FLQ Crisis
- Thread starter Lost_Warrior
- Start date
PeterLT
New Member
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 110
During the October Crisis I lived down the street from Pierre Leporte's house in St-Lambert. In fact, I was the paperboy. It was a very interesting and scary time. I had to show ID which I was issued to deliver the paper and go catch my bus as I had to cross the lines. The front porch of his house had a GPMG set up and a platoon of RCRs in the garage. I still remember it very vividly. I got an extra paper customer in the garage and the soldiers would all chip in to pay for the paper, they were good tippers too! I think the experience was one of the motivating factors why I joined up 2 years later.
Peter
Peter
- Reaction score
- 2
- Points
- 410
Film footage of the EOD Tech going in and the device goining off!
He lived,thank God.
I remember it,the boy's from the Wack patroling the Air Port with SMG's,F.N.'s helemts on,the observation deck closed and has never been reoponed since.
I was what 14,15?
When I first came to Canada from the U.K. in 64,arrived in Montreal and stayed at my grand perents house and they told us don't answer the door,go to the mail box etc.
We asked why? Mail Box bombs,yes it goes back that far.
He lived,thank God.
I remember it,the boy's from the Wack patroling the Air Port with SMG's,F.N.'s helemts on,the observation deck closed and has never been reoponed since.
I was what 14,15?
When I first came to Canada from the U.K. in 64,arrived in Montreal and stayed at my grand perents house and they told us don't answer the door,go to the mail box etc.
We asked why? Mail Box bombs,yes it goes back that far.
FormerHorseGuard
Sr. Member
- Reaction score
- 440
- Points
- 760
i wrote a paper on the flq crisis in my grade 13 history class, one of the books I read metioned that because of the army being called out for police duty in canada and the tracked equipment looked too much like tanks in down town montreal and quebec city that was one of the reasons the avgp wheeled came into service.
as for equipment used prior to that , my grandfather was the EOD Officer for Quebec City based there with the RCOC. He use to drive his own car on bomb calls because they wanted to keep it low key that the army was dealing with the bombis and other eod work.
jsut some thoughts for you
as for equipment used prior to that , my grandfather was the EOD Officer for Quebec City based there with the RCOC. He use to drive his own car on bomb calls because they wanted to keep it low key that the army was dealing with the bombis and other eod work.
jsut some thoughts for you
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 210
Follow me Boys!
http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/97autumn/maloney.htm
More at this Google Search -- the Cdn Op was called OPERATION ESSAY
http://www.google.ca/search?as_q=laporte&num=10&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=Operation+Essay&as_oq=FLQ+QUEBEC&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&safe=images
The last hit was by a gunner who was there......
http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/97autumn/maloney.htm
More at this Google Search -- the Cdn Op was called OPERATION ESSAY
http://www.google.ca/search?as_q=laporte&num=10&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=Operation+Essay&as_oq=FLQ+QUEBEC&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&safe=images
The last hit was by a gunner who was there......
FlightSergeantRose
Jr. Member
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 130
good read
medicineman
Army.ca Legend
- Reaction score
- 6,966
- Points
- 1,110
Here is a google search on Operation Ginger - also part of the deployment under the War Measures Act.
MM
MM
Interesting.... My Father was a Gunner and he told me about this event many times. As I've been trying to get him on line for a while now (now that he's finally got a computer) I think this may motivate him to subscribe. ................... He was on the Deuce.Wesley H. Allen said:
As it was told to me , they were doing a tactical dismount (via Deuce) and as his chum did so, he struck the floorbed with the butt of his "WIDOW MAKER" (SMG) he promptly inserted 30 rds into his mid torso (and upwards).
Just a little background fellas
Stay safe
For some one who had such a low regard for the military in Canada, PET sure didn't waver when he made the decision to put the WMA into effect.
Of course nobody at that moment could have predicted that the main leadership of the FLQ would be able to talk the Canadian government into giving them a plane to use to escape to CUBA. And further, who could have seen into the future about 20 years when those same FLQ leaders would not only be allowed to come back to Canada, but a few of them would be elected to the Quebec legislature as MLA's.
