It's time to sell the reversible jacket we showed you a couple of years ago.

We thought this site would be a great place to show it.

For anyone interested:

http://ottawa.kijiji.ca/

Ad ID 360645888

"Vintage 1950s RCAF Jacket"

Regards,

Rob and Ellen

For the love of the game and flying

June 20, 2008

F/O Peter Cunningham (speaking into microphone) is interviewed circa by an unidentified reporter in 1953. F/O Bud Foxton (to the reporter’s left) was the first RCAF pilot to be killed at Zweibrucken. The third flyer (far right) is F/O Keith Wilson.

By David Krayden

From a distance of almost 55 years, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Syd Burrows, AFC remembers that his close friend Flying Officer Peter Cunningham was “just a fantastic guy.  He was dynamic:  very, very dynamic and a terrific kid who would have been Chief of the Air Staff.”  He might also have played for the New York Rangers because the sports franchise was very interested in F/O Cunningham’s other passion – hockey.  But he loved the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) more.

F/O Cunningham did not have the opportunity to become Chief of the Air Staff or play professional hockey.  On Aug. 1, 1954, flying high above Zweibrucken, Germany he was killed in a mid-air crash while piloting his Canadair Mark 5 (F-86) Sabre aircraft with 434 Fighter Squadron.  “They were mixing it up in the clouds and the planes collided,” says LCol Burrows.  “He was a good flier and he relished that role.”

As deeply as LCol Burrows remembers that day and as fondly as he recalls his wing man, F/O Cunningham’s real legacy in life was his contribution to the great Canadian pastime of hockey.  It is because of this fighter pilot’s love of the game and the achievements that resulted from it that LCol Burrows first requested F/O Cunningham’s inclusion into the Canadian Forces Sports Hall of Fame or for some other kind of recognition.

F/O Cunningham, against considerable odds, popularized hockey during his short but significant military service in Europe.  He created the RCAF Flyers hockey team at #3 Wing in Zweibrucken, in memory of the 1948 squad of Air Force hockey players who won the Olympic gold medal for Canada.  For his efforts in promoting hockey and Canada in Europe, The Peter Cunningham Memorial Arena in Germany was named after him in tribute.

Joining the RCAF right after high school, F/O Cunningham was posted to RCAF #3 Wing in 1953 and soon launched a personal campaign to introduce Germany to hockey.

But there were problems.  When he went to see the Wing Commander to ask for funding he received a polite but firm “no.”  “The Wing Commander told him that there was no money for hockey but that he wouldn’t stop him from raising the funds himself.  So Peter just went out and did it,” says LCol Burrows.

Then, there was the question of where to play the game since all but two of the ice rinks in Germany had been destroyed by Allied bombing and still lay in ruins.

One man came up with both the money and the location.  His name was Dr. Friedrich Krantz, a local physician who owned a stadium in Munich, just an hour away from Zweibrucken. Dr. Krantz also came up with the necessary $3,000 to buy the gear to equip the RCAF Flyers.

So the team was born.  F/O Cunningham recruited all the best in Canadian hockey in an RCAF uniform at the four wings across Europe.  This was a little bit of home for the Canadians and for the locals it was a little bit of something different in a country where soccer was the sport of choice.

The Germans liked the game and they came in great numbers to see the Canadians compete.  German youth wanted to learn how to play the game and the RCAF players were soon volunteer hockey trainers, creating a new generation of hockey enthusiasts and good will with the Germans.

The RCAF Flyers outlived F/O Cunningham’s untimely and tragic death.  The RCAF erected the Peter Cunningham Memorial Arena, which eventually attracted hockey teams from Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and Finland to play against the Canadian airmen.   “He must be the only guy in the world who had a rink named after him that was outside of his own country,” says LCol Burrows.  Well into the 1960s the arena had full attendance.  When the newly unified Canadian Forces air assets left Germany in 1969, the Flyers, like the venerable RCAF, were disbanded but the U.S. Air Force took over where the Canadians left off.

