VIRTUAL 103 YEAR REMEMBRANCE DAY SERVICE Thursday, November 11, 2021
The Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 59 Moose Jaw 1919-2021
Service Conducted by Padre Rev Doug Sheppard 10:45 10:47
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
NATIONAL ANTHEM Invocation: Padre Rev Doug Sheppard Scripture: Padre Rev Doug Sheppard Message: Padre Rev Doug Sheppard Prayers: Padre Rev Doug Sheppard Last Post: Capt (Ret’d) Rick Elmer CD Moment of Silence - Lament: Piper Michelle Gallagher Rouse: Capt (Ret’d) Rick Elmer CD Act of Remembrance: Padre Rev Doug Sheppard LAYING OF OFFICIAL WREATHS
Widows and children of Veterans - Memorial (Silver) Cross Recipient Government of Canada Government of Saskatchewan City of Moose Jaw Canadian Armed Forces Royal Canadian Mounted Police Veterans of Moose Jaw & District Metis Local 180 on behalf of Indigenious UN NATO Veterans Association CAE BENEDICTION Padre Rev Doug Sheppard ROYAL ANTHEM DEPARTURE OF COLOURS & GUESTS
This year’s service will be broadcast from the Jones Parkview Funeral Home (Limited seating of 150) at www.discovermoosejaw.com and live-streamed on the Moose Jaw Legion’s Facebook page at ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION - Branch 59 Moose Jaw LEGION 2021• PAGE 2 • WWW.MOOSEJAWEXPRESS.COM
103 YEAR REMEMBRANCE DAY SERVICE 1919-2021 The Service will be conducted by PADRE REV DOUG SHEPPARD The Royal Canadian Legion branch 59 will be open at 10:00 am for live viewing of broadcast
ARRIVAL OF COLOURS AND GUESTS 10:45
NATIONAL ANTHEM INVOCATION SCRIPTURE MESSAGE PRAYERS LAST POST MOMENT OF SILENCE ROUSE ACT OF REMEMBRANCE ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION POPPY FUND COLLECTION BENEDICTION ROYAL ANTHEM DEPARTURE OF COLOURS AND GUESTS FOLLOWING ALL CURRENT COVID PROTOCOL GUIDELINES
The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 59 lounge will be open following the service. Lunch will be available. Adults only. PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING THE ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION. We appreciate your support
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Editor's
Note
During these pandemic times, remembering is a gift. Through this oppressive season of 2020-2021, many lives have been lost in the fight against this unforeseen virus that has pervaded our very existence, not altogether different than the many wars Canadians have fought in where lives and limbs were lost, and families torn apart. But at this time of the year, in our annual Remembrance Day magazine, we take time to remember the sacrifices of our war heroes, to remember and thank our veterans, peacekeepers, military and police, and all those who continue to stand against the evils that befall mankind. We also remember and thank those who have given much during our current COVID-19 health battle, the doctors and nurses, paramedics and all health care workers who continue on the front lines of saving lives. The sacrifices have been great. When I consider the fights of the Great War (WWI) and WWII, I remember they were battles for FREEDOM… “As the first pan-European War since Napoleon, 'Great' simply indicated the enormous scale of the conflict, much as we might today talk of a 'great storm' or a 'great flood'. However, the term also had moral connotations. The Allies believed they were fighting against an evil militarism that had taken hold in Germany.” https:// www.google.com/search?q=what+are+the+great+wars&rlz=1C1CHBF_enCA782CA782&oq=what+are+the+great+wars&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i22i30j0i22i30i395.6445j1j7&s ourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 Let us never lose sight of our freedoms that our war heroes fought so hard to preserve. We will always be grateful to them…and we should continue to be vigilant in guarding our freedoms that seem to be gradually eroding. “Lest We Forget…We Will Remember Them.”
TABLE OF
Contents
The Royal Canadian Legion Smaller Remembrance Day Service To Be Held Online This Year Editor's Note Poem "In Flanders Fields" By John Mccrae Battle of Vimy Ridge Produced Four Victoria Cross Recipients Unveiling of Vimy Ridge Monument "Made Deep Impression" on Attendees Legion Lowers Flag to Honour Vimy Ridge Day, Death of Prince Philip Legion Celebrates Poppy's 100th Anniversary as a Remembrance Emblem Defeat in Hong Kong was First Major Loss for Canada During WW11 Museum Acquires Folding Bicycle Used During the Battle of Normandy Despite Reachin 100, Poppy's Importance is just as Relevant Today Canadian Museum Prepares to Honour 80th Anniversary Air Base Honours 21 Airmen Who Died in Estevan Crash in 1946 'Heroes' of Battle of Britian Represented the Best of Canada 'Ordinary Soldier' George Price Honoured with New Plaque Canadian Airman Sgt. James I. Drake He Also Served...A Short Story by George Pratt The First RCAF Aerobatic Demonstration Team Eighty Years Ago, Corvette HMCS Moose Jaw Launched Spitfires Fly Beer Support Operations into France World War Two in the Pacific - Hidden Secrets Mortlach Museum Features Nearly 1,000 Model Planes and Vehicles Eighty Years Ago, Train Kills Two Airmen Air Training Program Made Canada the 'Aerodrome of Democracy' Artist Hopes Updated Legion Mural Inspires Yourth to Better Understand War Amputee Veterans Started 100-Year Legacy Air Force Vet Honoured to Receive Recognition from Federal Gov't Korean War Vet Helped Keep Armoured Vehicles in Fighting Shape Tribute to Veteran Members of the War Amps Mechanic Herman Nuhn Kept Canada's Jet Fighters Flying Saskatchewan an Early Stronghold of Legion Support and Leadership Legion Project Honours 500 Area Residents Who Died in Both World Wars
Joan Ritchie, Editor Moose Jaw Express/MooseJawToday.com LEGION 2021• PAGE 4 • WWW.MOOSEJAWEXPRESS.COM
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14 16 17 18 19 20 22 24 25 26 28 29 30 32 34 36 37 38 39 40 42 44
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. McCrae’s “In Flanders’ Fields” remains to this day one of the most memorable war poems ever written. It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypes salient in the spring of 1915.
HISTORY OF 'IN FLANDERS FIELDS' The most popular and most quoted poems from the war, "In Flanders Fields" was written during WWI by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. On May 3, 1915, McCrae was inspired to write it after presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, who died in the Second Battle of Ypres. According to legend, fellow soldiers retrieved the poem after McCrae, initially dissatisfied with his work, discarded it. "In Flanders Fields" was first published on December 8th, 1915 in a London magazine. On Saturday November 9, 1918, two days before the Armistice, Moina Michael was on duty in the reading room at the YMCA Overseas War Secretaries’ headquarters in New York—a place where U.S. servicemen would often gather with friends and family to say their goodbyes before they went overseas. After reading McCrae’s poem, Moina made a personal pledge to always wear the red poppy of Flanders Fields as a sign of remembrance and for “keeping the faith with all who died.” As a result of its immediate popularity, parts of the poem were used in propaganda efforts and appeals to recruit soldiers and raise money selling war bonds. Its references to the red poppies that grew over the graves of fallen soldiers resulted in the Remembrance poppy becoming one of the world's most recognized memorial symbols for soldiers who have died in conflict. In 1920, Anna Guérin—the French Poppy Lady—attended the national American Legion convention as a representative of France’s YMCA Secretariat. She was inspired by Moina Michael’s idea of the poppy as a memorial flower and felt that the scope of the Memorial Poppy could be expanded to help the needy. She suggested that artificial poppies could be made and sold as a way of raising money for the benefit of orphaned children and others who had suffered greatly as a result of the war. In 1921, Madame Guérin visited Canada and convinced the Great War Veterans Association of Canada (predecessor to the Royal Canadian Legion) to adopt the poppy as a symbol of remembrance in aid of fundraising; which it did on July 5th of that year. The poem and poppy are prominent Remembrance Day symbols throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, particularly in Canada, where "In Flanders Fields" is one of the nation's best-known literary works. Today, the Poppy Campaign continues to be one of the Royal Canadian Legion’s most important programs. The money raised from donations provides direct assistance for Veterans in financial distress, as well as funding for medical equipment, medical research, home services, long term care facilities and many other purposes. Take time this year to remember the sacrifices of those who fought and those who continue to fight for our country’s freedom, on Remembrance Day. Attend the local service held here at Moose Jaw at Mosaic Place, on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour. Please be there well in advance to be seated prior to service time.
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battle of vimy ridge produced four victoria cross recipients, including one moose javian by Jeffery Hawke, Moose Jaw
Canadian soldiers overcame impossible odds and the chaos of battle to capture the seemingly impregnable Vimy Ridge in 1917, with four soldiers — including one Moose Javian — receiving the highest military medal for their efforts. The April 9 to 12 battle was the first time all four Canadian divisions — composed of 100,000 men — fought together during the First World War, while it was also the first time that they fought under a Canadian leader — General Sir Arthur Currie. While the British and French had bled themselves dry attempting to capture the strongpoint, with a new strategy and newfound drive, the Canadians overcame the strongest German defences in northwest France and succeeded in their mission — with almost all objectives achieved during the first day. Four Canadians were awarded the Victoria Cross — the highest military medal that the British Empire awarded — for their courage and bravery. These men included Pte. William Johnstone Milne, Lance-Sgt. Ellis Sifton, Pte. John Pattison and Capt. Thain MacDowell. Moose Jaw connection Milne was born in Cambusnethan, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1892, and moved to Canada
Pte. William Johnstone Milne.
with his family in 1910. He worked on a farm near Mortlach before enlisting in Moose Jaw in 1915. He was assigned to the 46th Battalion before being transferred to the depleted 16th Battalion. Early on April 9, German machine-gun fire checked the advance of Milne’s company. Crawling on his hands and knees, he managed to reach the gun, kill the crew, and
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capture the gun. Milne, 24, later repeated this action against a second enemy machine-gun crew but was killed shortly afterwards. Milne’s body was not recovered from the battlefield. He is commemorated on the Vimy Ridge Memorial in France. According to a McLean’s magazine article from Feb. 15, 1929, “The front of the 16th Battalion was swept by a leaden belt and the Highlanders dropped. Many casualties were suffered from a machine gun that was being industriously served by a resolute crew. Private Milne spotted the emplacement, and, on his hands and knees, he worked his way toward it. “A bag of bombs was slung over his shoulder. The fire was low, bullets almost ricocheting off the ground, which forced Milne to hug the mud. By some saving grace he was untouched. He got within measurable distance of the emplacement and leaped to his feet. Into the middle of the machine-gun crew, he hurtled his bombs, following these up by rushing the gun itself. “This menace removed, his comrades dashed on to their first objective and continued to the next—the famous ‘Zwischen Stellung’ (Intermediate Position). “The front of the Highlanders was raked by a vicious fire, which came with particular ferocity from an old haystack directly in the line of advance. Milne’s tactics, having proved successful in the first instance, he elected to repeat them. Again crawling forward, he discovered the haystack to be a concealment for a concrete emplacement, behind which a group of gunners were exacting heavy toll. “Milne’s first missile knocked the gun out of commission. Taking advantage of the consternation among the crew, the gallant Highlander rushed the position and forced the surrender of the enemy. Of him, the (Victoria Cross) citation says: ‘His wonderful
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Victoria Cross, the highest military medal awarded in Canada and the British Commonwealth.
bravery and resource on these two occasions undoubtedly saved the lives of many of his comrades.’ “Private Milne was killed shortly after capturing the second gun.” A heritage site in Moose Jaw is dedicated to Milne’s heroics. William Milne Place is located at the Old Fire Hall at 136 Fairford Street West, where a plaque honours his actions during the battle. Other VC winners Besides Milne, the three other Vimy Ridge Victoria Cross recipients met different fates during and after the battle. Sifton — whose actions mirrored those of Milne — was killed during the attack, Pattison died during an attack on Lens, France on June 3, 1917, while MacDowell survived the battle and later died in Brockville, Ont., on March 29, 1960.
