Please be patient as this page is still under construction.
If you have photos or information to add, please email to rcccshistory@gmail.com with full descriptions, names and any information or feed back you might have.
Thank you
History of the Vernon Cadet Camp
Mothballed from 1946 to the spring of 1949, it reopened as an army cadet camp in July of 1949. This was just two years after the camp had been stood down as a WWII Canadian Army Basic Infantry Training Centre and support camp for the Coldstream Ranch Battle Drill School. That first summer, some 1000 army cadets from BC and Alberta arrived by passenger train and trained for ten days. 240 young men stayed behind to take six weeks of trades training.
Vernon joined Ipperwash, Dundurn, Farnham and Aldershot as the main training camps for army cadets across Canada that summer.
In the 1940s and 50s, training focused on Infantry Basic Training, Driver Mechanic and Signals. Over the years training changed with the times and today the emphasis is on leadership, adventure training, and fitness; all with a military flavour.
Vernon joined Ipperwash, Dundurn, Farnham and Aldershot as the main training camps for army cadets across Canada that summer.
In the 1940s and 50s, training focused on Infantry Basic Training, Driver Mechanic and Signals. Over the years training changed with the times and today the emphasis is on leadership, adventure training, and fitness; all with a military flavour.
1949-52 "Alberta - British Columbia Western Command Trades Training Camp”
1953 "Western Command Trades Training Camp”
1956-61 "Vernon Cadet Trades Training Camp”
HM Queen Elizabeth II visited the camp in 1959 during her cross-country tour.
1962-1996 "Vernon Army Cadet Camp”
In the 1967 celebrating Canada's centennial, Band Company and the Guard toured the province after camp for a 2-week Tattoo tour of BC. That summer for the first time, sea and air cadets also attended courses at Vernon.
In 1974, a major change occurred when the first female cadets attended an experimental two-week course at the end of the summer to prepare them to be the first female staff cadets the following year when female cadets would finally train at Vernon alongside the male cadets. Soon female cadets were fully integrated into the training program in all courses with female CIL officers taking company and headquarter responsibilities. Ex Rambler began as the main six-day training exercise for all CL course cadets culminating with a three-day 45 km route march over the commonage.
In 1977, USMC Jr ROTC Cadets from Washington State began a 13-year exchange program. In 1979, the camp celebrated its 30th anniversary and the centennial of Royal Canadian Army Cadets with the first ever Freedom of the City Parade for Cadets anywhere in Canada. On August 4 that summer some 1300 cadets marched along a parade route in downtown Vernon, with drummers drumming, flags flying and weapons bourn. In 1994 the camp hosted the first ever reunion for an army cadet camp and some 1800 former cadets and staff returned for the four-day event.
In 1974, a major change occurred when the first female cadets attended an experimental two-week course at the end of the summer to prepare them to be the first female staff cadets the following year when female cadets would finally train at Vernon alongside the male cadets. Soon female cadets were fully integrated into the training program in all courses with female CIL officers taking company and headquarter responsibilities. Ex Rambler began as the main six-day training exercise for all CL course cadets culminating with a three-day 45 km route march over the commonage.
In 1977, USMC Jr ROTC Cadets from Washington State began a 13-year exchange program. In 1979, the camp celebrated its 30th anniversary and the centennial of Royal Canadian Army Cadets with the first ever Freedom of the City Parade for Cadets anywhere in Canada. On August 4 that summer some 1300 cadets marched along a parade route in downtown Vernon, with drummers drumming, flags flying and weapons bourn. In 1994 the camp hosted the first ever reunion for an army cadet camp and some 1800 former cadets and staff returned for the four-day event.
1997-2014 "Vernon Army Cadet Summer Training Centre"
In 1999 the camp celebrated it's 50th anniversary with another successful reunion and museum exhibit.
The training centre hosted many guests and visitors over the years, from actor Martin Sheen to the Royal Inniskilling Dragoons Guards band to several Lieutenant Governors of British Columbia.
The training centre hosted many guests and visitors over the years, from actor Martin Sheen to the Royal Inniskilling Dragoons Guards band to several Lieutenant Governors of British Columbia.
2015-2016 "Vernon Cadet Summer Training Centre"
2017 - Current "Vernon Cadet Training Centre"
The names have changed, but the camp still reflects its early days because many of the WWII constructed H-Huts, barracks and mess halls are still standing and used every summer.
Camp Vernon is now the oldest continuous serving army cadet training centre in Canada having surpassed Banff in 1999 and Ipperwash in 1994. Ipperwash was also a WWII era H-Hut camp. Today only a few 1941-45 constructed H-Huts remain elsewhere in Canada; most have been demolished or forgotten. Camp Vernon has the largest and best conditioned examples of these buildings. The museum’s photo gallery has an extensive collection of the camp's buildings.
Cadets attending Vernon take pride in either bragging or complaining about the heat because daily summer temperatures are usually 28-32c and it's not uncommon for the temperatures to hit the mid 30s for days and weeks on end and on some days, they have touched 40c. The saving grace is the low humidity and a remarkable lack of insects and mosquitoes.
Since 1949 over 100,000 cadets from across Canada have trained here in Vernon. This remarkable history is a tribute to the cadet programs and to the city of Vernon.
Camp Vernon is now the oldest continuous serving army cadet training centre in Canada having surpassed Banff in 1999 and Ipperwash in 1994. Ipperwash was also a WWII era H-Hut camp. Today only a few 1941-45 constructed H-Huts remain elsewhere in Canada; most have been demolished or forgotten. Camp Vernon has the largest and best conditioned examples of these buildings. The museum’s photo gallery has an extensive collection of the camp's buildings.
Cadets attending Vernon take pride in either bragging or complaining about the heat because daily summer temperatures are usually 28-32c and it's not uncommon for the temperatures to hit the mid 30s for days and weeks on end and on some days, they have touched 40c. The saving grace is the low humidity and a remarkable lack of insects and mosquitoes.
Since 1949 over 100,000 cadets from across Canada have trained here in Vernon. This remarkable history is a tribute to the cadet programs and to the city of Vernon.