Royal Roads Military College

Royal Roads Military College

Motto	Truth, Duty, Valour
Type	Military college
Established	1940
Chancellor	MND
Principal	N/A
Undergraduates	N/A
Location	Victoria, British Columbia , BC , Canada
Campus	Hatley Park
Closed	1995
Website	rrmc.ca

Royal Roads Military College (RRMC) was a Canadian military college (1940 to 1995) located in Hatley Park, Colwood, British Columbia near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The facility is currently being used as the campus for Royal Roads University, a public university that offers applied and professional academic programs. The centrepiece of the campus is Hatley Castle, constructed in the early part of the 20th century by B.C. coal baron James Dunsmuir for his wife, Laura. The house had been purchased as a wartime residence for the King, Queen, and their daughters.

The gentlemen cadets of RRMC were not only required to excel in their respective academic fields, but to achieve the standard in the three other components as well, the Second Language Training component, Physical Fitness component and the Military component. Failure in any of these four components resulted in the officer cadet not being awarded the coveted RRMC degree.

Royal Naval College, circa 1913, while it was located in Halifax, Nova Scotia

In February 1994, after the end of the Cold War and under the pressure of massive spending cuts from the Government of Canada, the Department of National Defence announced that it was would be closing Royal Roads Military College, along with the Le Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean (CMR) in St-Jean Sur Richelieu. CMR however was retained as an educational institution for lady and gentlemen cadets, as a preparatory college for certain cadets before proceeding to the Royal Military College Kingston. The final class graduated in May 1995.

Hatley Park and former Royal Roads Military College was declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 1995 to commemorate the Dunsmuir family (1908-1937) and RRMC (1940-1995). The site was plaqued in 2000 as a Canadian example of an Edwardian park, with gardens, which remains practically intact. HMCS Royal Roads is a Canadian naval training centre commissioned on 13 December 1940. This was the first of a series of related institutions to be set up by the Department of National Defence at Hatley Park in Esquimalt, British Columbia.

Designed to support Canada's naval war effort, it was operated as an Officer Training Establishment until October 1942. Many of the 600 volunteer reserve officers who underwent training during this time served in the Battle of the Atlantic. The HMCS Royal Roads was used to train short-term probationary Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve (RCNVR) sub-lieutenants to serve in World War II.

The name Royal Roads was drawn from geography. The name refers to an anchorage located in Juan de Fuca Strait between the city of Victoria, British Columbia and Albert Bay. The HMCS Royal Roads was located on a property originally purchased by James Dunsmuir in 1902. Dunsmuir was a former British Columbian Premier and Lieutenant-Governor. The Hatley Park Estate originally comprised 650 acres. The Dunsmuir family added Hatley Castle, which was completed in 1908. The Canadian Department of National Defence purchased Hatley Park, almost in its entirety, in 1940, for $75,000. This sum was roughly the value of the fence surrounding the property.

As Executive Officer, Commander Reginald Amand (Jumbo) Webber D.S.C., C.D. served there till late 1942. On June 21, 1995, after negotiations with the Department of National Defence and the Government of British Columbia, the British Columbia government passed the Royal Roads University Act, creating Royal Roads University. The campus is currently leased from the federal government under a $1, 50-year lease agreement with Royal Roads University which was announced in 2001. The Department of National Defence leases approximately 55 hectares of land for the campus to Royal Roads University, and has entered into a five-year Renewable Management Agreement with the University for the maintenance of the remaining 175 hectares of property owned by the Department of National Defence.