unveiling of vimy ridge monument ‘made deep impression’ on attendees by Jason G. Antonio, Moose Jaw Express
Nearly 100,000 gathered on Vimy Ridge on July 26, 1936 for the unveiling of a monument dedicated to Canada’s efforts to capture the ridge and the men who died fighting for it. Photo courtesy Valour Canada
Canada’s victory during the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917 generated great praise for the young country, while the unveiling in 1936 of a monument dedicated to that battle created just as much enthusiasm. More than 3,400 Canadian veterans — along with 1,600 other citizens — left Canada by ship in June for the unveiling on July 26. According to the Moose Jaw Times-Herald, this large contingent landed in England before debarking for Le Havre, France and Antwerp, Belgium, where numerous French and Canadian dignitaries were expected to be present. Civic dignitaries and representatives of the French war wounded and war veterans of the Le Havre region greeted the Canadian veterans once they arrived at the City of Ypres by rail. Five trains were needed to transport the Canucks to the monument, which honoured those men who fought — and died — during the battle of April 9 to 12, 1917. King Edward VIII helped unveil the monument, the first time he had left England after ascending to the throne on Jan. 20, 1936. Besides the 6,000 Canadians, 100,000 people
King Edward VIII (second row, first right) helped unveil the Vimy Ridge monument, one of his first acts as king after ascending to the throne in January 1936. Photo courtesy Wiki Commons
also were on hand to see the new monument. Before the group arrived at Ypres, though, many members stopped in Lille to lay wreaths at memorials in memory of France’s wartime dead. These dignitaries included Brig. Gen. Alex Ross, president of the Canadian Legion and a Yorkton resident, and members of the Legion colour party. In an article from July 27, 1936, the Canadian Press wrote, “Alone on the crest of Vimy Ridge two pylons breast the sky with heroic symmetry. Alone, except for the sleeping thousands buried in these plains in whose honor the symbol in stone was reared … . “King and commoner and veteran came yesterday to a rendezvous and dedication of Canada’s memorial to the youth, dead in war, of her last generation.” King Edward VIII unveiled the monument; French President Albert Lebrun spoke;
a message from Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King was read; two Canadian ministers addressed the thronged thousands; and three wartime chaplains prayed for peace. Many war widows were also present, including those of General Sir Arthur Currie, one of Canada’s most well-known battlefield commanders, and General Sir Julian Byng, who commanded the Canadian Corps and later became the country’s 12th governor-general. The unveiling “made a deep impression in France,” the Canadian Press wrote on July 27. French post offices sold a special Vimy stamp that sold rapidly; movie theatres on Paris’ Grand Boulevards featured pictures of the ceremony; and Paris newspapers gave frontpage coverage to the event. Albert Petit wrote in the Journal des Debats: “Canadians died not for their own country, which was not menaced, but … for the common country of all men of peace and good will. Vimy Ridge is one of those spiritual summits of a better world whereof the dead who lie there had the conviction they were preparing the magnificent advent.” Even the New York Herald Tribune paid tribute to the massive cenotaph, saying the ceremony “must have stirred American hearts only in less degree than it did Canadians.” Nineteen years after the bloody victory, “none of us who remembers the day and the circumstances will forget its galvanic effect on the nation which had just resolved to share its fortunes with the allies … ,” the article said. “And so, ‘in a spirit of thankfulness for their example, of reverence for their devotion and of pride in their comradeship,’ to cite King Edward’s eloquence, we salute the memorial to Canada’s dead.” On July 30, many Vimy veterans, Canadian government officials and Scottish dignitaries travelled to Dryburgh, Scotland, to
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Charlotte Wood of Winnipeg was the first Silver Cross Mother of Canada and laid a wreath at the unveiling of the Vimy Memorial in 1936. Seven of her sons and stepsons had enlisted — two were killed in action, including one at Vimy Ridge. Photo courtesy National Archives of Canada
pay tribute to former Field Marshal Douglas Haig, who commanded the British Expeditionary Force — under which the Canadians fought — from 1915 to 1918. A wreath of poppies and Canadian maple leaves were deposited on the soldier’s cross that marked the tomb of Haig. Men admired Haig for many reasons, including the fact his creed had been simple “but great in its simplicity and in its implicit faith in the power of divine help,” Presbyterian minister Rev. John Kelman said during the service. “Equally strong was his conviction ‘that the battle was not his, but God’s.’” Kelman also praised Haig’s post-war efforts to unify veterans of the British Empire. The creation of the Canadian Legion in 1926 was one outcome of his efforts. A delegation of 50 Vimy pilgrims, led by Yorkton’s Ross, later travelled to Essex, England on July 30 to pay homage to Byng, under whose leadership they conquered Vimy.
legion lowers flag to honour vimy ridge day, death of prince philip by Jason G. Antonio, Moose Jaw Express
Moose Jaw’s Royal Canadian Legion Branch 59 lowered its flag to half-staff this year to honour the 104th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the death of Prince Philip. This is the fourth year in a row that legions all across Canada have lowered their flags to honour the important event, which took place April 9 to 12, 1917 and involved 100,000 Canadians fighting all together for the first time in the First World War. “On the morning of April 9, 1917, soldiers from all four divisions of the Canadian Corps stormed the ridge in France for four days of brutal battle against the German forces,” the legion’s Dominion Command tweeted. “The capture of Vimy was a defining moment for Canada, but it came at a great cost. Almost 3,600 Canadian soldiers lost their lives and over seven thousand were wounded. “Join us as we honour and remember those who served and sacrificed on this Vimy Ridge Day. #CanadaRemembers.” Of the battalions that fought at Vimy Ridge, four were from Saskatchewan: the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles, the 5th Battalion, the 28th Battalion and the 46th Battalion. Over subsequent years, the first two have evolved into the North Saskatchewan Regiment (based in Saskatoon); the 28th into the
Moose Jaw's legion branch 59 has lowered its flag to honour the 104th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the recent death of Prince Philip. Photo by Jason G. Antonio
Royal Regina Rifles; and the 46th into the Saskatchewan Dragoons (based in Moose Jaw). According to the book For All We Have and Are: Regina and the Experience of the Great War, by retired history professor James Pitsula, “The battle marked a transformation in Canada’s understanding of itself. The country was still British, but not as British as it had been before the war. The soldiers sensed this. “They had come from all parts of Canada and had enlisted for various and diverse reasons … But, when they journeyed overseas and fought together as the Canadian Corps, something unusual and unexpected happened. They discovered who they were, and in so doing helped other Canadians discover who they were too.”
Prince Philip died on April 9th at age 99. Photo by AP
Prince Philip This year, the legion also lowered its flag to honour the death of Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, Canada’s head of state. Philip, 99, had been the Queen’s husband for 73 years and was the longest-serving royal consort in British history. The Duke of Edinburgh was born on June 10, 1921, on the island of Corfu near Greece. He later joined the Royal Naval College in 1939 and served in the Royal Navy during the
Second World War. Philip and the Queen married on Nov. 20, 1947, in Westminster Abbey. Six kings and seven queens attended the ceremony. He eventually said farewell to his naval career in July 1951, describing his days as commander of the frigate Magpie as the “happiest days of my sailor life.” The prince and the Queen toured Canada many times over seven decades, including Moose Jaw several times.
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legion celebrates poppy’s 100th anniversary as a remembrance emblem
The poppy remembrance pin that the legion sold this year to honour the flower's 100th anniversary. Photo courtesy Royal Canadian Legion
Inspired by Lt.-Col. John McCrae’s famous poem In Flanders Fields, France’s “poppy lady” Madame Anna Guérin approached Canada’s Great War Veterans Association and suggested it adopt the poppy to help veterans financially. The association thought this was a great way to support veterans and remember those men who had died fighting in the First World War. So, on July 6, 1921, the association — which unified in 1925 with other veterans’ groups to form the Canadian Legion — adopted the poppy as a flower of remembrance. Since then, the legion, its branches, and its members have worked to uphold this tradition of remembrance and use the poppy to honour the country’s fallen military personnel and recognize veterans of all ages today. While the poppy’s centennial celebration quietly began at the beginning of this year, the Royal Canadian Legion officially recognized the flower’s anniversary on July 6, 2021, with announcements across the country and many government and
civilian organizations lighting up buildings and statues in red. In Moose Jaw, Tourism Moose Jaw lit up Mac the Moose in red while the legion building on High Street West was bathed in crimson. “There’s not many things that you can have that have been around for 100 years,” Legion president Roy LaBuick said. “To have something like this, back in 1921, thought of as our flower of remembrance — and it’s still going strong after 100 years — that showed a lot of vision for those veterans that decided on this … . I don’t see any reason why it can’t be another 100 years and then some.” LaBuick thought the poppy was one of the most recognizable emblems and held just as much importance as the national flag. The poppy is important since it helps Canadians remember everyone who has served, those who gave their lives, and those veterans alive today, he continued. The poppy is also a reminder that Canadians should engage in remembrance all
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year-round instead of just November. To help civilians celebrate the poppy’s 100th birthday, the Legion sold a limited-edition pin that is reminiscent of the first Remembrance poppy distributed after the First World War. Assembled in Canada, this commemorative pin is roughly 2.5 inches long and sells for $9.95. Moose Jaw’s legion Branch No. 59 looked at how it can celebrate the poppy for the entire year, said LaBuick. The poppy committee brought back a veterans’ lunch to honour those individuals who have served, while the organization is preparing to hold a full Remembrance Day service that would incorporate the poppy in a larger way. LaBuick has appreciated the support the community has given to honour the poppy. He appreciated Tourism Moose Jaw lighting up Mac the Moose in red, while he was equally thrilled with the support that the City of Moose Jaw has provided. As for everyday civilians, the legion president thought they should attempt to remember veterans’ sacrifices regularly. “We may not know what it’s like to serve our country as civilians, but it’s always nice to learn from our veterans,” LaBuick said. “(This includes) what they can teach us, what they’re willing to teach us, some of the things they’ve done, some of the places they’ve gone, and the jobs they can do.” Civilians may not ever experience being away from their families for six months as military personnel sometimes do, but they can attempt to understand better the challenges veterans face to show solidarity, LaBuick added. He did not serve but joined the legion to serve veterans that way — an action that residents should consider doing as well. Visit www.legion.ca/remembrance/poppy-100-anniversary for more information.
defeat in hong kong was first major loss for canada during wwii by Jason G. Antonio, Moose Jaw Express
It was an unhappy new year for hundreds of Canadian troops in January 1942, after they became prisoners of war following a month-long battle against the Imperial Japanese Army in Hong Kong. A contingent of 1,975 Canadian soldiers had been sent to the British colony in November 1941 to join 14,000 other British and Indian troops expecting guard duty. However, that “guard duty” was shattered when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7 and kicked off the Second World War in the Pacific. From Dec. 8 to 25, the Canadian soldiers fought bravely against the overwhelming power of the invading Japanese force. When the British colony surrendered on Christmas Day following the destruction of the island’s water supply, 290 Canadians had been killed and another 264 would die during the next four years amid the inhumane conditions in prisoner-of-war (POW) camps. According to an article in the Dec. 27, 1941 issue of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald, eight men were from Saskatchewan, including Lt. Richard Maze from Assiniboia, Pte. Harry Gyselman from Moose Jaw, Cpl. William Albert Hall from Expanse, Sask., near Mossbank, Pte. Leo W. Miller from Moose Jaw, Pte. Wilfred Samuel Moore from Elbow, Pte. Frank Neufield from Rush Lake near Swift Current, Pte. Cornelius Nickel from Herbert near Swift Current, and Pte. Ernest Buck from Gravelbourg. Buck, Nickel, Neufield, Miller, Hall, Gyselman, and Maze all survived; Moore died of diphtheria in October 1942 and is buried in the Sai Wan War Cemetery. Troops receive ‘warm reception’ The two million-strong Chinese population of Hong Kong was surprised to see the 1,975 Canadian soldiers sail into that city’s harbour on Nov. 17, 1941, but greeted the
Ernest Buck, Harry Gyselman, William Albert Hall, Richard Maze and Leo W. Miller were some soldiers from Saskatchewan who fought at the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941 and became prisoners of war afterward. Photos courtesy Hong Kong Veterans Commemoration Assocaition
men jubilantly as news of the landing spread, an article said. “We are ready for anything that might occur,” commanding officer Brig. J.K. Lawson
told the Canadian Press. Some troops had been overseas once before during the war, but — aside from some First World War vets who had served in Vladivostok, Russia — this was
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the first time Canadians had been in Asia. Hong Kong was considered the second-most important British naval base in the Far East, after Singapore. In announcing the arrival of the Canadians at Hong Kong, Prime Minister Mackenzie King said, “Defence against aggression, actual or threatened, in any part of the world is today a part of the defence of every country which still enjoys freedom.” Defence plan holds up When Japan struck Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, it was Dec. 8 in Hong Kong. Japanese planes struck the British colony twice, but anti-air fire brought down one plane and scattered eight others. “Canadian troops are in fine fettle,”
A map shows how the Battle of Hong Kong played out in December 1941. Photo courtesy The Memory Project
declared a military communiqué on Dec. 9, as artillery brought to a halt Japanese troops attempting an invasion of “this British citadel of defence.” Meanwhile, Allied troops had ambushed and “practically annihilated” some enemy troops on the west coast of the mainland. “On one occasion … a Japanese scout was observed to be signaling from what he apparently took to be a natural mound,” the communiqué added. “In reality, it was one of our concealed mines, which was immediately touched off. The signaler vanished.” Heavy fighting “Fighting Heavy at Hong Kong,” a headline said on Dec. 15. The Japanese had pounded Hong Kong for two days straight by land and air, which forced the Allies on the Kowloon peninsula — the crown colony’s mainland section — to fall back to defend Hong Kong island, the article said. “British lack of naval superiority has changed the entire situation in northern Malaya,” a Times-Herald article said. “The Brit-
ish land defence was planned on the basis of naval superiority, but both the British and United States fleets have suffered hard blows. Now the naval situation has allowed the Japanese to develop an offensive on a large scale. There definitely is danger … .” A serious situation The position in Hong Kong had deteriorated by Dec. 19, after the colonial office lost contact with the colony early that morning. The only update was from a BBC broadcast, which said that “Hong Kong and its gallant defenders — British, Canadian and Indian — are now grappling with a resolute invader in the heart of the island … And it is frankly admitted that the position is very serious.” A Singapore broadcast from Dec. 22 said the defences were still holding, but a Times-Herald article noted that while the weary Canadians, British and Indians were putting up resistance, there was “no hope” that the colony could be saved. Even a broadcast from Tokyo noted the conquest was virtually complete.
