Work Point room pays hommage to retired Admiral
Pam Lloyd
Staff writer
September 25, 2006
Rear-Admiral Robert Welland
The sixth floor lounge in the new Kingsmill Building at Work Point is getting a makeover, navy style.
HMCS Venture artefacts, including a cadet’s uniform from 1965, lists of past cadets and ships crests have been added to the walls. HMCS Venture was the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Junior Officer Training Establishment from 1954 to 1968.
To top off the new look, the room will be commissioned the “Welland Room,” after RAdm Robert Welland, the first Commanding Officer of HMCS Venture from 1954 to 1956.
RAdm (ret’d) Welland assisted financially with the upgrade and donated a replica of his uniform, complete with sword, for display in case within the room. He will unveil a sign during the Sept. 30 ceremony to signify the lounge is now the “Welland Room.”
Dr. Wilf Lund, Venture Association historian, took the lead in livening up the large, barren room to make it a warm, friendly place where naval officer cadets in training could relax.
The historical items will help instil a sense of naval history with the current and future crop of cadets, he says. Some naval cadets who have already seen the new look are “just blown away by what they’re seeing,” he says.
About RAdm Robert Welland
Rear-Admiral Robert Welland has a long history with the Canadian Forces. Born in 1918, he entered the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) at 18 as a cadet in 1936. During the Second World War, RAdm Welland commanded HMCS Assiniboine and HMCS Haida, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for “courage and enterprise in action.”
During the Korean War he commanded HMCS Athabaskan, a unit of the first Canadian naval contingent to the United Nations force. This was where he was awarded a Bar to his DSC and the United States Government Legion of Merit.
RAdm Welland commanded the RCN contingent at the Coronation of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953. From there he went to Naval Headquarters in Ottawa as Director of Naval Training.
From 1954 to 1956, RAdm Welland served as the first Commanding Officer of HMCS Venture, junior officer training establishment.
Following that, he became Captain of HMCS Ontario in 1956, and a year later took command of HMCS Shearwater, naval air station near Dartmouth, N.S.
In 1961, he was appointed Assistant Chief of Naval Staff at Naval Headquarters; he was then promoted to acting Vice-Chief of Naval Staff.
He was promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1964 and appointed Deputy Chief of Operations at Canadian Forces Headquarters in Ottawa.
RAdm Welland retired from service in 1967. He now lives in White Rock, B.C. with his wife Margot Hanington. He is 88 years old.