In 2006, Zweibrucken commemorated 50 years of the Peter Cunningham Memorial Arena.  That same year, the sign identifying the arena was removed during renovations, and curiously, has not been replaced.   LCol Burrows is philosophical about this apparent slight.  “It was named after him for 50 years.  I guess you can’t ask for more than that,” he says.  “But in this country we need to remember what Peter did for hockey – and for Canada.”

 Cool Canadians are hot on ice

 March 21, 1954

The Canadian Flyers take on a Swedish team at Munich.

LEIGH WIENER / S&S

It may be a little difficult to imagine a group of hard-skating, stick-wielding hockey players as ambassadors of good will between countries but that's just what's happening in Europe today.

It was only last December that RCAF Flying Officer Peter Cuningham was given the green light to form a hockey club of fellow members of the 3d Fighter Wing at Zweibruecken.

Since then the club has won 12 games, lost three and tied two in games played in Germany, Austria and Switzerland; become the "home club" of Munich's Prinzregenten Ice Stadium; and has won a following of Bavarian hockey fans who have "adopted" the Canadian Fliers as their own.

Director Dr. Fritz Krantz of the Munich stadium is enthusiastic about his decision to make a Canadian team Munich's representatives.

"This is quite an experiment," he said. "It is the first time a foreign team has ever been made the 'home club' in a German stadium."

The director said he has noticed a gradual change in the attitude of the crowd. At first they cheered the visiting German teams and booed the Canadians. Now they're shifting their allegiance.

"Actually we're pointing towards next year, when we again plan to make the Fliers our home team," he said. "They're gradually gaining support here."

"I decided to bring the Canadians in here to show the German people and press real Canadian style hockey ... tough and rough, but not dirty," Krantz said.

The Flyers had to end their season prematurely March 5 because of "operational commitments of the players." However, Cuningham said organizational work for next year's team already has begun.

That the Canadian Fliers exist as a team is something of a crown to be worn by player-coach Cuningham. It was an uphill battle all the way and is still rough going.

The team literally was picked on paper. Last December wing members interested in hockey were asked to fill out a lengthy questionnaire on which they listed their previous hockey experience. From this candidates were picked.

The equipment arrived Christmas Eve because a Canadian pilot voluntarily gave up his holiday at home to fly the gear in from England. Then, with only two practice sessions under their belt in which the team was narrowed down to its present number, the Canadian Fliers began their campaign.

All members sacrificed their own leave and time off periods. They went to Garmisch where, still gaining their hockey legs, they took an 11-7 drubbing from Riessersee. Riessersee should have known the Fliers' patterns. One of Riessersee's outstanding defensemen during November was Cuningham, who took leave time to get in some of his favorite sport. He is still listed as a member of the German sextet.

The Fliers still play "on their own time" and make nothing but expenses.

"We are just about breaking even " Cuningham said. "That's all we want right now. We're aiming at next year." Next year Cuningham apparently hopes to get some official RCAF backing and be able to field a team drawn from all RCAF units in Europe.

Practice presents the most serious problem these days. The Fliers can only get off on weekends, generally, unless they all take leave time simultaneously. They have tried to get in at least one practice session each week at Mannheim, the closest ice rink.

For Saturday night games the Fliers usually time their six-hour bus ride to get them to Munich's Hotel Esplanade about 4 pm. There they eat a heavy steak-and-potatoes meal and go to bed.

After a two-hour nap, they get up, suit up in their rooms and bus to the stadium an hour before 8 pm game time.

High scorer on the club is 5-foot 8-inch, 180-pound Ives Garand, who plays center. He flipped in 22 goals in 12 games and had 17 assists to his credit. Garand hails from Ottawa, where he played junior A and B hockey, intermediate and service hockey since 1947. His blazing speed and deft stick work make him a plague to opposing defensemen.

A crowd favorite and at the same time the best goalie to appear on the Munich ice this year is roly-poly Chuck Ouellet, from Quebec.

Left-wing Ron O'Meara is another standout. He has five years of Canadian League hockey behind him. He's 5 toot 5 inches tall and only 142 pounds. Last year O'Meara played with the RCAF's Trenton Fliers, three times champs of the Ontario Hockey Assn.