Notable historical milestones

Year	Significance
1921	The Canadian Government purchased the land for Royal Roads to reestablish the Naval college
1940	The Naval Training Establishment at Royal Roads was changed and commissioned to HMCS Royal Roads. Auxiliary buildings on the Hatley estate such as the Mews stables and garage were converted into classroom space. A new building called the Grant Building located behind Hatley Castle was built in order to provide a mess hall and dormitories, as well as classrooms and laboratories.
1942	The Royal Canadian Naval College was established to train marine and naval officers.
1946	The Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force College offered the first two years of university-level programs to Royal Canadian Air Force and Navy officers
1947	The Canadian Services College Royal Roads offered the first two years of university- level programs to army, navy and air force officers.
1950	The Old Brigade, alumni celebrating 50 + years since they entered one of the military colleges, are inducted.
1956	Red tunics reintroduced
1968	Royal Roads Military College (RRMC) offered the first two years of university-level programs to Royal Canadian Air Force and Navy officers.
1975	The Royal Roads Military College Degrees Act was passed by the Government of British Columbia, allowing the Royal Roads Military College to grant degrees.
1984	The first female cadet enrolled at RRMC creating a slight shift culturally in the Canadian Military Colleges, as well as in the CF as a whole.
1995	following the end of the Cold War and massive government cutbacks on defence spending, the Department of National Defence closed Royal Roads Military College (RRMC). RRMC Royal Roads Military College is no longer a military institution, and is now maintained by the Government of British Columbia as Royal Roads University. The loss of RRMC along with their many traditions and history as military colleges still remains a bitter event for many cadets and alumni.

Facilities

Building	Year	Significance
Hatley Castle	1908	administrative centre of Royal Roads University. From 1941 until 1943 when Grant Block was completed, the Castle served as dormitory and mess hall for cadets and staff officers at RRMC. Registry of Historic Places of Canada
Mews Conference Centre	1912	James Dunsmuir's stables and garage later converted to classrooms, dormitory, social centre and conference centre. Registry of Historic Places of Canada
Cedar Building	1900s	The original Tudor-style dairy and cattle barns were converted into laboratories and classrooms for physics and oceanography. The building was refurbished in 1998 into research and computer laboratories
Arbutus Building		academic classrooms, administrative offices, a computer lab, and a canteen
Gate House		(or White House) an administrative centre
Millward Wing (of the Nixon Building)	1991	Offices, dormitories, named for former Commandant Air Vice Marshall James Bert Millward DFC (Bar), GdG(F), CD, RCAF 1949-52 the 4th Commandant of RRMC.
Nixon Building	1991	classrooms, dormitories named after the former Commanding Officer Nixon of the Royal Naval College of Canada, when it was re-established in Esquimalt, British Columbia in 1918. *Registry of Historic Places of Canada
Grant Building	1943	main academic building, laboratories, cafeteria, and offices named for first Commanding Officer of HMCS Royal Roads, Captain John Moreau Grant. The building was recently renovated. Registry of Historic Places of Canada
Boat House	1989	boat house
Swimming pool	1959	two-storey, white concrete building composed of horizontal cubic volumes Registry of Historic Places of Canada
dock	1990	dock
sports complex	1942 - 1957	gymnasium, weight room, fitness studio, squash courts, outdoor tennis courts *Registry of Historic Places of Canada

Royal Roads Military College Museum

Royal Roads Military College Museum

Location	Hatley Castle, on the campus of the Royal Roads University
Website	www.rmc.ca/other/museum/index_e.html (Official)

Hatley Castle is home to the Royal Roads Military College Museum.

The museum is located in Hatley Castle, on the campus of the Royal Roads University and former campus of the Royal Roads Military College of Canada. The Museum mandate is to collect, conserve, research and display material relating to the history of the Royal Roads Military College, its former cadets and its site.

The Royal Roads Military College Museum is a member of the Canadian Museums Association and the Organization of Military Museums of Canada Inc. The Royal Roads Museum is an accredited museum within the Canadian Forces Museum System. The museum has formed a cooperating association of friends of the museum to assist with projects.

Theses Canada

Theses Canada acquires and preserves a comprehensive collection of Canadian theses at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) through partnership with Canadian universities who participate in the program including: Royal Military College Masters 1984- and Royal Roads Military College Masters 1990-1995. All theses in Library and Archives Canada's collection are available on interlibrary loan.

