Lieutenant General Reginald John Lane,
DSO, DFC*, CD, O of M (USA), (Ret.)
1920 - 2003
By LCol (Ret) J. Cecil Berezowski
A decorated Second World War hero and career Canadian Forces officer, Reginald John Lane died Thursday, Oct. 2, in Victoria. A military funeral was conducted from Christ Church Cathedral On Monday, Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. He was 83.
Born in Victoria, B.C. in 1920, he joined the RCAF in early 1940 and after completing flight training, went to Great Britain to undergo bomber pilot training. It was the start of a distinguished military career that spanned 36 years.
As a bomber pilot, he completed three full tours of air combat operations. Two were considered the limit of human endurance. The last two tours were with his pathfinder squadron, which was in the vanguard of every heavy bomber raid over Nazi Germany.
In 1944, when Reg Lane was only 24 years old, he was promoted to group captain. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Flying Cross with bar.
He gave his utmost in time of peril and stands as an inspiration to later generations of Canadian aviators. Reg Lane was inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame on May 3, 2000.
During peacetime, he commanded RCAF Edmonton in 1950, attended the Imperial Defence College, London in 1955, returning to RCAF Headquarters in Ottawa as Chief of Plans and Intelligence. In 1961, he became air officer commanding the new Air Transport Command.
A superb leader, Lane was promoted to air vice marshal and commander of 1 Canadian Air Division in France and Germany in 1966. During that time, the CF104 came into Division service in a nuclear strike role, a first for the Canadian Forces.
MGen Lane left in 1969 to become deputy commander of Mobile Command HQ in St. Hubert. At the time, tactical fighters and helicopters were under the operational command of the army's Mobile Command.
He was promoted LGen in 1972 and made deputy commander in chief at NORAD Headquarters, Colorado Springs. Lane was made an Officer of the Legion of Merit by the president of the United States.
He retired from the military in 1974 and after a brief time as a defence consultant in Ottawa, retired with his family to Victoria.
In retirement, Reg Lane was active in many civic organizations. He joined the Royal United Services Institute of Vancouver Island, became president of the Air Force Officers' Association and the Victoria Branch of the Canadian Club. He was on the board of the Art Gallery and chairman of the board of Twilight Homes Ltd (a non-profit organization for seniors' homes). He was also a president and delegate for his federal Conservative party constituency.
At the national level, he served as a member of the External Affairs Consultative Group on Arms Control and Disarmament from 1983 to 1992. He was a director of the Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security from 1989 to 1992. His contribution was significant to the achievement of a balanced debate on matters of peace and war.
From 1978 to 1993, he was national chairman of the Federation of Military and United Services Institutes of Canada. Lane travelled extensively across Canada building the federation to 26 institutes from 18 when he retired in 1993, by reason of health.
A superb motivator, Reg inspired the 26 autonomous institutes with some 10,000 retired military and RCMP members, to speak with a common voice in support of Canada's defence and security interests. To keep the institutes current with Canada's defence problems and priorities, he evolved the Federation Biennial meeting, hosted by a different institute every second year. Often the Minister of National Defence or the Chief of the Defence Staff had the opportunity to update delegates from across Canada on current defence issues.
Unclouded by his many diverse tasks, he focused on representing the federation before committees of the Senate and the House of Commons dealing with foreign and defence policy matters. He persuasively advocated the need for adequate and capable Canadian Forces.
Lane married his wife Barbara in 1945 in England. Barbara and four grown children survive him. _
SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING AT SEP. 10 LUNCHEON
Members present voted on the following special resolution: Therefore, be it resolved that:
A. RUSI of VI support the retention of our national status by approving the continuation of FMUSIC through payment of our per capita dues; and
B. Authorizing our president to attend the Biennial Meeting in Edmonton 17-19 Oct 03.
THE RESOLUTION WAS PASSED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE
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