The Fliers carry their own referee with them. This would be a Stateside hockey team's dream, but as far as some of the Fliers are concerned, their Bill Hume can be a nightmare.. They feel he sometimes leans over backward in proving his independence.

Cuningham makes so bones abut pointing for next year. The late start this year plus other difficulties have made it more or less necessary to build for next year's team.

Cuningham thinks it will b good. "We do have trouble .. . with players being called away on assignments that prevent their playing every game. But as far as I can see, the better part of this year's team will be around next year."

He doesn't have to worry about age taking any of them away. They're all in their late teens or early twenties.

The coach himself? This venerable old sage who clambered over all sorts of obstacles to get a team on the ice is an ancient 21. Arid if he hasn't gotten gray-haired this far, next year doesn't worry him.

     HISTORY OF RCAF STATION ZWEIBRÜCKEN - USAF BASE ZWEIBRÜCKEN

                             MAJOR COMMANDS TO WHICH ASSIGNED:

                     Royal Canadian Air Force, 6 Jan 1953 - 29 Aug 1969

              United States Air Force in Europe, 29 Aug 1969 - 31 Jul 1991


                                         

                                   MAJOR USAF UNITS ASSIGNED:

                 7181st Combat Support Squadron, 29 Aug - 1 Nov 1969
                 86th Tactical Fighter Wing, 1 Nov 1969 - 31 Jan 1973
                 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 31 Jan 1973 — 31 Jul 1991
                 10th Military Airlift Squadron, 9 Nov 1983 - 31 Jul 1991
                 609th Contingency Hospital, 15 Oct 1984 - 31 Jul 1991
                 601st Tactical Control Squadron, 1 Jun 1989 - 31 Jul 1991
                 612th Tactical Control Squadron, 1 Jun 1989 - 31 Jul 1991

                                                       ORIGINS

Construction of the base was initiated by French Army engineers and German contractors in 1950 on a section of the former Siegfried Line. The crumpled remains of many of the bunkers of the old line are still in evidence on where the base used to stand, even today. It was designed by French engineers and completed by German contractors in late 1952. Construction was funded from USAF sources, however, the RCAF assumed control of Zweibrucken AB on 6 January 1953.

                                      RCAF STATION ZWEIBRÜCKEN

On 6 January 1953, the 3rd Wing, (also known as 3(F) Wing) Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), commanded by Group Captain A.C. Hull, arrived to assume control of RCAF Station Zweibrücken. 3 Wing operated the station for over 16 years.

RCAF Station Zweibrücken was one of four RCAF bases of No. 1 Air Division Europe that were established to support NATO during the Cold War. Other bases were located in Marville, France; Grostenquin, France; and Baden-Soellingen, West Germany.

Three squadrons flying F-86 Sabres were located at Zweibrücken: 413, 427, and 434. No. 413 Squadron was replaced in 1957 by 440 Squadron flying the new CF-100 all-weather interceptor.

In 1959 Canada adopted a new and controversial nuclear strike roll in accordance with NATO's doctrine of "limited nuclear warfare" and began re-equipping with the new CF-104 Starfighter that could handle the delivery of nuclear weapons. This aircraft also had a reconnaissance role.

In the fall of 1962 the Sabre squadrons of the Air Division, including those at 3 Wing, began flying Starfighters. No. 440 Squadron was disbanded in December 1962. No. 430 Squadron moved to Zweibrücken from Grostenquin when 2 Wing closed down in 1964.

During this time, the Canadian Forces established excellent relations with the local German community through their hockey team, the RCAF Flyers (Europe).

The RCAF left Zweibrücken 29 August 1969 as an austerity measure following unification of the Canadian Armed Forces. Before leaving, they erected a west coast Indian totem pole as a token of their friendship with the local German citizens. At the top of the pole was the Thunderbird, the god who watches over all creation. Below it was a double headed sea monster, the warrior's symbol; the third figure was of a little man who had grown from boyhood to become a warrior, and the fourth figure was that of the same warrior, grown to maturity as a tribal chief.