In many other nations, those that try to overthrow the elected Government by force are called traitors and get a quick trip to the wall. In Canada they wind up working for the French langauge CBC or as a consultant to the Quebec government. What a country, eh?
For those here that were not ALIVE in 1970, it was quite the scene, with nobody in power being at all clear about the size of the FLQ nor it's ability to act as a real revolutionary military force. In fact it had less than 50 hard core members, and a few dozen more " hang arounds" It's main support came from the leftists at Laval University, both students and faculty, and some of the sympaticos in the CBC french service. As was previously noted the Montreal mail box bombings had been going on for quite some time and were usually put into "Royal Mail" boxes, both because it was easy and also because of the sybolisim of attacking a "Royal " target.
After the fact the RCMP's Security Service was roundly condemed, for not having much intell on the FLQ, or it's agenda. That was the beginning of the idea of having a seperate intelligence service, which eventually became CSIS. The RCMP at that time had a really poor record of being able to "get inside " political radical groups, mainly due to thier stupid "personal grooming" rules. Even when they did get a young copper who could possibly get into a campus radical meeting, due to his age, he still "Looked like a cop" and got nowhere.The SDQ, was all most as hopeless, but did have the advantage of speaking French, which few of the "horsemen " did. Imagine trying to work undercover in Montreal if you don't speak french?
Finally, the troops were sent back to barracks in 10 days, after the investigation showed that the main FLQ leaders were in Cuba, and no other threat exisited. The debrief showed huge CF problems, to do with logistics, and the need to improve rapid response to a domestic emergency of any type. Why was it needed to have troops come by road, from London, by truck, with the speed governed at 52 mph? They also found out that radios won't work in the underground ( Metro) and when you have 4 differnt levels of control ( Montreal city Police Quebec Provincial, RCMP and CF) it won't work at all. You have to have a clear leading agency, with clear lines of defined powers.
I'm sad to say that if this happened in 2005 the same problems would probably still be there.
Jim B Toronto.
Of course nobody at that moment could have predicted that the main leadership of the FLQ would be able to talk the Canadian government into giving them a plane to use to escape to CUBA. And further, who could have seen into the future about 20 years when those same FLQ leaders would not only be allowed to come back to Canada, but a few of them would be elected to the Quebec legislature as MLA's.
In many other nations, those that try to overthrow the elected Government by force are called traitors and get a quick trip to the wall. In Canada they wind up working for the French langauge CBC or as a consultant to the Quebec government. What a country, eh?
For those here that were not ALIVE in 1970, it was quite the scene, with nobody in power being at all clear about the size of the FLQ nor it's ability to act as a real revolutionary military force. In fact it had less than 50 hard core members, and a few dozen more " hang arounds" It's main support came from the leftists at Laval University, both students and faculty, and some of the sympaticos in the CBC french service. As was previously noted the Montreal mail box bombings had been going on for quite some time and were usually put into "Royal Mail" boxes, both because it was easy and also because of the sybolisim of attacking a "Royal " target.
After the fact the RCMP's Security Service was roundly condemed, for not having much intell on the FLQ, or it's agenda. That was the beginning of the idea of having a seperate intelligence service, which eventually became CSIS. The RCMP at that time had a really poor record of being able to "get inside " political radical groups, mainly due to thier stupid "personal grooming" rules. Even when they did get a young copper who could possibly get into a campus radical meeting, due to his age, he still "Looked like a cop" and got nowhere.The SDQ, was all most as hopeless, but did have the advantage of speaking French, which few of the "horsemen " did. Imagine trying to work undercover in Montreal if you don't speak french?
Finally, the troops were sent back to barracks in 10 days, after the investigation showed that the main FLQ leaders were in Cuba, and no other threat exisited. The debrief showed huge CF problems, to do with logistics, and the need to improve rapid response to a domestic emergency of any type. Why was it needed to have troops come by road, from London, by truck, with the speed governed at 52 mph? They also found out that radios won't work in the underground ( Metro) and when you have 4 differnt levels of control ( Montreal city Police Quebec Provincial, RCMP and CF) it won't work at all. You have to have a clear leading agency, with clear lines of defined powers.
