William Moss Landymore – RIP

This is the story of how the Royal Canadian Air Force ceased to exist.

There was a full page spread in the Monday Globe and Mail for this gentlemans obituary. Here is my take on it all.

Rear Admiral Bill Landymore is probably not a well known name other than for a select few of us with a long memory.

William Moss Landymore, born July 31, 1916 in Brantford, Ontario. He died November 26, 2008 of natural causes in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was 92. He leaves his wife, Eleanor, and his children Lauretta, Roderick, and John. He also leaves, six great-grandchildren and four stepchildren. He was predeceased by his first wife, Joan, whom he married in 1940, in 1998. His ashes will be buried at sea.

I never knew Landymore but I certainly knew of him. In the 1960s the Minister of Defense (Paul Hellyer) sacked this upstanding Royal Canadian Navy Rear Admiral because he had the audacity to publically oppose his program to unify the Canadian Forces into a single amorphous blob under a single control and wearing a single uniform.

I remember the fight well because I was about 15 at the time and was seriously thinking about joining the Royal Canadian Air Force. I was probably about as proud of the Air Force as I was of the Seaforth Highlanders as my Father, Uncle, and Grandfather had fought under the command of those two.

As I recall now it was not a pretty fight. Hellyer was in my opinion a bully who had the opportunity to tear down the existing structure that had served Canada well and replace it with his version of a unified force that would be so much more cost effective. Landymore was a sailors Admiral – he had 2 ships sunk from underneath him in a four month period in 1940. He knew his men. He cared about the traditions and wore his uniform proudly. He believed in the separate identity of the forces being a good thing and he realized that most in the forces wanted it to remain that way.

I believe that he thought the best possible situation for the country was to have things remain the way it was. In my opinion he was right, not that it matters to anyone. What really matters is that he believed strongly enough to cross swords with his boss by going public. In the private sector this is politely referred to as career suicide. The military has a somewhat harsher outlook.

Someone said that there are defining moments – both in a personal life and even for a country. Landymore stepped up to the helm knowing full well what the outcome would be and rode this ship into history. He did his best to get the message out that this was not in his opinion a good thing. Hellyer asked for his resignation. Landymore refused and the fight went on until Hellyer had no choice but to sack his top of staff for the Navy.

Landymore had one last go with a meeting with then Prime Minister, Lester Pearson. It was to no avail and on April 25, 1967 Hellyer rammed the Unification Bill through and the Canadian Forces were now one.

On Feburary 23, 1967 The Honerable Paul Hellyer had fired his last Salvo at Landymore with a statement that he had been fired for “18 months of constant disloyalty to the people he was paid to serve.” Hellyer had to retract that statement 4 days after but in the end won the fight.

You might think “So what.” in regards to this public battle to save the longstanding traditional makeup of the Canadian Forces. I know for me it made a difference – I wanted to go into the Air Force – but now there wasn’t one. I wasn’t alone and I know many others my age decided that if we couldn’t be “Special” then we wouldn’t be at all. I sincerely believe that some of our greatest potential was deterred in choosing a military career and in the end it may have cost us a lot more than we know. Several of my school friends went to the States to join the Marines and the US Navy because that is what they wanted to be.

I mean no disrespect to members of our Canadian Forces – past, present, and future. You are doing the best job possible and I am proud of our Armed Forces. It is just that I always feel a bit embarrassed when I meet you in public and have to ask what it is you actually do. I didn’t have that problem before unification.

When I look back over the history of Canada I realized that this was a turning point for our country and the beginning of a long period of decline until we have the rabble that considers themselves leaders of this country now. The last leader we had appears to have been Diefenbaker. I don’t have fond feelings for this gentleman and he was a guest in our home a couple of times when I was very young. What he did to the aviation industry in Canada should have been just cause to turf him out. But right or wrong he was a leader.

Pearson on the other hand was the start of the next group of wolves who were bent on destroying what was left of this great country. At the end of WWII we had the third largest armed forces in the world. We had shown what we could do in two horrific wars and these jackals destroyed it all. After Pearson came the pink playboy. What Pearson started was finished in short order by the next group of men bent on insuring their own fortunes rather than leading the country. I am hoping that we have now hit the bottom and that the Canadian people will start to step up to the plate and promote some leaders. It is a hope only because the reality is that we are no longer a mosaic of peoples, we are now mostly the same color of sheep.

Landymore didn’t quit – he didn’t give up – he gave it his best shot and most importantly he kept his integrity while doing it. I learned a lot from this man I never met – I learned that you need to step up to the plate when it is your turn to do so – I learned that you need to fight the bullies of the world and not back down – I learned that being dedicated and serving your country doesn’t matter because the military and the politicians make the rules, and that you can have your career destroyed – because these people can.

I think that if there is an afterlife and I should meet up with William Moss Landymore that it would be a good thing to shake his hand and express my gratitude for his example to one teenage boy to integrate into his adult life.

They say that if you change one persons life in a positive way that you are a success. If this is so, then I consider this man to have been successful in many ways.

When Landymore departed there was a send off the likes of which will probably never be seen again. Military as well as civilians cheered as he walked through the ranks. Every ship flew the code signals for “Landymore” and under it flew “B” “Z’ – Bravo Zulu – Navy code for “Well Done”

He retired – was active as Chairman of the Board of Grace Hospital in Halifax and performed charity work and never talked about what unification cost him. Or cost us.

Thank you Rear Admiral Landymore for the leadership example of how to fight the good fight!!!

Truc