Traditions

Tradition	Significance
blanket toss	blanket toss of senior class members after the last waltz at the Graduation Ball
ceremonial mace	Symbolizes the authority of the college, as granted in the name of the Sovereign (currently Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II). When carried into the ceremony and placed on stage, the mace signals the opening of the convocation.
'change of command ceremony'	The former commandant offers farewell and best wishes to the college and to the new Commandant. The new commandant accepts a first salute as the cadet wing marches past.
college Toast (honor)	RRMC club toast to absent comrades meaning those who have fallen in action or who had died
colours	After the last parade of RRMC in spring 1995, the Colours were deposited into the care of Christ Church Cathedral in [[Victoria, British Columbia" where they are on display with several other retired colours including "Royal Canadian Navy" and "Royal Canadian Air Force".
Feux de Joie	an honour guard perform a rifle salute with field artillery, or more commonly, rifles using blank ammunition.
Ghost Stories	B.C. Society of Paranormal Investigation and Research into the Supernatural have investigates stories of paranormal activity in and around Hatley Castle
Graduation and Commissioning Parade	in honour of graduating cadets: graduating students are presented with their Officer’s Commissions in the Canadian Forces. Officer Cadets display their foot drill and sword movements, Feux de Joie an honour guard performs a rifle salute with field artillery
Jacket exchange	RRMC Director of Cadets exchanges tunics with I Year Officer Cadet at RRMC Christmas Dinner.
Just Passing By	When a graduate of the RRMC pilots an aircraft in the vicinity of Victoria, British Columbia he or she conducts an impromptu airshow over the College.
March	Hatley Park; Going Home
obstacle course race	gruelling course for recruits set up by the cadets' immediate predecessors
Old Brigade	Alumni who entered military college 50+ years before wear unique berets and ties, have the Right of the Line on reunion weekend memorial parades, and present the College cap badge to the First Year cadets on the First Year Badging Parade. Each class traditionally marks its 50-year anniversary and entry into the Old Brigade with a gift.
skylarks	annual class practical joke or prank Apples were taken from the Commandant’s trees at 2am and bring the apples back to the doors of popular seniors. A whaler was taken to dockyard and the Navy Dockyard flag was liberated and run up the RRMC mast. A dingy was strung up the mast in front of the Castle and left there. A cow was chained to the top of Neptune stairs where the Director of Cadets held his morning parade. The Cadet Wing Commander had the 1st year cadets muster in the common rooms while 2nd years took their rooms apart, moved their mattresses out and ran their sheets from building to building. The cadets scrambled back to their rooms to prepare for an inspection of their rooms to find no beds. During 100 days to grad parties, 4th years were not allowed to sleep in their dorm. Instead, the 3rd years took their beds and moved them around the college. Cadets might find their bed - up a tree or in a hall. The DCadet found a cadet's bed in the DCadets residence and another in the yard.
sweetheart broach	officer cadets gave their dates an enamel brooch in lieu of a corsage for formal dances at Christmas, and Graduation.
white peacock	Blue Indian peafowl have lived free on the college grounds since the 1960s. Albert, a rare white peacock resident since RRMC days, died in 2003.