Upon the departure of the RCAF, control of the station was transferred to the United States Air Force Sixteenth Air Force,
USAFE.

                                          ZWEIBRÜCKEN AIR BASE

Upon taking control of Zweibrücken Air Base, the United States Air Force either renovated or enlarged all base facilities, and procured off-base housing for most base personnel. The base was assigned to USAFE as an off-base installation of Ramstein AB on 29 August 1969, and the facility assumed primary installation status on 1 May 1970.

86th Tactical Fighter Wing

86th TFW 17th TRS McDonnell Douglas RF-4C-38-MC Phantom 68-0562, 1970The 86th Tactical Fighter Wing was reactivated at Zweibrücken on 1 November 1969. It received its first flying unit, the 17th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, on 12 January 1970. The 17th TRS and its McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom IIs came to Zweibrucken from the deactivating 66th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at RAF Upper Heyford, England. Squadron tail code for the 17th TRS was initially "ZS", then was recoded to "ZR" in 1971.

For 18 months the 17th was the only operational squadron on the base. On 12 June 1971, the 81st Tactical Fighter Squadron with its Electronics Counter-Measures (ECM) equipped McDonnell EF-4C Phantom II "Wild Weasel" fighters was transferred to Zweibrucken from the 50th TFW at Hahn AB when the 50th switched to a strike-attack role, with air defense as a secondary mission. (Note: The EF-4C designation was not official. The aircraft were officially F-4C models).

The 81st TFS, however remained a part of the 50th TFW but was detached from the wing's operational control and attached to the 86th Tactical Fighter Wing for support. Squadron tail code for the 81st TFS was "ZS".

In 1972, tail codes for all 86th TFW aircraft at Zweibrücken were standaridzed as "ZR", per AFM 66-1, when squadron tail codes were eliminated.

On 15 January 1973, the 81st TFS was reassigned to Spangdahlem Air Base under operation "Battle Creek". The last of this variant of the Phantom returned to the USA in 1979/1980 and was replaced by the F-4G Wild Weasel at Spangdahlem.

On the Northern side of Zweibrücken was Kreuzberg Kaserne, home to the U.S. Army Materiel Command, Europe (MATCOM). Matcom was replaced by the USA Material Management Agency, Europe in 1973.

                                    26th RECONNAISSANCE WING

38th TRS McDonnell Douglas RF-4C-37-MC Phantom 68-0553 in 1980s European camouflage motif.As part of operation "Creek Action", a command-wide effort to realign functions and streamline operations, HQ USAFE transferred the 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing from Ramstein Air Base to Zweibrucken, and the 86th Tactical Fighter Wing from Zweibrucken to Ramstein on 31 January 1973. Operational squadrons of the 26th TRW were:

7th Special Operations (C-130, UH-1)
17th Tactical Reconnaissance (RF-4C) (Red tail fin stripe)
38th Tactical Reconnaissance (RF-4C) (Yellow tail fin stripe)
Note: 7th SOS reported directly to HQ USAFE. 17th & 38th RF-4Cs carried tail code "ZR".

For nearly five years the wing remained stable at Zweibrucken. Then on 1 October 1978, the 417th Tactical Fighter Squadron was activated with a single F-4D aircraft and assigned to the 26 TRW. USAFE planned on equipping the squadron with F-4Es, however, inadequate munitions storage compelled the command to reverse its decision and consequently reassigned the 417th TFS without personnel or equipment to the 86th TFW at Ramstein AB on 1 November 1978, being placed in not operational status.

Later that month, on 20 November, the 17 TRS was inactivated due to budetary cutbacks leaving the 38 TRS as the wing's only in-place operational squadron. High-hour RF-4C aircraft were sent to AMARC, others were reassigned to the 38th TRS or to existing Bergstrom, Shaw, RAF Alconbury or Air National Guard squadrons.

