Canadian Forces Dispute

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31114, 18 July 1966, Page 11

Canadian Forces Dispute

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter — Copyright) OTTAWA, July 17. A Canadian admiral has said he has been dismissed and three others are reported to have sought early retirement in a dispute over a plan to merge the navy, army and air force into a single service with a common uniform and ranks. Rear Admiral William Landymore, chief of the Atlantic Fleet, said in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that he had been dismissed after refusing to resign. He said the issues were the destruction of the navy’s identity, a common rank structure with the Army and Air Force, and a single uniform “without any apparent economy or efficiency.” Rear Admirals H. C. Burchell, aged 54, Deputy-Chief of Technical Services, and Robert Welland, aged 48,

Deputy-Chief of Operations at Canadian Forces Headquarters in Ottawa, said that they had asked for early retirement Rear Admiral M. G. Stirling, aged 51, Commander of the Pacific Fleet, was also reported to have asked to be retired. Admiral Burchell said he fully supported defence integration policies but differed with the Defence Minister, Mr Paul Hellyer, on how they should be implemented. Mr Hellyer told the Canadian House of Commons Defence Commbittee recently that with defence integration well advanced, the next step was unification of the three services. Reports have said that the defence planners were informally studying a common uniform different in colour from the present navy blue, Air Force blue or Army khaki. Green was said to have been favoured. A common rank structure means one name for each set of equivalent ranks, such as captains, group captains and colonels.

A former Conservative Opposition defence minister, Mr Douglas Harkness, said that a considerable number of military officers had been asked to pledge personal loyalty to Mr Hellyer. The officers had been told that if they were not prepared to give such a pledge they would never be promoted and might as well resign, Mr Harkness said. He demanded that the Prime Minister, Mr Lester Pearson, remove Mr Hellyer immediately and called for an investigation by a Royal Commission. Denying that he had demanded a loyalty pledge from senior officers, Mr Hellyer told reporters: “I have never in my life asked an officer for a loyalty oath.” He said there had been “discussions as to the future employment” of Admirals Sterling, Welland and Burchell, but he did not elaborate.

He told reporters that he had asked for Admiral Landymore’s resignation because the opposed unification.