A man who enlisted in the navy four days after his 17th birthday, prior to the end of his school year, went on to make a career in the military.
Robert James Woodward, or RJ, prefers to go by Jim even though he would answer to Woody for most of his life. He was born in Swan River Manitoba in 1947 and attended school in Kamsack until entering the military in 1964.
Woodward was an aviation technician in the navy until 1967.
“That was the year of ‘integration,’ and everyone who was in aviation was routed into the air force, so I finished my career as an aviation technician with the air force.
From 1964 to 1975, Woodward was stationed in Shearwater, N.S. doing service and maintenance on airframe (body of the plane) and engines.
For eight years, as part of the maintenance crew he flew in the Tracker, a plane used in anti-submarine patrol on Canada’s east coast, and for three years he flew in the Sea King helicopters, which patrolled the fisheries boundaries.
Once while on the Black Sea doing manoeuvers in the dark, the NATO ship on which he was part of the crew was almost hit by an oncoming freighter.
In the 1980’s he was part of the crew on a Hercules aircraft which was taking provisions to sites where required. While in Thule, Greenland, Woodward was called upon to swap out two of the four engines in the plane.
“The engines were flown in from Winnipeg, and the entire process took about a week, while waiting for the new engines to arrive.
“These moments made it difficult to be away from family as a member of the military. Trials and tribulations are all part of being in the military. The commitment is such that you have to put your country before everything else, including family.”
As a youngster, Woodward was very active in boy scouts and air cadets. He joined the Royal Canadian Navy Fleet Air Arm in 1964 and served 26 years, retiring from the Royal Canadian Air Force as a MWO (Master warrant Officer) in 1990.
Woodward was involved with quality assurance in his last years in the air force and worked as a civilian for two more years after his retirement.
In 1975 he served on the NATO detachment on HMCS Fraser a (destroyer) and the Preserver (supply ship) in the North Atlantic. He was transferred to Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg, where he spent the rest of his career working on aircraft and flying all over the Northern Hemisphere as crew in a Hercules.
Woodward did a lot of wood carving in Winnipeg and many of these carvings can still be found today; one remains in the conference room of Air Command Headquarters. Prince Charles was presented one on a visit to Winnipeg.
He opened and operated a health food store in Fernie BC, served on Fernie council for four years and then moved to Calgary and sold real estate for several years. He drove for a year with "Meals on Wheels” before moving to High River and then finally returning to Kamsack in 2008.
He has been a member of The Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 24 since 1964, serving in several offices including President for numerous years. He is also Zone and District Commander with the Legion, and “works extremely hard to have the community involved with the Legion.”
He developed a museum and a wall of honour in the Legion, where he provides local school classes with tours to enhance the meaning of “remembrance.”
Woodward was the key player in getting a monument installed near the town cenotaph for the HMCS Kamsack, a Second World War ship named after the town. He developed a memorial brick walk at the local cemetery to recognize “the many people who were part of our community and the many that gave their lives during the wars.”
He modernized the Kamsack Legion; he was responsible for all the upgrading, painting and renovating of this heritage building. He designed a special flowerbed for Canada 150 and is currently raising funds for an elevator, he said, “so our physically challenged members and visitors can appreciate the whole building.”
He built 150 white crosses for Remembrance Day and Decoration Day services to enhance Canada 150.
Woodward started an annual Hint of Garlic Festival and Trade show five years ago, and has written several garlic cookbooks. He is one person that if he sees a need he strives to find a solution. He has started a Legion website and ensures the community is aware of all legion functions through social media.
He was the family historian and did genealogy a good part of his life. He loves to joke that “the family is related to the Queen, she is a 13th cousin eight times removed.”
He has written 13 books to date and loves different challenges that no one else has considered. Both Prince William and Prince Harry have received a book at one time. He remarks, “We are related to Lucille Ball and Colonel Sanders to name a few; but I don’t like to brag about being related to George Bush.”
