Virginia Hicks, Canada’s 2026 Silver Cross mother, said she felt for the families affected by last month’s fire during a training exercise at CFB Wainwright.
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Virginia Hicks, Canada’s Silver Cross mother, said she was stunned to learn about last month’s training accident at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in Alberta that killed four people and injured dozens more.
Hicks said she and her husband reacted with the shock of “not again” when they saw reports of the incident, drawing on her own experience: one of her daughters, Mariebeth Short, died in a military training accident 24 years ago.
Hicks, who lives in Frankford, Ontario, described Short’s death as something people may not fully understand when it occurs during peacetime training. She said the grief is “the same” for families, even when the circumstances differ from deployments abroad.
Hicks said she planned to lay a wreath at the National War Memorial in Ottawa during the Remembrance Day ceremonies on Wednesday on behalf of Canadian mothers whose children died in military service.
Short, a sapper in a combat engineer regiment, died in 2002 when the light armoured vehicle she was travelling in rolled over in Petawawa, Ontario.
Hicks said Short was 22 when she died and would have turned 46 in January; Hicks described her daughter as smart, funny, extremely confident and determined to complete any task given to her.
Short joined the forces in 2000. Hicks said Short wanted to “see the world” and build a career she could be proud of.
Hicks said Short called her mother at work on Sept. 23, 2002, excited because she was first on the list to drive the LAV during training.
Hicks said that just before the accident, Short switched positions with another combat engineer so she could stand outside the gunner’s hatch to watch what was happening. She said the vehicle’s tires caught in an old trench, the front left wheel assembly snapped off, and the vehicle rolled over twice.
Hicks said she and her husband Brian were in their home in Halifax when a vehicle with military plates arrived at about 7 p.m., and that Brian recognized the padre from his uniform badges. Hicks said that within 24 hours, the couple flew to Ottawa and then to CFB Petawawa.
She said the family did not learn what the official investigation concluded until Nov. 11, 2003. She said that day was a day before she was deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan, and that it took additional months to obtain accident reports.
Hicks said the reports concluded the vehicle’s front wheel assembly had a substandard weld, and she said the information changed her view of the accident. She said it was not the fault of anyone involved in the training but was caused by someone on the factory floor.
Hicks said the family tried to sue the manufacturer but the company later declared bankruptcy, and she said she never got closure.
On the Wainwright accident, Hicks said there is a message for people affected by the tragedy: hold tight and be patient while investigations continue.
She said the military would find out what happened and why, and urged people to allow time for investigators so there are no “rumours or innuendoes” while questions remain.
Hicks’ remarks came as investigators examined the Wainwright incident, after strong winds suddenly swept up a grass fire and carried it across the training range. Sgt. Morgan Wong, Pte. Shaun Farrell, Pte. Aidan Goulding and Pte. Hayden Lykkemark were killed, and the Department of National Defence said that as of Nov. 4, 14 personnel who suffered burn injuries had been released from hospital while 25 remained hospitalized.
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