
cadets marched along a parade route in downtown Vernon, with drummers
drumming, flags flying and weapons bourn. In
1994 the camp hosted the first ever reunion for an army cadet camp, some
1800 former cadets and staff returned for the 4 day reunion. In 1999 the
camp celebrated it's 50th anniversary with another successful reunion
and museum exhibit. The training centre had many guests and
visitors over the years from actor Martin Sheen to the Royal
Inniskilling Dragoons Guards band to several Lt Governors of British
Columbia.
It is now the oldest continuous serving army cadet training centre in Canada having surpassed Banff in 1999 and
Ipperwash in 1994. Ipperwash was also a WWII era H-Hut camp. Today only
a few 1941-45 constructed H-Huts remain elsewhere in Canada, most have
been demolished or forgotten. Camp Vernon
has the largest and best conditioned examples of these once ubiquitous
buildings. The photo gallery has an
extensive collection of the camp's building photos with hundreds
of photos
posted.
Aerial of the camp looking
southwest 2000 (Wayne Emde)
Those attending Vernon take peculiar
pride in bragging and/or complaining about the heat, daily summer
temperatures are usually 28-32c, it's not uncommon for the thermometer
to hit the mid 30s for days and weeks on end and on some instances have touched 40c. The saving grace is the low humidity and a remarkable
lack of insects and mosquitoes. The scenery is extraordinary, whether at
6AM on the sports field for morning PT or an evening sunset with failing
light on Vernon Mountain. The training and experiences last a
lifetime.