I'm sad to say that if this happened in 2005 the same problems would probably still be there.
Jim B Toronto.
As one who lived through it, I can tell you that we were all scared s...less. Just before the War Measures Act (WMA) was imposed there was a giant rally in the Paul Sauve Arena in the Montreal area where a large crowd chanted separatist slogans and demanded the Quebec government turn over power to the people. The last was typical sixties and early seventies rhetoric, used by among others the NDP at rallies. However in this case, it was not a case of gentle leftist slogans; these people were quite capable of taking to the streets. (Montreal was a hot bed of leftist agitation and had been plagued by nasty strikes by various groups including taxi drivers and even the police force.) The WMA was used to lock up a number of the more influentail leaders of the movement, which bought the politicians and the security services some time.
Old Sweat>
I too remember those days, but with a very different point of view. I was and still am, adamant that those who fled to cuba should NEVER have been allowed to re-enter this country, let alone make a large pile of money from the re-telling of their version of our history.
On the Montreal Police at that time...............corrupt and dirty are the words that come to mind. Not very concerned with the fine points of the law and prone to out breaks of stupidity such as the firing of their service weapons at that arena, was it the Paul Sauve? during a strike vote. No wonder they were not respected by other levels of authority.
Jim B.
I too remember those days, but with a very different point of view. I was and still am, adamant that those who fled to cuba should NEVER have been allowed to re-enter this country, let alone make a large pile of money from the re-telling of their version of our history.
On the Montreal Police at that time...............corrupt and dirty are the words that come to mind. Not very concerned with the fine points of the law and prone to out breaks of stupidity such as the firing of their service weapons at that arena, was it the Paul Sauve? during a strike vote. No wonder they were not respected by other levels of authority.
Jim B.
Hardrations
New Member
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 110
I had a thought (dangerous those things) while looking through the history forum. About the FLQ Crisis. There must be veterans like my self who served during the FLQ Crisis, as I did. I was with HQ's & Sigs 3 CMBG. Our role in Ottawa was security at DND HQ's on Elgin St and various dignitaries residence. Some interesting times were had. Any one out there care to share those memories? What do you think of it now? Do you think that P.M. Trudeau made the right decision to invoke the Wars Measures Act? I'll leave it at that and see what happens.
Thanks
Thanks
I was a student on the army staff college course at Kingston during the FLQ crisis.
The sixties had been very turbulent with riots in major American and European cities. In Quebec there was a fair amount of social unrest with violent labour unrest and agitation by the separatist movement. The radical left (and I mean really far left) was vocal and had sympathetic advocates in parts of the media, including Radio Canada. The previous fall (1969) there had been a major riot in Montreal that had resulted in Vandoos being deployed in riot control formation, with bayonets fixed and ball ammunition in the magazines. They faced the mob, which dispersed when ordered to by a magistrate. Last, the troubles had also started in Northen Ireland in 1969, so the background situation was unstable.
The War Measures Act was imposed after the body of the kidnapped Quebec Minster of Labour was discovered in the trunk of a car in St-Hubert. At about the same time there had been a massive rally in the Paul Sauve Arena. The rally was in support of the FLQ and openly called for insurrection and the overthrowing of the Quebec government. Using the powers of the act, the police rounded up a number of prominent separatists, especially those who were openly advocating violence. In my opinion, this defused the situation. What had been a revolutionary movement with broad support was reduced to a matter of kidnapping and murder by a small group of thugs.
A bit on the state of the CF at the time. In the fall of 1970 the force reductions ordered by Trudeau had just taken place in terms of units being disbanded, relocated or whatever. However the run down in numbers was to be by normal attrition, so many units were overstrength. As it was, every field unit in Canada except 1 PPCLI (national reserve) was deployed either on Op Essay (aid of the civil power in Quebec) or Op Ginger (support of the RCMP primarily in the national capital area). Again, my personal opinion, but the CF would not have been able to provide the same response two years later.
By a fortunate combination of events, the government's reaction took the wind out of the sails of the violent separtist movement.