Canadian troops en route to Hong Kong in November 1941. Photo courtesy Library and Archives Canada
Heavy Canadian casualties The Canadian government acknowledged on Dec. 23 that there were heavy casualties, with commanding officer Brig. Lawson and his senior staff officer, Col. Patrick Hennesey, killed in the fighting. The British embassy, meanwhile, announced it had spoken with the defenders at mid-day and they were “still fighting valiantly” in surrounding hills. Yet, the battle was basically over. ‘Heroic Battle’ finished “Heroic Battle Against Great Odds is End-
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ed,” a headline blared on Dec. 27, after island defences had broken under assault by land, sea and air. Without a suitable water source, Allied commanders had surrendered on Dec. 25. An editorial in the Times-Herald noted that while the news was tragic, there would be “lasting satisfaction” in all Canadian homes that the sons of Canada, alongside their defenders, had “brought honor to their arms.”
museum acquires folding bicycle used during the battle of normandy in 1944 by Jason G. Antonio, Moose Jaw Express
Marie-Claude Halot with the bicycle that was given to her father by a Canadian soldier who landed at Juno Beach in Normandy on D-Day. Photo courtesy Juno Beach Centre
A Canadian museum in Normandy, France, has acquired a 77-year-old folding bike that a Canadian soldier used after landing on Juno Beach during D-Day on June 6, 1944. Normandy residents Marie-Claude Halot and Joëlle Letellier contacted the Juno Beach Centre (JBC) on Dec. 24, 2020, with the news
that their recently deceased father, Christian Costil, wanted the bike donated to “the Canadian museum” after his death. Costil died last November, so his daughters were determined to fulfill their promise to ensure the bike reached the JBC. The sought-after airborne folding bicycle was given to Canadian soldier Marius Aubé,
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who used it during the initial months of the Battle of Normandy before later giving it to the Costil family for safekeeping. The Juno Beach Centre announced earlier this year that it had acquired the bike. “What’s so incredible about this artifact is that it’s so iconic,” said Marie Eve Vaillancourt, JBC manager of exhibitions. “For many, the historical photos of Canadian soldiers landing at Juno Beach with these bikes are very familiar. “For over 75 years, this bike was only a few doors away from our museum, kept by a diligent family who lovingly cares for it out of respect and gratitude for what the Canadians accomplished for the French back in 1944. “It’s a very special moment when such (a) symbolic object leaves the hands of its initial caretaker, passes through the family’s generations, and finally arrives at our doorstep,” she added. Canadian and British soldiers used the bicycles, including the airborne folding model, after landing in Normandy on D-Day. They were assigned to airborne units and provided to infantry or service units, allowing soldiers to travel greater distances while remaining silent and undetectable by the enemy. Costil’s family delivered the artifact to JBC director Nathalie Worthington, whose family was liberated by Canadian forces in 1944. Halot and Letellier shared the bike’s history with Worthington, including how it became an integral part of their father’s life decades ago. A friendship begins Costil was 14 years old and living in Ranville, Normandy, when he met Aubé in the summer of 1944. Aubé, from Sherbrooke, Que., had landed at Graye-sur-Mer on D-Day and spent the summer serving with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps near Costil’s family farm as the Battle of Normandy raged.
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Aubé befriended Costil, often visiting the farm. When his regiment pushed into Germany during the final year of the Second World War, Aubé offered Costil his folding bicycle as a parting gift. Thus began a 40-year friendship between the two young men. Costil kept the bike for 76 years. His daughters explained that he used it daily to commute to college in nearby Bayeux. After working on the family farm until he was 28, Costil later worked for a major French energy company as a meter reader. He removed the backseat of his Citroën 2CV car to make space for his folding bicycle to accompany him to each community. Costil rode the bike while making his rounds from house to house, reading meters until he retired in 1985. He then carefully stored the bike but couldn’t part with it during his life. “My dad had an almost otherworldly love for this bike,” said Halot. “We weren’t allowed to touch it. But he was very modest and rarely spoke of Marius.” Aubé and Costil established a lengthy correspondence, prompted by Aubé, who sent his first letter to Costil in 1945 when he was stationed in Germany. During their lives, they kept in touch, with Aubé often closing his letters by signing, “From a friend who will never forget you.” Aubé died in 1988 and is buried in the veteran section of St. Michel Cemetery in Sherbrooke. Promoting the past “We have acquired a lot more than just a famous bike from historical photos; we have also acquired the human story behind the object,” said Vaillancourt. “And we’ve acquired a little bit of just how enduring the friendships that were forged in fire decades ago remain.” It is now the Juno Beach Centre’s honour and duty to relay the bike’s significance to
Canadian soldier Marius Aubé poses for a picture during the Second World War. Photo courtesy Juno Beach Centre
future generations, she continued. While the history of material from the Second World War will become more difficult to find in years to come, it will be even more difficult to secure objects “that have not been rendered anonymous by the passing of time.” Besides the bike, Costil’s daughters also donated seven letters between their father and Aubé to the JBC. This allowed the museum to track down the latter’s brother, Gilles, who filled in some details about the Canadian soldier’s life after the war. A family connection The Aubé family adopted Gilles in 1945 because the family’s mother declared that she would adopt a child if Marius returned safely from the war. Gilles never knew his brother well based on age difference but remembered him as a “branchless bird” who lived an independent life and had no children. The veteran returned to Normandy at least twice after the war, but he and Costil never again met in person due to circumstances.
An unexpected new friendship, however, has blossomed due to this donation. Costil’s daughters are now in touch with Marius’ niece, Nadia Aubé, continuing the international connection forged more than seven decades ago. “Dad would have been happy to see (the bike) here,” Halot said. “It’s a little story within a big one. Because behind war, behind weapons, there are also stories of friendship.” Updated visitor information, including pandemic-related changes, for Canadians in Europe or planning a trip to the continent is available at www.junobeach.org, along with a wide variety of Second World War resources for the public, educators, and students. The JBC marked the 77th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, 2021. A picture of 14-year-old Christian Costil, a French boy who befriended Canadian soldier Marius Aubé during the Second World War and who later received the soldier’s folding bicycle. Photo courtesy Juno Beach Centre
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despite reaching 100, poppy's importance is just as relevant today
Don MacDonald gave a history of the Poppy as a symbol of remembrance and how although a Canadian wrote it initially it was an American symbol of Remembrance and grew from there - MJ Independent photo
The Poppy as an emblem of remembrance and a means to help veterans turns 100 this year but the message and hope it contains is just as relevant today as it was at its inception. That is the message which was conveyed on October 2nd at the 2021 Veterans Luncheon held at the Moose Jaw Legion and put on by the local Poppy Fund. The annual luncheon is put on to recognize those who have served Canada in the military as well as the RCMP. Sue Knox, secretary-treasurer of the local Poppy Fund, said the Poppy’s first and foremost role is one of remembrance but it also entails a means of assisting those veterans who face disability, hardship and need help after returning from military service to Canada.
Table For The Fallen Soldier - MJ Independent photo
Some of those in attendance for the luncheon - MJ Independent photo
“All of the Poppy money goes to serve veterans in need,” Knox said in an interview with MJ Independent. “The money people and businesses donate helps veterans in many ways. It helps veterans who are homeless to find a place to live, food and other things. It helps families of veterans in need of desperate help to get by,” she said. “The Poppy has since its inception been used for this.” In his speech to those in attendance, Don MacDonald gave a detailed history of the Poppy. From its roots in the icon poem of surgeon Lieutenant Colonel John McCrea the Poppy grew first as an American symbol and then in France and followed by England and the rest of the Allied countries including Canada. McCrea’s poem was written in a break of his work as a surgeon treating the wounded in the Second Battle of Ypres in
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1915. “In Flanders’ Fields” was in memory of his good friend, Lieutenant Alex Helmer who had died earlier that day. The poem would go on to become well known during World War I and after the war grow into a symbol of remembrance of the sacrifices of veterans with it used to raise funds throughout Allied countries to assist veterans and their families who needed the help, MacDonald said. Knox said despite it being 100 years, since the Canadian Legion got on board with the Poppy as a symbol that the need for it as a symbol of Remembrance is just as relevant today. Programs such as Leave the Streets Behind is funded by the Poppy campaign and is used to get homeless vets off of the streets. There are scholarships provided to each of the four high schools through the Poppy fund.
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“We also help families of veterans in desperate need of help,” she said. The program of Legion members going out to visit veterans in nursing homes and in hospitals, which has been in existence for decades in Moose Jaw, continues after being disrupted by COVID - 19 pandemic restrictions at health care facilities. The program takes small items such as chocolate bars, magazines and gum to veterans whose health is failing in these institutions and includes talk and a visit to let them know they are not forgotten, Knox said. “Once a week we go out and provide little comforts (the funds come from the Poppy Fund).” The number of military veterans might be decreasing but the need of veterans from more recent conflicts Canada has been involved in is still there with the problems more complex than in earlier conflicts like WW II and Korea. “There are many experiencing mental health issues…we support them by providing funds.” “There are less veterans now but there are more younger veterans with more problems. There are many in distress,” Knox said. “They come right to us and they have service.” The Poppy Funds from today also go to groups such as The Wounded Warriors group who hold a biannual retreat from those experiencing mental health problems something
in the past referred to as “shell shock.” Another major service the Poppy Fund provides locally is helping sick veterans get to medical appointments with specialists in Regina. “That is used quite heavily with appointments for care and cancer specialists,” Knox said. The past year, due to the pandemic, it was a bit difficult to find volunteers to help with the Poppy drive but the people and businesses who did step up helped the local Poppy Fund raise the $50,000 the fund brings in on an annual basis. “We haven’t run out of money yet, we have some money in reserves…money to help cover a major emergency.” The luncheon also featured a ceremony of a Table Set For One to remember those who had fallen and could not be in attendance. “Let us remember and never forget their sacrifice. May they and their families be ever remembered,” was stated in the ceremony.
Remembering those who fought for our freedom
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canadian museum prepares to honour 80th anniversary of costly second world war battle by Jason G. Antonio, Moose Jaw Express
The aftermath of the Dieppe Raid, which involved nearly 5,000 Canadian soldiers. Photo courtesy Ottawa Citizen The Juno Beach Centre is preparing to offer an exhibition in 2022 that honours the 80th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid. Photo courtesy Juno Beach Centre
Starting in March of 2022, the Juno Beach Centre in Normandy, France, is gearing up to honour the 80th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid, an ill-fated Second World War battle that involved thousands of Canadians. The Allies raided the French coastal port on Aug. 19, 1942. The attack involved 4,963 Canucks and 1,000 British and American troops and was the Canadian Army’s first major combat against Germany during the war. However, after nearly 10 hours of fighting, two-thirds of the Canadian forces were dead, wounded or captured; 907 Canadian men were killed or died of wounds, 2,460 were wounded, and 1,946 were taken prisoner. That’s more prisoners than the Canadian Army lost in 11 months of fighting during the Northwest Europe campaign of 1944-1945. Fewer than half the Canadians who departed for Dieppe made it back to England. Almost 600 were buried in the Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery in Hautot-sur-Mer, France. To honour this raid, the Juno Beach Centre is working with the War Heritage Institute (WHI) in Brussels, Belgium, to produce the temporary exhibition entitled From Dieppe to Juno: The 80th Anniversary of the Dieppe Raid. The exhibition will open on March 12, 2022, in Courseulles-surMer, one of the first French communities Canadians liberated during the 1944 D-Day invasion of Normandy.
“This exhibition will present just how deep the imprint of the Dieppe Raid is in Canadian collective memory of the Second World War,” said Marie Eve Vaillancourt, director of exhibitions for the Juno Beach Centre. “It is an exhibition about trauma but also about healing and the many ripple effects of the raid since that day in August 1942. It is an exhibition about why Dieppe will always occupy such a large place in our understanding of Canada's Second World War experience.” From Dieppe to Juno will feature artifacts and testimonies from people who participated in or were affected by the raid. Visitors will be thrust into the tense context of 1942, the height of the Nazi regime’s powerful grip over Europe. Highlights will include almost 30 items from WHI exclusively for the exhibition. The legacy of the raid extends beyond borders and time. In re-telling the story, the JBC and WHI will explore the effects of that legacy through witnesses’ experiences. “We want to give more space to voices heard less often: mothers, wives, citizens of Dieppe, and the prisoners of war, for instance,” said Vaillancourt. “We want to immerse our visitors into the events of this one particular day in history but also allow them to gain a sense of why Dieppe means so much to Canadians in the present day.” The Dieppe Raid remains one of the most identifiable events in Canadian war history and for decades occupied a greater place in collective memory than D-Day. However, it was not until recent years that Juno Beach caught up with LEGION 2021• PAGE 16 • WWW.MOOSEJAWEXPRESS.COM
Soldiers who took part in Operation Jubilee, the raid on Dieppe, disembarking from a Royal Navy destroyer in England, Aug. 19, 1942. Photo courtesy Library and Archives Canada
Dieppe in importance. This new exhibition will also explore how the mythology linking the horror at Dieppe to the success of the Canadians on D-Day has evolved over time. “Discussing a disaster in contrast with a victory such as Juno Beach on D-Day is a huge challenge,” said Vaillancourt. “It’s often easy to make shortcuts between Dieppe and Juno; that the disaster helped save lives on D-Day. In this exhibition, we try to debunk some of these claims and better explain how and why such conclusions have often been hastily drawn over the years.” Long remembered as a tragic failure, the story of Dieppe is complex and nuanced. Historians have studied it intensely and scholars and hobbyists alike have debated it often. For visitors learning about the topic for the first time, From Dieppe to Juno will provide an accessible, factual overview of the planning, the raid itself, and aftermath. For more knowledgeable visitors, the exhibition will also delve into facets of the raid not often explored. This will be the JBC’s first new exhibition since the pandemic closed the museum’s doors for most of 2020. With several major war commemorations on the horizon, JBC staff are looking forward to giving visitors another chance to remember the 1.1 million Canadians who served in the Second World War. More information about From Dieppe to Juno is available at junobeach.org.
air base honours 21 airmen who died in estevan crash in 1946 by Jason G. Antonio, Moose Jaw Express
15 Wing Air Base personnel hold a picture of the wood sculpture in Estevan that honours the 21 airmen who died in a crash in 1946. Photo courtesy Facebook
15 Wing Air Base has honoured the memory of 21 airmen from the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) who died in a crash in 1946 while flying from Minot, N.D. to Estevan. A small group gathered on Sept. 15, 2021 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the incident, which killed 20 RCAF pilots and one ground crewman after their Dakota transport plane crashed at the site of the former 38 Service Flying Training School just outside Estevan. It was the second-worst accident in RCAF history, the loss of life exceeded only by the crash of a Liberator bomber on Oct. 19, 1943, into a mountain north of Montreal, which killed 24 airmen. Investigators later determined that the cause of the 1946 crash was because groundcrew likely failed to remove elevator locks from the Dakota before it left the airport in Minot.