Deployments from the United States included EB-57E aircraft from 17 DSES,based at Malmstrom AFB,Montana in April/May 1976 and September 1977.RF-4C Phantom aircraft from 67 TRW(Tactical Reconnaissance Wing)in July 1981 and RF-4C from 123 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron,Kentucky Air National Guard arriving on Saturday June 28,1986 for a two week deployment.

In 1976/1977 a US Army unit,the 2d Military Intelligence Battalion (Aerial Reconnaissance and Surveillance) (MIBARS) flew the U-21A Ute twin turbo-prop airplane(around 6 airplanes)for a short period. The Combat Intelligence Company (Imagery Interpretation)(CBTI Co(II)) was the parent unit of the U-21's. The CBTI Co(II) was a component of the 2d MI Bn.

From 5 April to 7 July 1979 the base also hosted the 86th TFW while Ramstein AB's runways were closed for extensive repairs.

On 10 August 1987, the 26 TRW became the only tactical reconnaissance wing in USAFE, when the 10 TRW at RAF Alconbury was redesignated the 10th Tactical Fighter Wing and assigned to fly A-10 attack aircraft. This left NATO and US Forces in Europe the services of just one US tactical reconnaissance unit and one squadron of RF-4Cs.

The wing continued to conduct reconnaissance operations in support of NATO, USAFE, and the US Army in Europe (USAREUR). The wing also engaged in operational employment and development of advanced reconnaissance systems to further enhance the military posture of NATO in Europe.


                                   Military Airlift Command activities

On 9 November 1983, the Military Airlift Command (MAC) activated the 10th Military Airlift Squadron (MAS). The 10 MAS flew the C-23 "Sherpa", a small cargo plane that needed only a little bit of runway and less fuel than larger cargo aircraft. A total of 18 C-23A Sherpa aircraft were delivered to the 10 MAS.

The 10 MAS though under the direction of the 322nd Air Division (MAC) at Rhein-Main AB, became an associated unit of the 26th drawing support from it. The 26 TRW provided the 10 MAS all of its facilities and logistical support required to operate the European Distribution System (EDS). The EDS was organized to give the units in Europe a quicker way to receive small equipment items or supplies on a round-the-clock basis, without the expense of the larger cargo aircraft.


609th Contingency Hospital
In 1985, another role was added to the wing's mission. On 15 October 1984, the 609th Contingency Hospital was activated by HQ USAFE. The mission of the 609th was to provide a turnkey hospital operation, where the equipment, and supplies were already in place and all the organization needed was the people to operate it, when called upon. This hospital, an old "krankenhaus" was activated in January 1991 in support of Operation Desert Storm and was used at least through March 1991. Some victims of the scud missile attack in Saudi Arabia received interval medical care at the 609th en route back to the U.S. Note that the Hospital was in the nearby small town, not on Zweibrucken Air Base.


601st Tactical Control Squadron
In the fall of 1988, HQ USAFE began planning to move two more units to Zweibrücken and increase the support mission of the 26th TRW. HQ USAFE planned to move the 601st Tactical Control Squadron (TCS) and the 612th Tactical Control Flight (TCF) from Prum Air Station, Germany to Zweibrücken . The mission of the 601st and the 612th was to provide a line of radar detection systems wherever USAFE or NATO needed them. The two units arrived in June 1989, increasing the number of associate units on the base and diversifying the mission even more.


                                                   USAFE closure

With the end of the Cold War, the USAF presence at Zweibrücken was gradually phased down. In addition, the 1960s-era RF-4C Phantoms were increasingly costing more and more to maintain. Tactical reconnaissance was being handled more and more by other means, and the need for the 26th TRW was becoming less and less critical to USAFE planners. As a result, the RF-4Cs of the 38th TRS were sent to AMARC on 1 April 1991 and the squadron was inactivated.

The 26th TRW was inactivated on 31 July 1991, and Zweibrücken Air Base was closed. The facility was turned over to the German government civil authorities.


                                                      Current Uses

Today, Zweibrücken Airport (IATA: ZQW, ICAO: EDRZ), or Flughafen Zweibrücken is used as a regional airport. Along with the civil airport, a private industrial park has been developed for commercial businesses. Most of the buildings such as the TabVees are still standing and are being used for purposes ranging from storage to industry. In the front of the airbase where the fuel depot was formerly located now stands groups of factory outlet stores.