All of the above are my impressions based on close observation of events at the time and some serious study of events over the following several years. I am reasonably confident of the validity of my conclusions, but I am not infallible.
The sixties had been very turbulent with riots in major American and European cities. In Quebec there was a fair amount of social unrest with violent labour unrest and agitation by the separatist movement. The radical left (and I mean really far left) was vocal and had sympathetic advocates in parts of the media, including Radio Canada. The previous fall (1969) there had been a major riot in Montreal that had resulted in Vandoos being deployed in riot control formation, with bayonets fixed and ball ammunition in the magazines. They faced the mob, which dispersed when ordered to by a magistrate. Last, the troubles had also started in Northen Ireland in 1969, so the background situation was unstable.
The War Measures Act was imposed after the body of the kidnapped Quebec Minster of Labour was discovered in the trunk of a car in St-Hubert. At about the same time there had been a massive rally in the Paul Sauve Arena. The rally was in support of the FLQ and openly called for insurrection and the overthrowing of the Quebec government. Using the powers of the act, the police rounded up a number of prominent separatists, especially those who were openly advocating violence. In my opinion, this defused the situation. What had been a revolutionary movement with broad support was reduced to a matter of kidnapping and murder by a small group of thugs.
A bit on the state of the CF at the time. In the fall of 1970 the force reductions ordered by Trudeau had just taken place in terms of units being disbanded, relocated or whatever. However the run down in numbers was to be by normal attrition, so many units were overstrength. As it was, every field unit in Canada except 1 PPCLI (national reserve) was deployed either on Op Essay (aid of the civil power in Quebec) or Op Ginger (support of the RCMP primarily in the national capital area). Again, my personal opinion, but the CF would not have been able to provide the same response two years later.
By a fortunate combination of events, the government's reaction took the wind out of the sails of the violent separtist movement.
All of the above are my impressions based on close observation of events at the time and some serious study of events over the following several years. I am reasonably confident of the validity of my conclusions, but I am not infallible.
Hardrations
New Member
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 110
Interesting. I always thought the War Measures Act was enacted that Thanksgiving week end in Oct/70 when we were called out. Also mentioning about ammunition. We were initially issued 40 rounds of ammunition than a further 20 at around 0300 hrs of morning that we were informed that Mr. LaPorte had been found murdered. We were quartered in Rockcliffe in a hanger. They woke us up at around 0300 hrs told us of his murder then issued the ammo. Which kind of made us wonder just how serious this was going to get. We were to have a fully loaded ( 20 rounds) magazine on the rifle at all times, but no round in the chamber while on duty. If I remember correctly our orders were on using our weapons was 1: Halt 2: Halt and raise your hands 3: Halt and raise your hands or I will open fire. Needless to say there were times when people were being very foolish and pushed their luck thinking we were not armed with live ammunition.
- Reaction score
- 15
- Points
- 430
October Crisis Timeline
October 5, 1970 - British Trade Commissioner James Cross was kidnapped
October 16, 1970 - Prime Minister Trudeau announced the proclamation of the War Measures Act, emergency legislation dating from World War I.
October 17, 1970 - The body of Pierre Laporte was found in the trunk of a car
(Much more at link.)
October 5, 1970 - British Trade Commissioner James Cross was kidnapped
October 16, 1970 - Prime Minister Trudeau announced the proclamation of the War Measures Act, emergency legislation dating from World War I.
October 17, 1970 - The body of Pierre Laporte was found in the trunk of a car
(Much more at link.)
I stand corrected. The incidents all happened in very short order and none of us were sure how it was going to end. Fortunately the FLQ were more revolutionary blusterers than serious insurgents and had not thought through their actions if the government stood firm.
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 60
To a nine-year-old kid living in Montreal it was both scary and comforting to see the trucks and men in green with rifles out on the street. I had only ever seen soldiers on TV and my dad had to tell me they were not Americans but "our guys". The FLQ terrified me; I was afraid they would come and get me in my bed. Thanks for being there, and for being patient with the knuckleheads, all who were.
Similar threads
