Hello,
My name is David Charles Smith. I was not in the RCDs but my father was
RSM Charles W. Smith and my grandfather was SSM Charles W. J. Smith
(okay, my family has never been too imaginative when it came to naming
their children). Both were long serving RCDs. You can imagine my
surprise when I viewed the Spring 2002 issue of your newsletter online
and saw a photograph on page 20 of General Smith and General Church Mann
and seated between them was the man I'd always thought was my father but
the name given was Reg "Taffy" Deeming!! Now my mother passed away
several years ago so I can't confront her with this terrible revelation
but I can assure you I will get to the bottom of this whole sordid
mess. Of course it could be just a matter of mistaken identity on the
part of the person labelling the photo. I'd always thought my father's
visage was rather unmistakable. I see it every day when I look in the
mirror as I'm told by people who knew him that I bear a very strong
resemblance. Hmmmm, on second thought perhaps I should stick to the
claim to be the son of Taffy Deeming and make a bid for my rightful
inheritance of the Deeming family fortune.
As a side note the photo is also interesting because for a while before
the War my father was Churchill Mann's batman.
My dad was also a member of the musical ride. Does anyone know if there
is any film or videotape footage of the RCD Musical Ride? I remember
watching TV with my father and his disgust and contempt for the RCMP
Musical Ride. He thought the whole thing was play acting and fraud on
their behalf!
"Hmph!!" he'd sneer, "They never charged a damn thing with their lances
in real life".
Of course I prefer to think that this opinion was not born of
professional jealousy but rather of regimental pride. Those who knew
Charlie Smith will no doubt recall that he was a paragon of virtue so it
must surely have been the latter.
With tongue firmly planted in cheek I remain,
Yours very truly
David C. Smith
Barrie, Ontario
P. S. The photo in question is among a collection of photographs in my
sister's possession. She will very likely be able to identify the other
people in the picture if you have not already found the names of the
subjects. Please let me know if you would like this information and any
scans of other photographs.