Commandants

#	Name	Year	Significance
	Captain John Moreau Grant, CBE	1940-42, 1942-46	First Commanding Officer of HMCS Royal Roads, Grant Building was named in his honour.
	Captain Creery, CBE, CD, RCN	1946-48	2nd Commandant, RRMC
	Captain Rayner, DSC, CD, RCN	1948-49	3rd Commandant, RRMC
	Air Vice Marshall James Bert Millward DFC (Bar), GdG(F), CD, RCAF	1949-52	4th Commandant, RRMC
2253	Major General Cameron Bethel Ware DSO, CD, PPCLI (RMC 1931)	1952-54	5th Commandant, RRMC
2444	Captain John A. Charles, CMM, CD RCN (RMC 1935)	1954-57	6th Commandant, RRMC
	Colonel Cooper OBE, CD, L Edmin R	1957-60	7th Commandant, RRMC
	Group Commander Alan Frederick Avant DSO, DFC), CD, RCAF	1960-63	8th Commandant, RRMC
2576	Captain William Prine Hayes CD,	1963-65	9th Commandant, RRMC
	Group Captain Wurtele, CD, RCAF	1965-68	10th Commandant, RRMC
RRA18	Colonel Kenneth E. Lewis CMM, CD CF (RRMC ‘47)	1968-70	11th Commandant, RRMC
	Capt(N) Peers CD CF	1970-76	12th Commandant, RRMC
	Colonel Roddick CD, [[Canadian Forces}CF]]	1976-79	13th Commandant, RRMC
3912	Colonel George L. Logan CD CF (RHC)(RRMC/RMC ‘57)	1979-83	14th Commandant, RRMC
	Capt(N) Draper CD CF	1983-84	15th Commandant, RRMC
6440	Captain(N) Tony AJ Goode CD CF ((Royal Military College Saint-Jean/RMC 1965)	1984-87	16th Commandant, RRMC
7264	Colonel Ross K Betts CD CF (RMC 1967)	1987-89	17th Commandant, RRMC
8335	Colonel Claude JEC Naud CD A de C. CF (CMR/RMC 1970)	1989-91	18th Commandant, RRMC
8241	Lieutenant-General (ret`d) Vaughan Michael Caines, A de C, CF (CMR/RMC 1970) CMM, CD	1991-94	19th Commandant, RRMC; Chair of the DND/CF Ombudsman Advisory Committee
9318	Captain(N) (ret`d) David B Bindernagel CD (RRMC RMC 1972)	1994-95	20th Commandant, RRMC

Principals

Name	Year
Commander Ketchum	1942-45
Captain Ogle	1945-51
Professor Brown	1951-55
Professor Cook	1955-61
Professor Graham	1961-84
3237 Doctor John J.S. Mothersill (RMC 1954)	1984-95

Notable alumni

Chris Hadfield

#	Name	Grad	Significance
13705	Constable Jose Manuel Agostinho	RRMC 1982	Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, was killed in the performance of his duties near Millet, Alberta on 7/4/2005. He is remembered on the Canadian Police And Peace Officer's Memorial (panel 14-26).
14008	Mr Alan Cumyn	RRMC 1983	Canadian novelist
3528	General (Ret) Paul David Manson O.C., CMM, CD, B.Sc., D.M.S.	RRMC 1956	Military leader, business executive and volunteer; former Chief of Defence Staff
13738	Colonel (Ret'd) Chris Hadfield	RRMC/RMC 1982	Astronaut
14098	Mr Chris Wattie	RRMC 1979	soldier, journalist, author
12320	General Walter Natynczyk CD,	RRMC CMR 1979	Military leader, Chief of Defence Staff

Quotes

#	Name	Quote
	Mr. Kasper, 3rd Session, 35th Parliament, Legislative Assembly of British Columbia	"Be it resolved that this House strongly condemn the Government of Canada's unfair decision to close five defence installations in British Columbia, including the Royal Roads Military College, resulting in the elimination of nearly 900 civilian and military jobs; and be it further resolved that this House, noting the reputation of academic excellence offered at the Royal Roads Military College during its fifty-five year history, and in light of the recent $20 million upgrade, urge the Government of Canada to re-examine the utility of closing the only military college in Western Canada, affecting 230 civilian and military jobs."

Trivia

The campus of Royal Roads was used as:

• the Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in the "X-Men" movies.[1]
• the Luthor Mansion, the estate belonging to Lex Luthor in TV series "Smallville".
• the Shady Glen School in the 1997 movie, Masterminds
• the hideout in "MacGyver", season 5, "The Legend of the Holy Rose, part 2"
• the home for royal family in TV series "Seven Days", episode 9, season 2 "Love and Other Disasters"

Books

• Peter J.S. Dunnett “Royal Roads Military College 1940-1990, A Pictorial Retrospective” (Royal Roads Military College, Victoria, BC 1990)
• Maurice Robinson, Bev Hall, Paul Price 'Royal Roads : a celebration' Natural Light Productions, Victoria, B.C., 1995.

See also

• Royal Military College of Canada
• Royal Military College Saint-Jean
• The Canadian Crown and the Canadian Forces
• Monarchy in British Columbia
• Royal Roads University

External links

• http://www.hmcshaida.ca/webber.html
• http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0005284
• More comprehensive history presented by RRMC class of '94
• Hatley Castle