He does a lot of research and posting on “Find a Grave” and has established a Virtual Cemetery for his Legion Zone. He checks these cemeteries to ensure that the veteran’s headstones haven’t fallen into disrepair.
Jim has a son, Timothy, and daughter-in-law currently serving in the Canadian Forces, both as helicopter pilots. They are both nearing retirement.
He is a firm believer in “Organ Donation” and “Dying with Dignity,” of which he would express his feelings openly.
Woodward has written a number of self-published books, including: Eyes Closed, Too Hear; Generations of Family Favourites; Generations of Family Favourites Book Two; Generations of Family Favourites Book Three - Specialty; Generations of Family Favourites – Soup 2 Nuts; Reaching Beyond, and Thrown Away.
In Eyes Closed, Too Hear, Woodward talks about how the military has been a large part of not only himself, but his family.
His father’s father was in the First World War. His father, brother and several uncles served in the Second World War. Both he and a cousin served in the regular force for a full career, and his second-oldest son and wife are currently serving.
Among his many experiences while serving in the military he met his “double;” that someone whom others often mistook for him.
He relates how the military touches people almost daily in life, and alludes to the sacrifices made by individuals to ensure the freedom of others.
“The Legion is the epitome of comradeship,” he said in the book. “It is one organization that recognizes a person who offered up their life for their country. Here is an organization that recognizes men of such courage where they volunteer to die thousands of miles from home, who scramble to save each other when the bullets are flying, and they can still smile about it.
“To ensure that future generations can live free. That open heart sacrifice that could potentially alter families. Changing the seeds of time yet leaves its mark with just a mere medal for their imminent sacrifices.”
This year is the 100th Anniversary of the end of the First World War. Woodward and the Kamsack Legion will be participating in the Bells of Peace commemorative program and are enlisting help from the community for full participation.
“The Royal Canadian Legion was born from the ashes of the First World War, said a release. “As Canada’s largest veterans’ organization and in partnership with Veterans Affairs Canada, we have been handed this torch of remembrance by our founders to hold high and never forget the sacrifices made in the name of Canada and for Canadians.”
The Bells of Peace commemorative program will be observed across the nation, as communities pause to honour and remember those Canadians who sacrificed so much during the First World War.
Community members, churches and any organization that has access to a bell are asked to pause at dusk, around 5:25 p.m. and ring their bell 100 times, a process that should take around eight minutes.
The Royal Canadian Legion Dominion Command in Ottawa has spearheaded this national initiative called “We Will Remember Them.”
“On November 11 of this year 100 years will have passed since the signing of the armistice that officially ended The First World War, “ said information in a release. “As a tribute to all Canadians who served in this horrific struggle we are obligated to produce a program of remembrance for those of that era; an event that allows Canadians, if only for a moment, to stop, to remember and to feel, perhaps for a second, the joy that peace brought after so much death and destruction.
“The ‘war to end all wars’ left an indelible impression on Canada. Some 619,636 Canadians enlisted, and about 424,000 served overseas. Close to 66,000 Canadians were killed and 172,000 were wounded. That was an enormous contribution from a country with a population of just under eight million in 1914.
“Once the numbers of those who enlisted and those who worked on the home front in support of the war are extrapolated, it could be claimed that the majority of the population in Canada at the time was touched in some capacity by the war.
“If we are to remember those that fought, we need to drive home the message of the horror of war and its effect on the society that wages it.
“On November 11, 1918, the ringing of church bells erupted spontaneously across the country, as an outpouring of relief that four years of war had come to an end.”
According to the release, the Bells of Peace initiative is designed to emulate that moment of remembrance in honour of Canadian veterans who served in the First World War.
The following organizations are supporting the Legion on this initiative: Veterans Affairs Canada, the Canadian Armed Forces, Parks Canada and cadets.
The Canadian youth have been enlisted to help by marking the resting place of World War One veterans with a Canadian flag.
