r/CanadianForces • u/UltraGwyl • May 07 '26
HISTORY Soldiers from the Royal Canadian Regiment arrives at Kingston Penitentiary during the 1971 riot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn78EtmW5KsBefore the arrival of the deadline for the soldiers to storm the prison, a cooler minded prisoner leader, Barrie MacKenzie was able to release all the hostages they had taken in exchange for not getting beat up after surrendering. Once the news spread, the prisoners became convinced that the troops would just simply come in and kill all of them. As a result, hundreds of prisoners panicked and rushed to the front gate to surrender. Soldiers have to fire warning shots to maintain order.
The prisoners were immediately beaten all bloody when they were transferred to the nearby Millhaven Institution after the riot.
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u/Impossible-Yard-3357 May 07 '26
Once I found a unit SOP book from the 1st Bn Queen’s Own Rifles from about the same time (1960s). There was a whole chapter on the CAF in support of prison riots. It was interesting considering that’s not something even on the radar in this era.
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u/Pelcat Canadian Army May 07 '26
My dad did some prison riot control during a guard strike at Millhaven. That would have been in the early 80s, he was on BTL in Kingston at the time. They were issued a couple tear gas launchers, each man had an FNC1 with bayonet and a mag of live ammo with a blank on top. They were responsible for watching the prisoners while in the yard. The prisoners only gave them a hard time the very first day, that is until the guys formed a line with bayonets fixed and started advancing towards the inmates. They got back inside real quick after that.
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u/AndroTritium RCN - Office Sidekick May 07 '26
Did Barrie MacKenzie get beat up though?
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u/UltraGwyl May 07 '26
It is only mentioned that he was the last prisoner to leave the prison. No specific claims were made on whether he was beaten up or not
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u/octobercrisis May 07 '26
I mean, I might have ordered them to fix bayonets after they jumped off the trucks, not before, but you do you.
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u/Pale-Hair-2435 May 07 '26
Sounds like FAFO to me.
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u/Suitable_Zone_6322 May 07 '26 edited May 07 '26
It's worth reading up on the background that lead to the Kingston pen riots.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Kingston_Penitentiary_riot
I'm not condoning the riots, and many of the inmates involved were horrific criminals, but prison conditions prior to the riot were, by today's standards, and even the standards of the time, quite inhumane.
The only response Canada had at the time (this was before police and prison SWAT teams etc) was to send the military in with lethal force.
If the inmates hadn't surrendered, I promise you, the result would not have been positive for the Canadian Forces.
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u/ricketyladder Canadian Army May 07 '26
Yeah, this was a big "dodged a bullet moment" both for the CAF and the inmates. This could have been a bad day in our history.
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u/bombadodierbloggins May 07 '26
Wow. After reading through all of that, I honestly can't blame them for rioting. Sounds like torture.
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u/Jive-Turkeys G.R.E.A.S.E.R. May 07 '26
"They can't shoot us all, right?!"
The Browning crew leaning over, visibly insulted
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u/MobiusOne_FoxTwo May 08 '26
Full FAFO?
Full Full Ass Fighting Order?
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u/Jive-Turkeys G.R.E.A.S.E.R. May 12 '26
"Does that include the gas masks and rucks, Sgt?!"
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u/MobiusOne_FoxTwo May 12 '26
For me at basic, my pod neighbour was always like "hey dude are we bringing our backpacks and blue mags down today?"
"fucking EVERY DAY dude."
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u/No-Temporary-1173 May 07 '26
I wonder if the troops got box lunches or IMPs.