Warrant Officer Frank Mellish
Warrant Officer Frank Mellish
Warrant Officer Frank Robert Mellish CD, was born in Truro, Nova Scotia on 10 February 1968. He enrolled in the Canadian Forces on 4 January 1989 and, following infantry training joined the First Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment on the 13th of July of that same year. Frank was assigned to the Canadian Airborne Regiment from August 1992 to June 1994. He was a qualified Advanced Reconnaissance Patrolman, Mortarman, Parachutist, and LAV III crew commander.
He was a decorated soldier who had completed six operational tours including deployments to Cyprus, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and to Afghanistan before his latest deployment. Most recently, Frank was serving as a rifle platoon second in command in C Company as part of Operation Archer in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Frank, a long-time auto racing fan and dedicated soldier, was destined for great advancement within the regiment. He was very intelligent, provided exceptional advice to both superiors and subordinates alike. He was a model soldier for all to follow. He was extremely well liked and respected by his men, his peers, and will be deeply missed by all.
Frank is survived by his parents, his loving wife Kendra, and their two sons. He was buried in Summerside, Prince Edward Island.
Personal Statement by Frank Mellish
My name is Warrant Officer Frank Mellish. Son, husband, father, brother, friend, soldier and a "Royal Canadian" and this is my story.
I was born in the small town of Truro, Nova Scotia on February 10th 1968, but I call the greater Summerside area of Prince Edward Island "home". It's been my home since my early childhood, when my Father was posted there with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Prince Edward Island was where I first got my exposure to the military. It was at CFB Summerside where my mother worked as a civilian employee, I was introduced to the Air Cadets. Although I had never heard of the cadets, most of my closest friends from the Boy Scouts were joining as soon as they became old enough, so away I went. The cadet organization had, and still has a grand place in my life.
It was with the Air Cadet Squadron in Summerside, where I met my wife Kendra, herself a daughter of a former cadet. My first son, who now too is in the Air Cadets, was born in Summerside, while my wife was living with her family during my deployment to Somalia. I was thirteen when I joined the Air Cadets. I was 20 when I left the Summerside cadets to join the regular force infantry in 1988.
It was December 1988 in Charlottetown, when I signed the line that sent me around the world. Like everything though, it started small. The first step was to Course 8901 in CFB Cornwallis, the second was onto Basic Infantry at CFB Petawawa. A place I have called "home" as a legal address almost ever since. It has been Petawawa, except for the year in a bit, in London that I have spent this long career.
In July 1989 I was posted to the 1st Battalion (Bn), The Royal Canadian Regiment (1 RCR) located at CFB London. It was with 1 RCR, I would start my world travels. The Bn would take me to the island of Cyprus for my first of many overseas deployments and visits to foreign countries.
The summer of 1990 I married my "Air Cadet Sweetheart", you guessed it, in Summerside with cadets as ushers.
1991 had me back in Petawawa, but this time with the Canadian Airborne Regiment. I would travel to Somalia as part of 3 Commando for my second tour as well as travel the world's extremes. High lights being that of swimming with the sharks off Kenya, to living in a snow cave in the mountains of Norway, to parachuting into Normandy, France for the 50th Anniversary of the "D Day" Invasions.
1 RCR, now located to Petawawa would take me back in 1994 to don the "Blue Beret" again. This trip, I was off to Croatia. This tour, like Somalia, I will forever associate with a birth of a child. My first son being born just days before departing for Somalia, my second son was born just a day after my return home from Croatia.
I have, "been there" and "done that", over the years. Since 1998 I've deployed to Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan. In my time I have been around the world and lived its news headlines. I have been boo-ed and applauded. I have seen death and despair. Seen birth and growth. Lived through horrors and held onto hope. I have witnessed the fall of Communism and the rise of Terrorism.
Regardless of what the future holds, I'll always be proud of what I accomplished and the choices that I've made.
Pro Patria / Airborne!
WO F.R. Mellish
8 Pl, Charles Coy,
1 RCR
December 13, 2005