Extra Information From Quiz Committee: The term ‘Cadet Corps’ first appeared in Ontario in 1898, and that year a corps (pronounced ‘core’) was formed at Woodstock Collegiate Institute. The Cadet Corps stayed at WCI until it was disbanded in 1967.
The corps reformed in 1968 under the title 2833 (‘A’ Company 3RCR) Cadet Corps and it trained at the Woodstock Armories. In 1972 its title was again changed, to 2833 Oxford Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps.
In 1974, Branch 55 of the Royal Canadian Legion, became the official sponsor of the Corps and has ever since provided it with financial support and a place to parade, train and locate its offices and stores.
Oxford RCACC is affiliated with the Royal Canadian Regiment through the 4th Battalion, so the cadets are allowed to wear the RCR cap badge and shoulder titles. (The 4th Battalion RCR, based at Stratford, includes former members of the Oxford Rifles, the county’s militia unit that was deactivated in 1970.)
Canada has had an official Naval Service since 1910. Its first commissioned navy ship was HMCS Rainbow, a cruiser bought from Britain. However, the first naval cadet groups were not formed until 1940, after the start of the Second World War.
Woodstock's first sea cadet corps, RCSCC Achilles, began about 1940 and included any young men in Oxford County. By 1944 the Corps met every Wednesday and Friday night at WCI, for training and/or drill. That summer, cadets attended a sea cadet camp on an island in Georgian Bay: a hands-on chance to learn and practice sailing, and to tour naval ships under construction in local yards.
Interest in RCSCC Achilles faded after the war, rekindled when RCSCC Oxford officially opened on April 12, 1957, for boys throughout the county. Sea cadets paraded at Woodstock Armouries, and received instruction in seamanship, and in the many technical aspects of life afloat. By the early 1960s a sea cadet corps was formed in Ingersoll. As Woodstock’s corps no longer covered the county, it was renamed RCSCC Woodstock in February 1963, after a Second World War corvette, HMCS Woodstock.
After the last official parade of the Oxford Rifles, its base, the Armouries, was sold in 1970. The sea cadets moved to the Fairgrounds and paraded there for six years, in the Horticultural Building. In 1975, regulations changed to allow female sea cadets to join RCSCC Woodstock. By 1976, the Fairgrounds had become too expensive to rent and, in the fall, the sea cadets moved their winter headquarters to the pavilion in Southside Park. Still there, they use the park for winter activities such as cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and survival camping. Every summer since 1973, the cadets move their base of operations to Pittock Lake and go sailing.
The Navy League of Canada, a community-based, volunteer-led organization, administers the Navy League Corps program. According to the web site of the Navy League Cadets, "This is a program for youth [both boys and girls] from 10 to 13 that aims to develop good citizenship, patriotism, self-respect, discipline, healthy living, and respect for others, in a nautical environment suited to young people". The Navy League cadet corps in Woodstock is NLCC Unicorn. About 45 cadets timeshare share the same winter facilities at Southside Park as the older sea cadets. Their training touches on similar subjects, but at a more basic level. At least one evening a week (Wednesday) is spent learning about boats and sailing, the use of knots, signalling, first aid, and working with maps and compasses. Summer is a time of putting into it all practice at Pittock Lake, though not all is plain sailing. There are also opportunities to play in a brass and reed band, and for sports and swimming.
On November 28, 1879, the Militia General Order Number 18 authorized the formation of "Associations for Drill in Educational Institutions" for young men over 14 years of age still at school. This minimum age was dropped to 12 years in 1887 when regulations changed to allow Militia detachments to loan rifles and equipment to schools for training students.
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