15 Wing Air Base personnel hold a picture of the wood sculpture in Estevan that honours the 21 airmen who died in a crash in 1946. Photo courtesy Saskatchewan author Marie Donais Calder (left) and other dignitaries pose for a picture after the ceremony. Calder wrote a book about the 21 airmen who died in the crash. Photo courtesy Facebook
An article in the Regina Leader-Post on Sept. 17, 1946, quoted Estevan-area farmer Jake Flower, who saw the crash, confirming that the Dakota came in low “and suddenly it shot almost straight up, stalled, spun around once and crashed to the ground … it exploded with a loud roar.” Meanwhile, former air force historian Hugh Halliday found microfilm at Library and Archives Canada that included the accident investigation report, which confirmed what Flower saw. The report noted that the airplane attempted a landing at the Estevan airport at 10:15 a.m. but levelled out and commenced a climb. After climbing roughly 100 feet, the aircraft levelled out again momentarily and then climbed again with the wheels retract-
ing. “The second climb was very steep and was maintained until the aircraft stalled, dropped the port wing, and dove vertically into the ground and exploded on impact … ,” the report added. “It was speculated that the pilot knew the condition of his elevator almost immediately after takeoff but maintained control through the use of trim tabs and elected to continue to Estevan, to effect a landing with a slightly reduced fuel load.” The Sept. 15 ceremony was entitled “Together Forever In the Clouds,” named after the non-fiction book that Saskatchewan author Marie Donais Calder wrote about the crash and that she released this July. Calder is known for penning a 25-book series called “Other Side Series,” which chronicles her father’s time with the Canadian Army in Germany after the Second World War. The event also recognized a sculpture entitled “Forever in the Clouds” that Estevan chainsaw artist Darren Jones created out of a 500-year-old Douglas fir tree. The sculpture features the faces of all 21 airmen, a Lancaster bomber and a plaque with the men’s names. Calder’s latest book shares information about the squadron of which the plane crash victims were apart and then details the accident. There are also pictures of the crash site and the mass funeral. There is a chapter for each of the men who died, with tributes from family and photos. “It took years to find … members of all of the families, but we did accomplish that,” Calder told SaskToday.com. “Because of that, I was able to really tap into their memories, and this is what I was hoping for, I was hoping to write about … but I wanted to present them as the people they were, and not just a rank and a number.” Military documents, pictures and other sorts of data are also in the book. In addition,
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The cover of Marie Donais Calder's book about the 1946 Estevan crash. Photo courtesy Facebook
siblings of the men aboard the flight and children of the victims provided some necessary information. Finally, there are letters from the pilots that Calder included. One was written by a man from Glenbain a week before he died. Another was from someone who wrote to his mother about his experiences on a bombing run. “We get a bird’s eye view, sometimes, of what their lives were like,” said Calder. The cover has photos of the 21 men who died, which Calder believes shows each man as an individual. With files from SaskToday.com and the Regina Canadian Aviation Historical Society.
‘heroes’ of battle of britain represented the best of canada, wing commander says by Jason G. Antonio, Moose Jaw Express
After France fell to the Germans in June 1940 during the Second World War, the Nazis turned their attention to Great Britain and began preparations to invade the island nation. The situation looked grim for the United Kingdom and her allies — including Canada — which prompted British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to assess the upcoming peril. “… the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin … ,” Churchill told the House of Commons on June 18, 1940. “The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war … . “Let us, therefore, brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’” That “finest hour” came quickly, as the Nazi war machine began the first major military campaign of that war fought entirely by air forces. Running from July 10, 1940, to Oct. 31, 1940, the offensive saw Nazi Germany attempt to eliminate the Royal Air Force as a preamble to invading Great Britain. More than 100 Canadians from the Roy-
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Col. Jonathan Bouchard, Wing Commander of 15 Wing Air Base, speaks about the importance of the Battle of Britain. Screenshot from Facebook
al Canadian Air Force (RCAF) participated, with 23 dying during the campaign, including Pilot Officer C.R. Bonseigneur from Gull Lake, Sask. “Winston Churchill’s important words foreshadowed what would become one of the most important battles of the Second World War. With Allied troops pushed off the European continent entirely, only a few hundred fighter pilots stood in the way of Hitler’s massive air attack on England,” said Col. Jonathan Bouchard, Wing Commander of 15 Wing Air Base, during a ceremony on Sept. 19 to honour the 81st anniversary of the battle. “For the first time in history, an entire nation would be protected by air power alone.” The odds appeared insurmountable, while
The Battle of Britain ran from July 10, 1940, to Oct. 31, 1940 and involved 117 Canadian pilots. Of those, 23 died during the fight. Pictured here are a Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane. Photo by Getty Images
the results of the pilots’ failure would be unbearable, he continued. It was up to the UK and its allies to hold off the German invasion. “For many Canadian crewmen, the Battle of Britain was baptism by fire. Of the 2,300 British airmen and the 574 allied pilots … 117 were Canadians,” Bouchard said, noting the RCAF squadron commander — from Rosthern, Sask. — did not think his pilots were ready. During the Battle of Britain, the average life expectancy of an Allied pilot was four weeks. Meanwhile, it didn’t seem as if the Allies could withstand the German onslaught, he continued. Pilots were tiring out from the
continued flying, while the Allies lost flyers faster than they could replace them. However, the Germans switched from bombing airfields to bombing London. This allowed the Allies to regroup and, much to the surprise of the Germans, send out hundreds of new fighter planes to counter the enemy aerial armadas. Two days after the climatic Sept. 15 air battle, Hitler cancelled the planned invasion. “The unsung heroes of the Battle of Britain were the ground support personnel, who constantly exposed themselves to attack by the enemy while struggling to keep the fighters serviceable,” Bouchard said. “These valiant men and women suffered heavy casualties for their effort, but without them, the battle could not have been won. “The heroes of the Battle of Britain represent the very best of what it means to be Canadian … .” 15 Wing Moose Jaw salutes the pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain and celebrates the heritage that these veterans left behind, he added. Society must never forget their efforts. After the Battle of Britain finished, Churchill uttered his now-famous phrase: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
We Will Remember
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'ordinary soldier’ george price honoured with new plaque in crescent park by Jason G. Antonio, Moose Jaw Express
It was a cold and rainy morning in Mons, Belgium, when Pte. George Price led a small patrol of Canadian soldiers through ruined buildings searching for the enemy. Shivering, tired and hungry, Price had survived Canada’s 164-kilometre advance through France and Belgium that started in August 1918 and had almost pushed the Germans out of Northwest Europe. Now the end was in sight — rumours were circulating that the war would end very soon — but Price decided to continue searching for Germans. Leaving protection, the Moose Jaw resident ran toward another building before a shot ran out. A sniper’s bullet hit the 25-yearold in the heart and killed him instantly. It was 10:58 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 11, 1918, the last day of the war — Armistice Day. Two minutes later, at 11 a.m., the bells in Mons rang out to signify that the First World War — the Great War, the War to End All Wars — was over. Born in Nova Scotia in December 1892, Price moved to the Moose Jaw and worked on area farms before enlisting in October 1917. He started with the 210th Battalion and eventually ended up in the 28th Battalion. One-hundred-three years later, on Aug. 26, 2021, Moose Jaw’s veterans and military community gathered in Crescent Park to
Greg Lawrence, MLA for Moose Jaw-Wakamow and provincial military liaison (left), and Roy LaBuick, president of the Friends of the Forces Fellowship, unveil the plaque dedicated to Moose Jaw soldier George Price. Photo by Jason G. Antonio
A close-up of the plaque dedicated to Pte. George Price, the last Allied Commonwealth soldier to die during the First World War. The plaque will be affixed to a rock near the cenotaph in Crescent Park. Photo by Jason G. Antonio
honour Price — the last Allied Commonwealth soldier to die during the war — with the unveiling of a plaque. The Friends of the Forces Fellowship organized the event, which featured speakers from the provincial government, the fellowship, and the Royal Regina Rifles regiment, a unit that perpetuates the 28th Battalion. Also on hand were members of the Legion, the ANAVETS and 15 Wing airbase. Lyle Johnson, chairman of the fellowship’s George Price Memorial sub-committee, worked with members during the last two years to bring the plaque to fruition. He explained that Price has not received enough recognition in the community even though he lived here and fought and died
during the First World War. However, the soldier now has that recognition as the plaque will be affixed to a rock near the cenotaph. While Moose Jaw has few monuments to Price, there are many memorials dedicated to him in Belgium, including bridges, schools, and plaques. There is also a similar plaque near the bridge where he died. “(Price) was killed doing his job. He could have sat down behind a wall, but that wasn’t what he was trained to do. So, he kept going right until the end of the war,” added Johnson. “A loss of a 25-year-old of a man who had a lot of future in our country is a tragedy we have to make sure we recognize.” An interesting footnote is that Price is buried in a cemetery near the first British sol-
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dier killed in the war. Randy Brooks, the honorary colonel of the Royal Regina Rifles, described Price as an “ordinary soldier,” something all soldiers desire so the enemy ignores them. However, Price became extraordinary because he was the last Allied soldier to die in battle. “While other people were hiding in the buildings waiting for the Armistice to commence, he took action,” said Brooks. “Something required him to break cover, so he went to lead his soldiers onto other buildings and unfortunately, that was his last act.” Installing the plaque is important since it recognizes not just Price, but other ordinary soldiers who work hard, he continued. Every soldier within the Rifles regiment has a story, which the organization attempts to record with available information. Rifles members honour Price by wearing “collar dogs” or a unit pin that is similar to what members of the 28th Battalion wore. This helps modern-day soldiers remember the unit’s connection to that battalion. “It’s interesting that the folks overseas in Belgium have never forgotten the actions of Canadian soldiers and they’ve never forgotten George,” Brooks added. “And it’s now up to us back in Canada to make sure that we remember him as well.”
They Liveth Forever
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canadian airman sgt. james i. drake
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he also served...a short story by george pratt Submitted by Jeffery Hawke, Moose Jaw
“ Our kids are being homeschooled and we are learning about the history of our family WW2 and German sub u-190.We are hop-
ing to share the story with elderly people at homes to help with public speaking and to share this cool story about the unconditional
surrender of German sub u-190. The story is a story about my grandpa Jim [Hawke] who passed away October 2019.
Worming into my seat, I was astonished to recognize the singer—a local ‘go-to’ guy known for his genius with marine mechanical problems. I had visited him several times in his little shop near Madeira Park. Totally out of context, here he was, singing in Latin, the Panis Angelicus, the famous St. Thomas Aquinas hymn. This man was born James Edgar Hawke, at Dauphin, Manitoba, an incredible eighty-eight years before— and he had a story to tell.
HE ALSO SERVED . . .
. . . a short story by George Pratt Arriving late at the Suncoast Singers fall concert one evening in 2008, I was greeted by the mellow bass voice of a male soloist emanating from the auditorium. It was far from the black gold of Robert Merril
Just after the outbreak of WW2, Jim’s innate understanding of machinery landed him a job as a powerhouse engineer for Dominion Electric, which later became Saskatchewan Power. But as the war entered its darkest days, particularly on the North Atlantic, where Canadian convoys were being decimated by wolf packs of German submarines, his thoughts turned toward serving his country. So it was that in June of 1942, Jim left his home in Winnipegosis and trekked to Winnipeg to join the Royal Canadian Navy. The very same month, submarine U-190 was launched at Bremen, Germ
“I think it is important to remember how we got here.”
engines. It was candy for Jim Hawke. He remained aboard for a stint of patrol work off Gaspé but before long, his civilian power station experience was recognized and it got him pulled off sea duty to transfer to St. John’s Newfoundland, where an engineer was needed to maintain the dockyard naval base. A dashing naval career in a warship at sea was effectively grounded on the rocks. Resignedly, he accepted his lot, perhaps thinking of the words of the great poet, Milton ‘They also serve who only stand and wait.’ While Jim was marking time at the dockyard, the U-190 was also having a somewhat lacklustre career. By 1945, with the war nearing its end, she had managed to sink only one allied ship, a relatively barren record for the Kriegsmarine. However, with cessation of hostilities imminent, she did up her score by torpedoeing HMCS Esquimalt just off Halifax Harbor, a very sad day for the Canadian Navy. A week later, her orders came to surrender to the Allied Forces and after jettisoning her munitions, U-190 was summarily boarded and escorted in to Bay Bulls, a harbor a few miles west of St. John’s. St. John’s was in a frenzy of celebration with a riot of signals flying off to the fleet to trigger the winding down process from six years of war. Immediately the U-190 arrived in Bay Bulls, new orders came for Jim. They were simple: Head out to Bay Bulls and live aboard the German submarine U-190 while you get it up and running, cleaned and prepared for sea. He could not have been more startled if they had drafted him to Antarctica. He did not know that the Admiralty had already made plans that the U-190 should go on a tour up the St. Lawrence river to be shown off to a war-weary population as a war prize.
any, destined to join the wolf packs making life hell for the convoys in the North Atlantic.
l but it was
rich and altogether pleasant:
Because of his mechanical experience, the RCN immediately sent Jim to Halifax for training in shipborne engineering. His first assignment upon graduation was to head for the wartime shipyard at Penetang, Ontario, to join the crew of newly-built Fairmile 051, a small vessel used for coastal patrol submarine hunting. His particular duty was very agreeable—the care and keeping of the Fairmile’s two 640-HP Holscott
“Panus angelicus, Fit panis hominum; Dat panis coelicus . . . the angelic bread becomes the bread of men . . . “
The Admiralty had cobbled together what was to become the new ship’s company for the U-190—a captain and executive officer and a handful of ratings trained in the technical skills they judged would be required to operate a submarine. Thus, along with several other engineer mechanics, Jim arrived at Bay Bulls and with some trepidation, all headed up the gangway to go aboard. None among them had ever been aboard any submarine, never mind a German one. The vessel was ghostly quiet as they clambered uncertainly below decks and began floundering around in the dark to see what a submarine was all about. Jim’s orders were to get the engines up and running and there was nothing for it but to get started. But start where? In time, the electrical crew got some light on the subject, to reveal a bewildering jungle of valves and gauges and control handles that were incomprehensibly tagged in German; it may as well have been Swahili.
