We regret to advise of the sudden death of Major Doug Whiffin, CD (Ret'd) on 23 August 2010.

Doug was born in Medicine Hat, AB and moved as a young boy with his family to Ottawa in 1940. He graduated from Glebe Collegiate Institute and was accepted at Collège militaire royal Saint-Jean, QC in 1953 and graduated from the Royal Military College in Kingston, ON in 1958.  At college he was very athletic and excelled in football and tennis. After RMC, Doug completed his degree at the University of Toronto before taking his first posting with the Royal Canadian Engineers.

Doug served on the Northwest Highway System from 1961 until 1963 and, after leaving the Regular Army, joined the 6^th Field Engineer Squadron in North Vancouver where he served as Commanding Officer from 1967 until 1970. During his time as CO Doug influenced a generation of future sappers and established long-lasting relationships with American reserve engineer units in Washington State..

Doug worked as Engineer Special Duties for the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE - later BC Rail). The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was a major competitor of the PGE at the time.In an interesting coincidence, the 6^th Field Squadron was involved in the task of demolishing a bridge on the old CPR Kettle Valley railway bridge at Mile 22.7 in the Coquihalla Valley. It required two detonations to bring down the 375-foot long timber bridge that had been built by the CPR in 1948 and abandoned in 1959. Doug later worked for the territorial government of the Northwest Territories as Head of Operations.

A memorial service will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hebert Road, St. Albert, AB on 27 August at 11:00 am.^[ zsp]