Formed on April 4 1949 the original NATO Treaty was signed by 10 countries. Now 60 years later it has expanded to 28 countries. It is the largest Military Treaty Organization on the planet. The first Secretary General of NATO was at Lord Ismay, Winston Churchills wartime Chief of Staff, became NATOs first Secretary General in April 1952. Ismays roles and responsibilities were unclear when he arrived, but when he left in 1957 the office had assumed its most important current duty of chairing the North Atlantic Council. Lord Ismay.
Over the years Canada has been involved very deeply in NATO.This letter was sent to me by Tom Joordens the Chairman of the NATO Veterans association of the Maritimes
NATO by Thom Joordens, NATOveterans.org On 4 Apr 1949 an alliance was formed after the Victory of World War II, in Defence towards the Communist Forces of Russia and their allied Forces, as their seemed to be a possibility of an other possible World War III Originally there were 10 Country's with Canada and the USA on the West Coast of the North Atlantic Ocean and the Other 8 were on the East side of the North Atlantic Ocean, hence the name of North Atlantic Treaty Organization or short as NATO Canada's 27th Brigade were the first unit that went overseas to strengthen the alliance in 1951 and became later part of the British Army of the Rhine ( BAOR ) and were situated in and around the City of Hanover in the Northern part of Germany, and our first causalities are buried in a cemetery dating back to a 29 yr old Pte in 1951, While stationed there buildings and camps were build in the Westphalen Province and were named Fort York, Fort Chambly, Fort St Louis Ft Henry, Ft Anne, Fort Victoria and in places like Soest, Werl,Iserlohn, Lahr, Werl just to name a few Then in 1951 the 1st Division, The Red Patch Brigade, took over and regular units were rotated every 2 years which later became a 3 year posting. This was on the Army side. The same happened on the Air Force side and the were posted mainly in France and Bases were formed in such places as Metz, Chorley, Marville, St Avoid just to name a few The NATO Brigade than stayed there till the Communist threat was over and the IRON Curtain Wall came down The RCAF went and set up Bases in France such as 1 and 2 Fighter Wing, and yes nuclear weapons were stored their. They also took over the supply lines with aircraft mainly from Trenton and Marville and later Lahr and yes in the Fall of 1962 the first flight to bring Dependents over was established. Before that dependents were send to Europe by ship from the Cunard Line, Holland-America line as well some Greek Liners Most Canadians thought this was nothing but a vacation overseas but that was not so. You were always under the threat of the Communist and yes tension was some time a little close to home when we had the Hungary Crisis, the Suez Canal Crisis, the Cuba crisis. And at many times we were stationed close to the Russian border in Putlos for training. For the dependents they were in Europe where they had to live with French or German speaking landlords or go shopping in the villages Another point was that all during these 2 or 3 year overseas postings the families could never go back to Canada to visit with their families and that put a strain on them as well. Then there was the burial of our military and dependents that were not flown home to Canada but were buried in 44 Cemeteries in Europe, mainly French and Germany and were buried with little fanfare in some small cemeteries and so we buried 570 Military and 926 Dependents there and are still there now and just the last few years, Canada, had to renew their rentals as well replaced many new grave markers In total we sent approx 300.000 Canadian Armed Forces as part of NATO to Europe after WW II
http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/joordens/welcome.html
http://natoveterans.org
Thankyou Tom for your interesting Letter
My thanks again to all those who took the time to share Red Rally Friday with us in Charlottetown.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer current Secretary General
A NATO summit this weekend will find the world's most powerful military alliance divided over its role in a world that combines new threats with the specter of an old one, Russia. - After 60 years of a solid but sometimes stormy marriage, the countries of the world's most powerful military alliance plan to renew their vows of mutual support and protection this weekend. But don't expect a second honeymoon.
As it prepares to enter its seventh decade, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is riven by profound disagreements over its role in a world that combines new threats with the specter of an old one.Many critics see an alliance adrift, one that is fighting an increasingly unpopular war in Afghanistan while neglecting challenges closer to home, such as a newly resurgent Russia. But even as some of the 26 members -- rising to 28 as of this week -- advocate going back to basics, others insist that to remain relevant in the 21st century, NATO must branch out to combat new threats to transatlantic security, from climate change to the vulnerability of cyberspace. This weekends conference will have many things to discuss especially about Afghanistan. Check this blog for further developments.
Support our troops and the NATO allies.
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