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motor. ‘Of course! That’s it! The main diesels can’t be used while the submarine is submerged, so they drive the boat with the generator—clever! Hmmmmm . . . ‘ After some furtive poking around, one of Jim’s mates discovered a technical manual, notated in German of course, but with typically precise schematic drawings of the control systems. On examination, Jim could readily see that the multi-colored control lines snaking off everywhere about the boat, were tidily matched to the drawings. A picture truly was worth a thousand words—language became redundant. Hydraulics were hydraulics, electrical current was electrical current. Crawling along the control lines with a flashlight and the manual in hand, Jim slowly acquired an understanding of what controlled what. After a few days, the mystery of how to breathe life into submarine U-190 began to unravel. This knowledge in hand, he turned to the main engines, which, enemy-conceived or not, he had to admit were masterpieces of technical excellence—two 9-cylinder MAN diesels of 460 HP each. Jim knew that diesels behaved like diesels whether they are on a Canadian Navy Fairmile 2
Poking around a little more, he was able to discern that the levers right there at hand were a simple dual clutch system that would tie either the main diesels or the electric motor to the drive-shaft.
was fabricating a flexible- shaft polishing outfit for his grand-daughter’s jewellery enterprise.
‘Sooooo . . . hmmm. . . so . . . if I throw that switch and redirect the power back to that generator from those batteries—the generator should then start up like any electric motor . . . yeah, that’s gotta be it . . . and if I then throw this clutch to connect the generator to those main diesels . . . it would crank them over. Bingo!’ Checking for current and fuel was again, an elementary task. Just to be sure he had it all right in advance of pushing any buttons, Jim checked and re-checked all the boat’s systems. It was fortuitous that he did, for he discovered that the lower control valves associated with the ballast tanks did not seem to be in their correct positions. ‘Hmmmm . . . seems to me those valves should be closed . . . .’ Suspicious, he pondered their probable function for a few minutes. Then ‘Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi . . .’ as the realization came to him that the German crew had opened the lower dive valves as a parting shot before being taken off the boat. if Jim or any of his mates, in fiddling with the unfamiliar controls, had experimentally opened the upper dive valves, U-190 would have sunk before they could scramble out of her. Fortunately, it was a simple enough glitch to put right. Relieved, Jim locked the valves closed and pronounced U-190 ready to start up. The startup was an anti-climax. When the switches were thrown, the generator whined to life like any electric motor. Engaging the clutch, the great diesels began to crank over, slowly at first, and then as each cylinder in turn began to fire, sprang to life and ticked over like a great thundering Swiss clock. U-190 was up and running and would now be officially commissioned as a vessel of the Royal Canadian Navy. Jim
4
3 Hawke, who had become resigned to doing his duty ‘standing waiting’ had finally ‘done his bit’ in the unlikely theatre of the engine room of an enemy submarine. ‘ . . . O res mirabilis, Manducat Dominum Pauper, pauper, servus, et humis . . .’ The final verse of the Angelicus floats out over the hushed hall. The audience is captivated by the lyrics and by the brown velvet voice of this fine and gentle man with silvered temples. They cannot know of the bell-bottomed jack-tar with greasy hands, serving his country in the most unlikely way, in a war now fast fading into the realm of the long ago and far away.
or a German submarine—if fuel is present in the cylinders, they will start up if they can be cranked over. ‘Hmmmmm. OK—so how do I crank them?’ There was an obvious electric generator linked to the engines. Clearly its purpose was to charge the huge bank of batteries below the gratings upon which Jim was standing—OK so far. On further examination, Jim discerned from examining the control system that the current the generator sent in to charge the batteries could be made to flow back the way it came— and this would drive the generator as a motor. ‘Of course! That’s it! The main diesels can’t be used while the submarine is submerged, so they drive the boat with the generator—clever! Hmmmmm . . . ‘ Poking around a little more, he was able to discern that the levers right there at hand were a simple dual clutch system that would tie either the main diesels or the electric motor to the drive-shaft. ‘Sooooo . . . hmmm. . . so . . . if I throw that switch and redirect the power back to that generator from those batteries—the generator should then start up like any electric
Prologue: When all was shipshape, Jim Hawke and his mates crewed the U-190 to St. John’s where they spent some weeks cleaning her up for the coming tour. Four experienced submariners from the Royal Navy joined the ship’s company there, men whose supercilious attitude soon had them disliked by one and all. Jim was happy to decline the victory tour and take his discharge from service before the U-190 set off on her show voyage. She went firstly to Halifax and then up the St. Lawrence River to Montreal, with stops at Quebec City and a number of other small ports. Upon her return to the coast it was decided by the Admiralty to use her for a target in a gunnery exercise at sea off Halifax. In retrospect, it was an ill-advised decision, for she would have been a remarkable addition to any marine museum today. She didn’t last long in what was planned to be a day-long naval gunnery event; she was struck by the first rocket fired from a supporting aircraft and turned up her bows and sank in twelve minutes. End of game. Oh, yes, before towing her out to be sunk, they did take the periscope off her and it resides to this day in the ‘Crowsnest’ a Canadian Naval Officers’ Club in St. John’s, now a public historical site. Jim Hawke, at 90 years of age at the time of this writing, works daily in his little machine shop at Madeira Park. He is fit and alert and never without a challenging mechanical project on hand. On the final day I interviewed him, he
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the first rcaf aerobatic demonstration team: air demonstration teams have been a fixture within the rcaf since june 1929 Origin of the RCAF On February 18, 1920, the Government of Canada authorized a new, non-permanent Canadian Air Force (CAF) with a provisional establishment of 1,340 officers and 3,905 airmen. In 1924 “Royal” was added (RCAF) after the Australians added ‘Royal’ (RAAF) to their name.
by Richard Dowson, Moose Jaw
lots referred to the aircraft as ‘Brisfits’ – a fitting term. The early RCAF hunted smugglers; undertook forest fire patrols in the north; did aerial forest spraying and mail delivery; flew mercy flights; helped police and did aerial photography and surveying. The RCAF acquired Armstrong Whitworth Siskin IIIA biplanes in 1926 and flew them until 1939, when they were replaced by the Hawker Hurricane. The Siskin was a great aerobatics machine. Young pilots love aerobatics. (Captain Al Seward of Moose Jaw loved to describe ‘flying the contours of clouds’ at Gimli, Manitoba in his T-33 Trainer. No doubt, other RCAF Pilots have similar experiences.) Three Siskin IIIA biplanes became the first RCAF Aerobatic Demonstration Team. The Team was formed in June 1929
This Bristol was stationed at Camp Borden, Ontario.
The backbone of the new CAF were 101 raggedy World War I Bristol Fighters donated by Great Britain. Canadian pi-
Siskin IIIA Biplane (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3642452)
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Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3577686
to celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the first Trans-Atlantic flight by Brits John (Jack) Alcock and Arthur Brown. This first RCAF Aerobatic Team flew over 100 air shows between 1929 and 1932. These three Aerobatic Team Siskin IIIA biplanes are at Uplands Airport in Ottawa in 1930. The Ground Crews are standing by their aircraft. The fourth Siskin is probably a spare. The Aerobatics Team and most military spending was axed in 1932 by Prime Minister R.B. Bennett’s Government as part of the Great Depression austerity program. Spending on the military, deemed unnecessary by Canada, evaporated between 1930 and 1939. Hitler had other ideas. More information can be found at the RCAF Web-Site. http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/en/15-wing/index.page
eighty years ago, corvette hmcs moose jaw launched by Richard Dowson, Moose Jaw
During World War Two the Royal Canadian Navy needed convoy escort ships and began building little Corvettes. The Navy had a tradition of naming these ships after cities. His Majesty’s Canadian Ship, (HMCS) Moose Jaw (K-164) was launched at Collingwood, Ontario on April 9, 1940. The story of the launch was carried by the Moose Jaw Times Herald on May 29, 1941. A copy of the story is included. It is believed the author, Byron Jaques, had lived and farmed three Quarters near Briercrest, Saskatchewan before returning to Collingwood, Ontario where he retired. Corvettes were small Convoy Escort ships. They had a tops speed of 16 knots, about the same as a German U-boat on the surface, and had a crew of up to 90. They bobbed and weaved and it was said they would roll on wet grass (the lawn kind). HMCS Moose Jaw arrived in St. John’s, Newfoundland, an independent country at the time, on August 25, 1941, ready for convoy escort duty. Soon after, on September 10, 1941, while on patrol with HMCS Chambly (K-116) she engaged and sank German U-boat U-501 at 62-50 N, 37-50W, in the North Atlantic Ocean. She ran aground in fog at the entrance to St. John’s Harbour on February 19, 1942 and required repairs. HMCS Moose Jaw was ‘paid off ’ on July 8, 1944 at Sorel, Quebec and was scraped at Hamilton, Ontario in 1949. Reference: http://www.forposterityssake.ca/Navy/HMCS_MOOSE_JAW_K164. htm Story Moose Jaw Times Herald, Thursday, May 29, 1941 H.M.C.S. Moose Jaw Nearly Ready for Trip to Atlantic Moose Jaw was not officially represented
Special Note: H.M.C.S. in WW 2 stood for His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Reference and Photos http://www.forposterityssake.ca/Navy/HMCS_ MOOSE_JAW_K164.htm
at the launching of its own corvette, H.M.C.S., Moose Jaw, which took place about April 9, 1941, but a former Moose Jaw area (Briercrest District) citizen, Byron C. Jaques, who had a “vivid sentimental attachment” to Moose Jaw, saw the launching at a “Georgian Bay port” (Collingwood, Ontario) and gives an account of the launch in a letter to his old friend, Lawyer Harold Pope, K.C., of Moose Jaw. This little story has several ‘threads’ thanks to former Moose Jaw Drama teacher Lyle Johnson. According to Lyle, during the War, Peacock students (Moose Jaw Technical High School at the time) constructed a model of H.M.C.S. Moose Jaw. It was first on display in a water tank at the local Armory and later returned to Peacock where it is now on display at the school. My good friend Lyle Johnson, the Mayor of High Street, is very knowledgeble. In addition to the information about the Moose Jaw he told me about famous the Saskatchewan Poet Ms Edith Jaques, someone I knew nothing about.
BRIERCREST, October 15 1934 EDNA JAQUES See: https://archive.macleans.ca/artcle/1934/10/15/ briercrest
Poking around, I assume – and have not uncovered any confirmation of it – but believe Byron C. Jaques was the father of famous Briercrest, Saskatchewan Poet Edith Jaques. Several article about her appeared in McLeans Magazine. She was a friend of author and politician Nellie McClung – she was a Lecturer and in 1952 journalist Janice Tyrwhitt wrote, “…what Robert Burns was to Scotland, Edna Jaques is to Canada … the voice of the people.” She returned to live in Ontario and the City of Collingwood claims her as their own.
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In 1976 Ontario Premier Bill Davis proclaimed her ‘Woman of the Year’. She died in September 1978 in Toronto H.M.C.S. Moose Jaw Not to be Outdone – another story about H.M.C.S. Moose Jaw appeared in the Moose Jaw Times Herald on Thursday, June 19, 1941 explaining that the Moose Jaw was ‘christened’ by “… Miss Jane Cory, daughter of Major R. Y. Cory, 48th Highlanders, and Mrs. Cory, of Toronto…” when a bottle of wine was broken over her bow. The Moose Jaw left soon after to Fight in the Battle of the Atlantic. Also included in the Moose Jaw Times Herald story of Thursday, June 19, 1941 was information about money raised locally for the ship’s company. The article reads: “Radios For H.M.C.S. “Moose Jaw” Furnished by Fund “The money collected by the Mayors Corvette Fund has been used for purchase three radios to be installed on board the corvette H.M.C.S. Moose Jaw. The radios, one each for the forward and after crews and the officers, have been shipped to Halifax with the compliments and good wishes of the city of Moose Jaw. Mayor J. W. Corman revealed Thursday morning. “The mayor added that through the good offices of Hal Berry of the National Light and Power Co. Ltd., the radios were being delivered at cost. “The “Moose Jaw” carries a complement of 52, five officers and 47ratings. Their names are being sought by the city officials, who have written to the minister of national defence for naval affairs at Ottawa. When the names of the crew members are received they will be made public if permission is received from the Dominion government.”
spitfires fly beer support operations into france by Richard Dowson, Moose Jaw
Wars are fought by young men and young men like beer – a point not lost on Henty and Constable Brewing Company of Chichester, England. Immediately following the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944 Henty and Constable offered free beer to the troops in France. It was their way of saying thanks, quelling the thirst of British and Allied military personnel and doing their part in the war effort – not to mention recruiting future beer drinkers.