At the time the base closed in 1991, the only visible reminders of the 3rd Wing RCAF was the totem, the stained glass windows of the Protestant Chapel, and the Peter Cunningham Memorial Arena.

As of 2007 the stained glass in the Protestant chapel has been removed and sent to 3 Wing Bagotville P.Q.

Zweibrücken is a city located in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river at the border of the Palatinate forest.


Etymology
Zweibrücken ("two-bridges") is the Latin Bipontinum; it appears in early documents also as Geminus Pons, and is called by the French Deux-Ponts.


History
The town was the capital of the former Duchy of Zweibrücken, and the Alexander-Kirche (founded in 1493) houses the tombs of the dukes.

The ducal castle is now occupied by the chief court of the Palatinate (Oberlandesgericht). There is a fine Gothic Protestant church. Weaving, brewing and the manufacture of machinery, such as Terex cranes and bulldozers, and John Deere tractors, chicory, cigars, malt, boots, furniture and soap are the chief industries. Besides there are two museums, a local city museum and a natural history museum showing mainly fossils from the area.

The independent territory was at first a county, the counts being descended from Henry I (Heinrich I.), youngest son of Simon I, count of Saarbrücken (d. 1182). This line, the Walramides, became extinct on the death of Count Eberhard (1393), who in 1385 had sold half his territory to the count palatine of the Rhine, and held the other half as his feudatory. Louis (d. 1489), son of Stephen, count palatine of Simmern-Veldenz, founded the line of the dukes of Zweibrücken. In 1559, a member of the line, Duke Wolfgang, founded the earliest grammar school of the town (Herzog-Wolfgang-Gymnasium), which existed until 1987. Duke Wolfgang also in 1557 converted his country to the new Lutheran faith

After Charles X Gustav, the son of John Casimir, count palatine of Pfalz-Zweibrücken, succeeded his cousin Queen Christina of Sweden on the Swedish throne, Pfalz-Zweibrücken was in personal union with Sweden until 1718 though the House of Pfalz-Zweibrücken.

In 1731, the Zimmern-Veldenz line of the dukes of Zweibrücken became extinct and the duchy passed to the Birkenfeld branch, whence it came under the sway of Bavaria in 1799. At the Peace of Luneville in 1801 Zweibrücken was ceded to France; on its reunion with Germany in 1814 the greater part of the territory was given to Bavaria, the remainder to Oldenburg and Kingdom of Prussia. The city of Zweibrücken became part of the Palatine region of the Kingdom of Bavaria.

At the ducal printing office at Zweibrücken the fine edition of the classics known as the Bipontine Editions was published (1779 sqq.).

The last large social event before the First World War was the inauguration of the Rosengartens (rose gardens) by Princess Hildegard of Bavaria in June 1914. As consequence of the First World War, Zweibrücken was occupied by French troops between 1918 and 1930. In the course of Kristallnacht in 1938, the Zweibrücken synagogue were destroyed. With outbreak of the Second World War the city was evacuated in 1939-1940, as it lay in the ‘Red Zone’ on the fortified Westwall (Siegfried Line).

Shortly before the end of the war, on 14 March 1945 the city was nearly completely destroyed from bombing by the Royal Canadian Air Force, with the loss of more than 200 lives. On 20 March American ground troops reached Zweibrücken. The city became part of the new state of Rhineland-Palatinate after the war.

In 1990 the city underwent a major change. With the departure of the Americans, the military area became free, which corresponded altogether to a third of the entire city surface. The unemployment ratio increased to approximately 21 %, leading to a decrease in demand in the retail trade of approximately 25 %. These events led to rapid, creative decisions on the part of the city, with the resultant changes becoming the model for other communities. Within the core of the city, a small pedestrian region was finished, which includes some restored historic buildings.

A GLANCE BACK

# 1 Air Division Headquarters Metz / France