Unfortunately, logistics at the time were chaotic. Men and materials were pouring into France to fight the NAZIS and wounded personnel and damaged equipment was being sent back to the UK. There was no obvious way to get beer across the English Channel to the struggling British and Allied troops and Air Force personnel. Air Force aircrew and ground crew enjoy
a beer as much as any soldier. The brilliant and thirsty minds of the RAF, RCAF and the Polish and Norwegian Squadrons in the RAF put their heads together to solve the problem. What if the free Beer could be flown to France from Southern England? The RAF and squadrons of RCAF were flying as part of the Second Tactical Air Force. They initially flew out of South East England harassing NAZI troops and aircraft. After the Invasion and as the invading Allied forces succeeded and advanced further into France the Tactical Air Force moved from England to temporary airfields, called Advanced Landing Grounds, in France. These temporary airfields were usually one runway made of square metal mesh that took about a week to lay down. New ALGs were built onward until existing Luftwaffe airfields were captured. But servicing aircraft and official activities required Spitfires to return regularly to England on official business. Could RAF and RCAF Squadrons of the 2nd Tactical Air Force fly the beer from England to France following official visits to England? The bold, innovative and thirsty Royal Air Force ground crews adapted two Spitfires and a couple of Typhoon for the ‘Beer Runs’. They first had to adapt of wing pylons of the Spitfire Mk IX so the normal, extra fuel
drop tanks could be filled with beer. The tanks were steam-cleaned and readied for beer. On the return flight from England to an Advanced Landing Ground the pilot was encouraged to go up to 12,000 feet so the beer could chill and be ready for consumption
Thirstyswagman (see above reference) wrote, “… a Spitfire from 416 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, was flown from England to the newly built Bazenville airfield, only three miles from Gold Beach. It had a drop tank full of beer beneath its fuselage, and even though the tank had been cleaned out thoroughly with steam, unfortunately the beer still tasted of petrol.” (In his book, “Dancing in the Skies”, Icelandic RAF Pilot Tony Jonsson, the only Icelandic Ace in the RAF in WW2, described flying beer across the Channel in a modified
From “Thirstyswagman”, A Spitfire from 332 Squadron (Norwegian) is having its wing tanks filled at Tangmere Airfield in Sussex Reference: https://www.thirstyswagman.com/ thirsty-news/the-beer-bombers-flying-pubs-ofww2/
upon arrival. The beer arrived cool, refreshing and tasting of aviation gas. There was no indication that the beer was thrown out but the steam-cleaning was not doing the trick. Av-fuel and beer is not a good combination.
Icelander Tony Jonsson, RAF
Lest We Forget
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Spitfire.) The taste of fuel was taking away from the pleasure of enjoying a ‘cold beer’. The beer was consumed – it was just not as pleasurable as it should be. Change was inevitable. Not to be outdone, special racks were made so the Hawker Typhoons could carry the wooden beer barrels. The wooden barrels solved the problem of the taste of aviation fuel because the beer arrived in the brewery’s barrels, but it created a terrifying problem for Typhoon pilots. If the United States Army Air Force Mustang pilots spotted a single Typhoon out over the English Channel with two low slung beer kegs under its wings, the Americans thought it was a German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Fighter and tried to shoot them down. Americans operated on the own ‘radio frequencies’. Communications was a problem. The terrified Typhoon pilot had to jettison perfectly good beer into the English Channel and take evasive action. Subsequently,
German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Fighter
NAAFI truck in Berlin 1945
German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Fighter
re-configured Spitfire Mk IXs carried the wooden beer barrels. To be fair to the American Pilots the Fw190 looks a bit like a Hawker Typhoon According to Thirstyswagman (see above reference) Polish Pilots and their Ground Crew of No. 131 Wing (Polish) figured out the problem of attaching two wooden beer barrels to the Spitfire Mk IX bomb racks. Having researched 303 RAF Squadron (Polish) and published their story, there is no doubt of the ingenuity of the Polish Air Force Ground Crews in exile. By the late fall of 1944 the beer began
The bravest are surely those who had the clearest vision of what was before them, and yet went out to meet it.
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flowing through ‘regular channels’. The NAAFI Service (Navy, Army, Air Force Institutes) took over transport and distribution and cross Channel flights ended. One article suggested the British Customs and Excise people got involved and wanted export taxes. This was not confirmed. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ commons/f/f5/NAFFI_Mobile_Canteen_ No.750_beside_the_Brandenburg_Gate.jpg As the troops moved forward and the campaign continued RCAF Fighter pilots saw fewer and fewer Luftwaffe aircraft. As such, Number 127 Wing, RCAF of the 2nd TAF,
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which included 403, 416 and 421 Squadrons focused more and more on vehicles; impeding troop movement and shooting up the enemy. Photos used can be attributed to several sources, including Wikimedia For a Complete Story of the Beer carrying Spitfires please see: Reference: https://www.thirstyswagman.com/thirsty-news/the-beer-bombersflying-pubs-of-ww2/
world war two in the pacific hidden secrets – deaths of pows held by the japanese by Richard Dowson, Moose Jaw
There are suggestions Navy Headquarters may have known but even a hint U.S. Navy Submarines were sinking of ships full of prisoners was never shared with the Submarine crews. They had no idea. Submarine crews did not learn the ships carried POWs until well after the war. I had never known about the sinking of POW Ships until researching the capture and death of Kenneth A. Dunlop of Baildon, just south of Moose Jaw. Kenny was one of the more than 19,000 prisoners held by the Japanese, killed by the United States Navy. Ken Dunlop Kenny and two buddies left Baildon in the 1920s for work and a new life in California. Work was plentiful there – life was good. Ken worked road construction, married and later got a job in a shipbuilding yard in the Bay area building Freighters for the British. Seeking a little adventure and probably more money, Ken left the United States in early 1939 for the Philippines to work for an American Company building and expanding American Naval facilities in the region. The opportunity looked rosy.
Researching history always leads from one story to another. Occasionally, some uncovered research is best left untold. Then there are the stories that seem ‘accidentally’ overlooked. Life in a Japanese POW Camp – and Slave Labour Stories describing the horrors and brutality of life in a Japanese Prisoner of War Camp abound. Almost 30% of all captives in Japanese POW Camps in WW 2 died. Even a local Moose Jaw District boy died in a Japanese POW Camp. The Overlooked Story Thousands of prisoners held by the Japanese were killed when Japanese prison ships carrying them were torpedoed and sunk by American Submarines. Those killed include Canadians, Indonesians, Dutch, New Zealanders, Australians, British, American and other Allies. More than 19,000 Allied Prisoners were killed when the ships transporting them were torpedoed and sunk by American Submarines. The crews of the American Submarines did not know they were sinking and killing Allied Prisoners of War. They thought they were sinking Japanese Supply Ships.
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The United States was a neutral country, not at war with anyone – no worries. Ken Dunlop was in the Philippines when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour and soon after, in early 1942, he was taken prisoner at Corregidor. As a Prisoner of War Ken was placed in different POW Camps run by the Japanese. In 1944 the Americans were having success and Japan was losing islands captured early in the War. The Philippines looked like it would soon fall to the Americans. The Japanese decided to take their Prisoners to Japan to use as slave labour. Ken and others were put on a ship, the Arisan Maru, in mid-October 1944 and taken to Manila where the ship became part of a Japanese convoy. On October 21, 1944 the Arisan Maru and other ships in the convoy left Manila for Takao, Formosa (Taiwan). In Formosa prisoners would be sorted and sent on to Japan. Before reaching Formosa the convoy were attacked by a United States Navy Submarine and sunk on October 24, 1944. Only five prisoners survived. The remaining 1,783 prisoners, including Ken Dunlop died.
For those who bravely serve our country, W.J. Jones & Son Funeral Home and Crematorium
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mortlach museum features nearly 1,000 model planes and vehicles by Jason G. Antonio, Moose Jaw Express
Tucked away in the Village of Mortlach is a military museum featuring nearly 1,000 miniature models of planes, tanks, vehicles, and ships — and one man has made them all. Steve Apperley’s interest in model military vehicles began when he was six years old, after his father gave him a tube of glue to play with. His dad — a Second World War veteran — built many models out of wood during his military career following the war. “The coolest thing he ever made (were these) little … C-119s. He made this whole squadron and had them sitting on the living room table. It was pretty cool,” Apperley said. The first model plane Apperley received — planes are his favourite — was a DC-8 Air Canada transport plane. This kick-started his love for the hobby, which continued into high school and adulthood. That first model plane has now grown into a collection of 840 models of various military vehicles and aircraft. Apperley initially stored his collection at home but outgrew that location. After a years-long journey to find a new spot, he moved into a building two years ago along the main street in Mortlach. Since then, he has enjoyed running the Military Memories Model Museum, which features his creations, his father’s military uniforms and memorabilia, and his grandfather’s attestation papers from the First World War. One room features models from the Second World War, while a second room showcases models from the Cold War to today. If you’re observant, you might also notice the four American Sherman tanks from the movie “Fury,” with a little Brad
Steve Apperley owns a museum in Mortlach that features wall-to-wall models of military planes, tanks, vehicles and ships. He has made all 840 models that are on display in the building. Photo by Jason G. Antonio
Pitt figurine sticking out of the hatch. “My wife said to me, ‘Well, you’re retired. You might as well do something.’ And I said, ‘Well OK,’ … and we turned it into a hobby store. A little museum kind of thing,” he said. “We don’t make any money, but it’s a place to go in the morning.” Every model that Apperley made during the last 10 years came from kits. He had more models years ago but sold off many of them, saying he would need a warehouse to keep everything he’s built. Besides the models, the hobbyist has also created dioramas. For example, there is a scene featuring a British Commonwealth Air Training Plan airbase with planes lined up, while another scene shows heavy vehicles pulling a tank out of a lake. Most of his models are from the Second World War since there is more variety of kits. For example, it’s easier to acquire models of German tanks since there were many versions,
while there are only four models of American tanks. Apperley’s favourite models to build are Spitfires and B-17 bombers from the Second World War. Lately, though, the pandemic has made acquiring kits from suppliers difficult because most kit makers are located overseas. As a result, Apperley has found that it takes up to two months to receive one kit, while the cost of models has also increased. “Collectors’ models, for some reason, are through the roof,” he said. For example, a kit featuring the famous Avro Arrow jet fighter is no longer available since no one can find the moulds. Even if you could find a kit, it would cost $5,000. Apperley enjoys making models since he can work with his hands. Furthermore, he likes to fact-check everything he makes to ensure they’re as accurate as possible. Whether it’s a German tank or an AT-6 Harvard plane, he browses through books or the internet to ensure the decals and designs are correct. Sometimes, though, he also likes to paint or design a model the way he wants. It usually takes Apperley a week to build a 1:32-scale model, three to five days to build a 1:48-scale model aircraft or tank, and minutes to build a 1:72-scale model aircraft. “I think all kids should get into this stuff, just for the fact they’re not sitting on the computer. They’re using their hands; they’re using their brains. They’re figuring stuff out. They can research the vehicle,” he said. Apperley will not sell any of the models he has made but does sell boxed kits. His museum is open year-round.
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eighty years ago, train kills two airmen by Richard Dowson, Moose Jaw
When we think about people killed in World War Two, the assumption is, they died in battle. For many, however, their death was not glorious or glamourous. An incredible number died in tragic accidents. The Rosedale Cemetery contains the graves of men who drown or were killed in a vehicle accident. Some of the saddest stories are about men and women killed in Canada during the War was that they performed ‘regular’, support worker jobs. Often forgotten is the suffering faced by their families, having to adjust to the loss of the financial and emotional support of a loved one. Eighty years ago the main mode of transportation was the passenger train. The ‘train’
Protruding Piston Cowling
could be deadly. On Tuesday, October 2, 1941 the Moose Jaw Times Herald reported the deaths of two airmen posted at Number 7 Service Flying Training School at (Fort) McLeod, Alberta. The men, L/AC Winfield Murray McHeffrey, R/60770, of 11215 – 96 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, and L/AC Merrit Malone Wyman, R/62140, age 32 of Saskatoon, worked in the ‘Maintenance Flight’ at No. 7 SFTS as aero-engine mechanics. The two men were walking with a friend, L/AC Alex Leonard of McLeod, eastward in the center of the CPR tacks near the (Fort) McLeod Station when two of the three were struck and killed by the east bound CPR passenger train. The men died at 16:20, on October 1, 1941. It is believed they were struck by the protruding ‘piston cowling’ of the locomotive. Number 7 S.F.T.S. Air Base was south of the railway tracks and west of the CPR Station. It was common for Air Base personnel to walk along the railway tracks when going back and forth to the Base. Information from the Saskatchewan Virtual War Memorial indicates, L/AC W. M Wyman was born in 1909 and was an aero engine mechanic. Wyman was the son of Claude Elmer and Elizabeth Bertha Wyman
and was married to Eva Kathleen (Bateman). They had two children. L/AC Merrit Malone Wyman, R/62140 is buried in the Saskatoon (Woodlawn) Cemetery, at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Grave identification is: Block H. Lot 401. Grave 7. L/AC Winfield Murray McHeffrey, R/60770, age 28, is buried in the Edmonton, (Beechmount) Cemetery, Edmonton, Alberta. The Grave reference is Block 208. Grave 6. Newspaper clippinghttps://www.cana-
The Old ‘McLeod’ Station looking west – Source unknown
da-rail.com/galleries/alberta/macleod6.jpg Additional Information References The source of much of this information is from the Canadian Virtual War Memorial. It is an incredible site maintained by the Government of Canada. You are encouraged
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to research ‘Fallen’ relatives at this site and post any photos or information to the site. Search for CVWM and enter the information. To Post, go through ‘contact’ links. A volunteer organization named “Picture Me” posts information to the CVWM on a regular basis. It is the source of the following information describing the accident. The following letters are from a Board of Inquiry and were obtained from the CVWM.
Report – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
Report – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
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air training program made canada the ‘aerodrome of democracy’ during wwii by Jason G. Antonio, Moose Jaw Express
When the Second World War started on Sept. 1, 1939, Great Britain knew it needed to train airmen and pilots safely but couldn’t do it because of how close the island was to the battlefield. So, the United Kingdom looked to Canada for help.
The Harvard plane was considered the iconic symbol of the BCATP and an outstanding aircraft of its era. An example can be found at the Western Development Museum in Moose Jaw. Photo courtesy Karla Rasmussen
The Great White North had an abundance of air training space beyond the range of enemy aircraft and excellent climatic conditions for flying. Moreover, the country had immediate access to American industry — especially parts and aircraft — and could transport men and airplanes to England via the
North Atlantic. So, Great Britain signed an agreement on Dec. 17, 1939, with Canada, New Zealand and Australia to create the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). The plan’s objective was to train pilots, navigators, bomb aimers, wireless operators, air gunners, and flight engineers. As a result, more than 131,000 crewmen — including French, Czechs, Norwegians, Poles, Belgians and Dutch — were trained between 1939 and 1945, making this one of Canada’s great contributions to Allied victory. It also led United States President Franklin Roosevelt to call Canada the “aerodrome of democracy.” The plan’s total cost was roughly $2.2 billion — or $41.5 billion adjusted for inflation today. Training details Student pilots and crewman spent their time at air training bases. These bases were composed of dark green-shingled buildings and bright yellow training aircraft — the latter a hallmark of the program. Training schools focused on specific skills: flying, bombing and gunnery, air observation, air navigation, radio operations, or flight engineering. Of the 107 training schools across the
Anson planes were used to teach pilots and aircrews about bombing and gunnery. Photo courtesy Karla Rasmussen
country, Saskatchewan had 21 such venues in 14 communities like Caron or Mossbank. This was the second-highest number of training schools in Canada. Trainees began their military careers at a Manning Depot, where they learned to bathe, shave, shine boots, polish buttons, maintain their uniforms, and behave properly. They also received two hours of physical education daily and instruction in marching, rifle drill, foot drill, saluting and other routines. After five weeks, a selection committee decided whether the trainee would go into the aircrew or groundcrew stream. Initial training school Wireless air gunner candidates went directly to a wireless school. Air observers and
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pilot aircrew candidates went to an initial training school (ITS). Pilot and air observer candidates began their 26- or 28-week training program with four weeks at an ITS. They studied theoretical subjects and were given various tests to pass. Theoretical studies included navigation, theory of flight, meteorology, duties of an officer, air force administration, algebra and trigonometry. Tests included an interview with a psychiatrist, the four-hour-long M2 physical examination, a session in a decompression chamber, a test flight in a link trainer, and academics. At the end of the course, the postings were announced. Flying schools An elementary flying training school (EFTS) gave a trainee 50 hours of basic flying instruction on a simple trainer like the De Havilland Tiger Moth, Fleet Finch, or Fairchild Cornell. Civilian flying clubs under contract to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) operated the elementary schools, while most instructors were civilians. Graduates of the EFTS’s learn-to-fly program went to a service flying training school for 16 weeks. For the first eight weeks, the trainee was part of an intermediate training
The Tiger Moth was the second-most recognizable training plane in the Second World War. A model greets visitors at the Western Development Museum’s British Commonwealth Air Training Plan exhibit in Moose Jaw. Photo courtesy Karla Rasmussen
squadron; for the next six weeks, an advanced training squadron; and for the final two weeks at a bombing and gunnery school. The service schools were military establishments run by the RCAF or the Royal Air Force (RAF). Intensive learning There were two types of service flying training schools (SFTS). Trainees in the fighter pilot stream went to an SFTS like No. 32 Moose Jaw, where they trained in the North American Harvard. Trainees in the bomber, coastal or transport pilot stream went to an SFTS like No. 4 Saskatoon, where they learned multi-engine techniques in an Avro Anson or Cessna Crane.
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The bombing and gunnery school taught bomb aiming and aerial machine gunnery to air observers, bomb aimers, and wireless air gunners. These schools required large areas to accommodate their bombing and gunnery ranges and were often located near water, such as No. 2 Mossbank near Old Wives Lake. Air observers were later called navigators. For recruits in this stream, the training path after initial training school was eight weeks at an air observer school, one month at a bombing and gunnery school, and one month at a navigation school. Civilians operated the air observer schools, while the instructors were members
Planes such as the Fairchild Cornell were used to teach new pilots basic flying instruction. Photo courtesy Karla Rasmussen
of the RCAF. The basic navigation technique throughout the war was dead reckoning — a method of navigation relying on estimating one’s current track, ground speed and position based on earlier known positions — and visual pilotage. Several other tools were also used. Famous planes Pilots and aircrews trained on several planes: the Harvard, Tiger Moth, Avro Anson, Fairchild Cornell, Cessna Crane, Fairey Battle, Bristol Bolingbroke, and Westland Lysander. The Harvard was considered the iconic symbol of the BCATP and an outstanding aircraft of its era. Thus, the RCAF chose it as the advanced single-engine trainer for the
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program. It also served as a transitional aircraft for pilots who had trained on Tiger Moths, Fleet Fawns or Cornells and needed to advance their skills so they could fly combat aircraft such as Hurricanes or Spitfires. Canada produced 3,350 Harvards, more than any other type. After the Second World War, some hangers from closed training schools were moved and became community centres, hockey arenas or part of museums. However, No. 32 Service Flying Training School at Moose Jaw was eventually modernized and became 15 Wing Moose Jaw. With files from Karla Rasmussen/Western Development Museum — Moose Jaw.
We shall not forget
artist hopes updated legion mural inspires youths to better understand canadian history by Jason G. Antonio, Moose Jaw Express
A Moose Jaw artist who updated the mural on the Royal Canadian Legion building hopes his work inspires the community — especially youths — to have more appreciation for Canadian history. When China-based Jin Cheng International Real Estate Ltd. bought the 95-yearold building in May 2020 after Branch No. 59 sold its home — it’s now a tenant — the company asked Xinzheng Liu to enhance the painting on its east exterior wall. Liu, 42, moved to Moose Jaw from Beijing in April 2019 and jumped at the opportunity to contribute. While he has been an artist for 23 years, this was his first mural project. “I feel very excited to come here. I feel good to do something for Moose Jaw. It is a lot of meaning,” Liu said. Liu, his wife Xiaoran Wang, and friend Terry Tian talked about the mural after it was installed recently. Liu repainted the mural on 21 sheets of hardboard, which were then attached to the building. Tian translated for Liu throughout the conversation. A year of research Liu conducted a year’s worth of research about the mural, Canada’s military exploits, and the weather in Moose Jaw before proceeding, he explained.
Xinzheng Liu poses near the mural on the side of the Royal Canadian Legion building that he updated and enhanced. Photo by Jason G. Antonio
The weather was top of mind because of how much it changes here. So, after searching, he found a hardboard — similar to outdoor advertising signs — composed of aluminum and plastic that could withstand temperatures to minus 50-degrees Celsius, and found paint
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called All-Surface Enamel. Liu and Tian also collected plenty of information about the original painting, its background, and who painted it. “It’s the power of history,” said Liu. “There is a very special feeling when I was doing
research because, at the beginning, I didn’t really know much detail about Canadian history. So, when I was doing this, I was shocked about how great of history we had before. “After reviewing all the battles that we had before, I feel very excited about this. I was passionate about this.” Liu and Tian are both interested in war history but mostly about the United States’ exploits. However, the more they searched, the more they discovered that Canada was involved in many important battles, such as invading Juno Beach during the Second World War. “It touched us emotionally because we didn’t know this before,” said Liu, noting they have a new appreciation for Canadian military history. “We feel impacted. Like, ‘Oh man, Canada has such a great history, and detailed.’” Adding paint to panels After a year of research, Liu created sample drawings in May 2021 before starting the mural for real in the summer. It then took him till mid-September to finish. Liu and Tian felt that the community appreciated their efforts, while they were thrilled to have the chance to complete it. They also received plenty of support from the veterans, many of whom gave them two
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The first panel of the updated legion mural. Photo by Jason G. Antonio
thumbs up. The biggest concern Liu had was the materials he would use and how long they would last. He looked at other murals around the community for inspiration before deciding on panels. He then determined the number he would need and how he would attach them to the building. Another challenge was determining what the images in the mural were. After many years outside, they were not as crisp as they once were. That is why he and Tian looked everywhere for inspiration, including in books, online, and talking with people who knew the mural’s history. “We had lots of meetings (with legion executive members),” said Liu. “I showed them the first samples. They produced great ideas and pictures to help improve and (make) lots of adjustments.” Legion reaction Roy LaBuick, legion president, had nothing but positive comments about the updated painting. “The mural looks really nice. It stands out as you come down High Street,” he said. “It adds a little life to the building … . (Liu) did a very nice job of it.” Changes for clarity
The middle panel of the updated legion mural. Photo by Jason G. Antonio
Some changes Liu made included increasing the clarity of the images, especially to the Vimy Ridge monument, the memorial cross, the torch, and other visuals about the First and Second World wars. He added pictures to highlight Canada’s role as United Nations peacekeepers and made the poems “In Flanders Fields” and “In Flanders Now” readable. He also inserted pictures of the poems’ authors, Lt.-Col. John McCrae and Edna Jaques, respectively. “All the detail he made is based on real history. That’s how serious he is about the history,” said Tian. Joy of the project With a chuckle, Liu said there were many aspects of updating the mural that he enjoyed. This included researching Canada’s role in both world wars and inserting enough details so younger people would understand. He noted that teens understand U.S. history better than Canadian history, so he wanted to change their viewpoint. “In the Second World War, Canada sent 1.1 million men to the war. (Roughly) 42,000 couldn’t come back,” said Liu. “There were also over 700 Canadian Chinese soldiers too (who fought). There are a lot of interesting details.” There were many other details that Liu wanted to add but
of moose jaw
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The final panel of the updated legion mural. Photo by Jason G. Antonio tonio
couldn’t, Tian said. If another opportunity arises to paint a mural — especially near the armoury on Main Street — Liu would like to create one focused on the military. Liu added that he is “very satisfied” with how the mural turned out.
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war amputee veterans started 100-year legacy Of the thousands of Canadian soldiers who were wounded while serving in the First and Second World Wars, many returned home missing limbs. United by a common bond of amputation, these veterans not only served their country during wartime, but they made a difference in the lives of generations of amputees that continues today. In 1916, on the battlefields at Ypres in Northern Belgium, Sidney Lambert (1887 – 1971), a Lieutenant Colonel and Army Padre, lost his left leg above the knee. While recovering at a hospital in Toronto, Lambert conceived of the idea of a national Sidney Lambert, Neil Conner and Bert Coulson association to bring together, contingent of amputee veterans following the support and fight the battles for amputee veterans, today known as The War Second World War, helping them adapt to Amps. In 1920, he became the first Domin- their new reality and sharing all that they had ion President of the Association and worked learned. One of these was Neil Conner (1918 – tirelessly to bring veterans issues before the 2012) who served as a navigator with the government. Royal Canadian Air Force. He was injured It was these First World War amputee veterans, like Lambert, who welcomed the new when his plane was shot down near Bremen, AND AWAY GO TR OUB LE S
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Germany, resulting in the loss of his right leg below the knee. Another was Bert Coulson (1921 – 1979) who served with the Canadian Army and lost both of his legs below the knee due to injuries sustained while serving in Emmerich, Germany. Along with their fellow War Amps mem-
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bers, these veterans went on to provide support to civilian amputees. Coulson said the best way to help was to “roll up my pant leg and show them we can dance, bowl, hold down a normal job. It’s what you have left that counts.” The War Amps veteran members established the Key Tag Service, which is still going strong today, to fund the Association’s many vital programs for amputees across Canada. Rob Larman, a Director at The War Amps and a leg amputee himself, said Mr. Lambert, Conner and Coulson proved that they would not let their amputation hold them back in all aspects of life. “Though they considered themselves to be ‘ordinary guys,’ our founding veteran members have left a legacy for generations of amputees that has gone on for 100 years and counting,” said Larman. “On Remembrance Day especially, but also throughout the year, we pay tribute to their sacrifice and service.”
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air force vet honoured to receive recognition from federal gov’t by Jason G. Antonio, Moose Jaw Express
Second World War veteran Allen (Al) Cameron believes the federal government has honoured him with two awards because of an incident in which he was involved while stationed in Italy. The Department of Veterans Affairs sent Cameron a certificate of recognition and commemorative lapel pin in late October as part of its efforts to thank all servicemen who served during the war. “I was quite surprised to receive this,” Cameron said recently. Lawrence MacAuley, minister of Veterans Affairs, explained in a letter that, from 2014 to 2020, the federal government marked the 75th anniversary of major milestones that occurred during the Second World War. “Canadians, like you, selflessly rallied together in extraordinary ways to defend the right of all people to live in peace and freedom. It is thanks to your brave and courageous service that the struggle against tyranny and oppression was won,” said MacAuley. “As we mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, please know that Canada will never forget your valiant service and dedication to our great country.” The pin Cameron received has the “V for victory” symbol and the dates of 1939-45 and 2014-2020. The certificate, meanwhile,
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Second World War veteran Allen Cameron holds a certificate of recognition and lapel pin that he received recently from the federal government for his efforts serving in the war. Cameron was an airframe maintenance technician who served with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in Italy. Photo by Jason G. Antonio
thanks the veteran for his “selfless acts of service and sacrifice during the Second World War, in defence of Canada and our shared values of freedom, democracy and rule of law.” Receiving the two commemorative items allowed Cameron to jump back 77 years to reflect on what he had done to earn this recognition. In 1944, Cameron, then 18, was an airframe maintenance technician with the
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). He was stationed 16 kilometres south of the town of Rimini on the east coast of central Italy, where he was responsible for maintaining the legendary Spitfire fighter planes. Cameron recalled that one day, a small Piper J-3 Cub light aircraft landed on a nearby runway and out popped an army colonel with one crewman. The officer wanted to fly north to study the front lines in preparation for an upcoming battle. “The reason he had the crewman was because the aircraft had to be started by hand on the propeller. And his crewman was not feeling well at all, so he wanted to know if his crewman could stay there while he went and did a survey of the lines near and be close to where the action was,” said Cameron. “So, he (asked if) there was anybody who knows how to start this aircraft by swinging the prop by hand. I was the only guy who could do it. I learned it here in Moose Jaw when I was taking my airframe training course.” Cameron started the plane and then joined the colonel to survey the area. They repeated this same activity the next day. Afterward, the colonel and his crewman returned to base while Cameron — who thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the spy mission — re-
turned to fixing Spitfires. “… was I scared over there? You bet your boots I was. And so were the other guys,” he added. “When I flew in that Piper Cub twice, it didn’t bother me a bit. The war was on, and things had to be done.” During the interview, Cameron recalled other memories that have stuck with him for nearly 80 years. Besides the Germans, the Canadians also had to beware of Italian partisans operating behind the lines. They were a “rough group,” he said, which was unfortunate since they were supposed to be allies in the fight against the Germans. Meanwhile, the Allies regularly sent out thousands of bombers to attack Germany throughout the war. Cameron and his mechanic colleagues watched dozens of bombers take off from base but were crestfallen to see only 10 to 15 planes ever return. “That took some getting used to at 18,” he said. Cameron plans to frame his certificate and hang it in the Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans (ANAVETS) building on High Street West. As the only veteran of his generation there, and one of a few remaining in Moose Jaw, he hopes other veterans realize the awards honour them as well.
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korean war vet helped keep armoured vehicles in fighting shape by Jason G. Antonio, Moose Jaw Express
Charlie Smith doesn’t consider his time during the Korean War that exciting, but his efforts ensured that Canada’s armoured vehicles were returned to fighting shape after engaging with the enemy — or falling into rice paddies. Born near Davidson, Sask. in 1928, Smith was 22 when the Korean War started on June 25, 1950, after the North invaded the South. Smith was working on a farm when he realized he would never get ahead in life performing that work. Luckily, it was an army advertisement — “See some of the world and learn a trade” — that piqued his interest and prompted him to enlist in 1950. The farm boy eventually joined the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RCEME) Corps as a heavy mechanic who looked after gas- and diesel-powered vehicles. He was given the rank of craftsman. “I could have been a corporal, but that doesn’t pay,” said Smith, 93. “You don’t get pay for rank until you’re a sergeant. And where I was, a sergeant wasn’t included in there in the ranks.” Smith was sent to Kingston, Ont. to train for nearly two years. While that was a good experience, he and other soldiers didn’t attempt to make friends with the locals — or
find girlfriends — since they knew their time there would be short. The RCEME shipped out to Korea by boat in April 1952. The Corps was attached to the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery since it was believed the latter unit would move its weapons by tracked vehicles. However, the engineers discovered that the artillery unit was moving its weapons using vehicles with tires. Smith ended up about 40 kilometres north of Seoul near the border with the Communists. They remained in that area for the remainder of the war. “The Chinese played games. They teased you (by firing artillery),” he said. “I didn’t see action. We were in the follow-up to show them that we were still there … . I did not shoot anybody. And wherever I went, they (mostly) didn’t shoot at me.” While Smith had trained as a mechanic, he was given responsibilities to move equipment and vehicles. This included moving tanks and heavy trucks that broke down or became stuck. Many times, it wasn’t easy to move the vehicles since water-filled rice paddies surrounded the roads. Yet, anything wheeled or tracked had to stick to the main paths for fear of becoming stuck while driving off-road.
Charlie Smith spends some time relaxing outside his tent in Korea in 1953. Photo submitted
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“I never got stuck,” Smith said proudly. Smith was limited in travelling in Korea and didn’t associate with anyone but his comrades. Moreover, he couldn’t leave his vehicle even in friendly territory because the locals usually attempted to con the soldiers. “You had to stay with your truck, or they’d steal everything off it,” he laughed. “When you parked, somebody would slip up; they would want to ‘sell’ you a spare tire.” Smith never met anyone famous in Korea, while he never joined guys who drank alcohol since he didn’t enjoy those beverages. This meant, however, that he was usually on call 24 hours a day. One interesting experience he had was at Christmas. On Christmas Day, the officers served their men food as part of a long-standing tradition. However, the commanding officer of Smith’s unit was not pleased to perform this task and asked the staff sergeant how long it would take to send the crews out to search for disabled vehicles. Two minutes was the reply. “Before a vehicle moved, it had to have a work order of what it was going to do. (The staff sergeant) said it wouldn’t be much of an emergency if you spent an hour looking for someone to sign a work order, so we had (the commanding officer) sign it for the full month,” said Smith. Smith and his crew missed Christmas dinner since they spent the day looking for wrecks and broken-down vehicles.
The Korean War ended on July 27, 1953, with a truce between the Communists and the United Nations. Smith and the RCEME were shipped home in 1954 but stopped in Yokohama, Japan, by boat first. They were given two hours to exercise, while they also experienced Japanese culture and cuisine. “That was a really nice experience,” he added.
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As we approach Remembrance Day, I’d like to pay tribute to the veteran members of The War Amps. The War Amps was started by amputee veterans returning from the First World War to help each other adapt to their new reality as amputees. They then welcomed amputee veterans following the Second World War, sharing all that they had learned. These founding members then established the Key Tag Service, which is still going strong today, to fund the Association’s many vital programs including The War Amps Child Amputee (CHAMP) Program. I was born a partial left hand amputee and grew up in CHAMP which provided me with
financial assistance for prosthetic devices and offered emotional support. These veterans have left a lasting impact on generations of amputees as they taught us that we should be proud of our amputation and to know that it will not stop us from achieving our goals. Everyday, but particularly on Remembrance Day, Canadian amputees like me honour these veterans who not only served their country but returned home to make life better for all amputees. Graham Spero Graduate member of The War Amps Child Amputee (CHAMP) Program
Repairing vehicles and pulling them out of rice paddies were some of the duties that Charlie Smith performed during the Korean War. Photo submitted
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mechanic herman nuhn kept canada’s jet fighters flying during the cold war by Jason G. Antonio, Moose Jaw Express
Canada’s CF-100 jet fighters helped keep the Russians out of Cuba during the Cold War, but the planes wouldn’t have stayed in the air without the efforts of men like Herman Nuhn. Nuhn, 96, joined the military in 1952 and trained in North Bay, Ont., as an aero-engine maintenance technician. He was later assigned to 419 Fighter Squadron, where his job was to fuel the planes, maintain them and prepare them for their next missions. During the 1950s and ’60s, those missions usually involved responding to incursions by Russian fighter planes. “We were on 24-hour standby,” said Nuhn. “The CF-100s were fully armed.” The Russians regularly attempted to
supply Cuba with war materials during this period since the island had turned Communist following a revolution. It was also close enough to North America to pose a problem if it had military weapons. Military officials with the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) alerted the pilots that the Russians were coming, so the airmen jumped into their planes and took off “full blast.” The CF-100 pilots would tail the Russians before driving them off. The pilots would then return to base in the evenings. “Russia finally quit sending arms because of us … they couldn’t get to Cuba,” Nuhn said. “There wasn’t a shot fired, as far as I know.”
Herman Nuhn, 96, was an aero-engine maintenance technician during the Cold War. Photo by Jason G. Antonio
The Cold War veteran noted that contributing to Canada’s defence and maintaining the fighter planes was a good feeling. “(The CF-100s) were good little aircraft. They could fly on one engine,” Nuhn added. “That little bird, she was pretty steady.” A military life Nuhn was born in 1925 in Ontario and, at age 18, took over the family farm with his brother after their father died. The Second World War was still raging
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and Nuhn was eligible to enlist. However, the military told him to stay on the farm since the country needed more food than soldiers. However, farm life was not enjoyable for the young man since it inflamed his asthma. So, in 1951, he and four friends travelled to Saskatchewan to help with the harvest. After driving on combines all day, Nuhn found that his asthma had virtually disappeared — the dry air made life easier. Nuhn later returned to Ontario, and still suffering from asthma, entered the military in 1952 and was made a corporal. He was tasked with fixing engines, something in which he had always been interested. The aero-engine maintenance technician served across the country during his 23-year career — he finished as a sergeant — but preferred Western Canada because the dry air made it easier to breathe. Nuhn recalled working on Canada’s two Comet airplanes, the first pure military transport jet used to haul passengers to bases across the world. However, technical issues grounded the planes — a British Comet exploded over the Mediterranean Sea — until modifications could be made. Even with upgrades, Nuhn still experienced a close call while accompanying an aircrew to Khartoum, Sudan, in 1957. The
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Herman Nuhn holds a picture featuring the CF-100 jet fighter, which he helped maintain during the 1950s and 1960s. Photo by Jason G. Antonio
crew had landed at the airbase to refuel and planned to take off the next day. However, when they attempted to get aloft, the plane had no lift — and had a full gasoline load. “Just at the end of the runway, the aircraft staggered into the air. And of course, we got airborne,” he said. “And from then on, we took off early in the morning when the air was damp in Africa … because this pure jet takes air into the engine, and if it’s hot, it doesn’t have the power (to lift off).” On another occasion, Nuhn inspected a single-seater Lockheed T-33 jet fighter and
found cracks in the tailpipe. He repaired the damage and ensured neither the pilot nor the plane was lost due to mechanical error. A view of the world Nuhn serviced all types of aircraft during the Cold War and felt he had a good life during this time. His career took him across the world, including Europe, where he saw Mount Matterhorn in the Alps and Vatican City and the Colosseum in Rome twice. “You did your service to Canada. You fixed aircraft … ,” Nuhn added. “It was enjoyable.”
Photos on Herman Nuhn’s wall include a photo of him in his military uniform and a photo of his wife, Audi. Photo by Jason G. Antonio
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saskatchewan an early stronghold of legion support and leadership Once the Canadian Legion came to be, it found that its most loyal base of support was in Saskatchewan. As the Legion began its ratification process with the national membership, Saskatchewan was the first stop on Feb. 17, 1926. The convention opened with 128 representatives from 98 communities across the province. The majority were members of the establish Great War Veterans Association, but the Tuberculous Veterans Association, the Amputation Club, the United Services Club, the Royal Northwest Mounted Police Veterans Association and others threw their unanimous support behind the new national body and create the Canadian Legion provincial command in Saskatchewan.
James McAra, a former Lt. Col from Regina who had led the GWVA in Saskatchewan for eight years was unanimously elected president. Among the other officer elected was former Brig. Gen. Alex Ross of Yorkton who became the command's honourary treasurer and would go on to be the dominion president of the Legion from 1934-37. In his speech to the convention, McAra encouraged delegates to work together to the Legion a success. "I cannot appeal to you too strongly to get the broad vision -- broad as our prairies, broad in the national aspect as well as broad in the particular aspect of ex-servicemen. I ask you honestly and sincerely to forget any connection you have had
in the past and look to the future with a desire to accomplish the greatest good. All branches of the service, all ranks of the service, and all classes of the service should, and can, get together if they will." In March, Manitoba followed Saskatchewan's lead in holding its first annual convention. Surprisingly, the third regional element to join the Legion was in March when a 14-member unit of the British War Veterans Association in Spokane, Wash. disbanded and re-formed as the first American-based post of the Canadian Legion. The rest of the provincial councils ratified the Legion before the end of 1926 to establish the organization that lives on today. Saskatchewan embraced the Legion
wholeheartedly. They had the largest number of branches in the early years. The Great Depression couldn't slow the growth of the legion in Saskatchewan. In fact, Saskatchewan grew from 140 to 166 branches by the early 1930s. The province fell on hard times during the drought years of the "hungry thirties." Provincial incomes fell by 90 per cent in two years and two-thirds of the population was on some sort of relief as the Depression hit. The Legion filled an important role during the Great Depression. In 1929, the Saskatoon branch donated nearly $2,000 (more than $29,000 in today's dollars) for community relief and found temporary work for 38 veterans. The Regina branch put together more
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38 High St. West Moose Jaw | 306-692-7888 | Hours: Monday - Saturday 9am - 5:30pm
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Moose Jaw Express.com 468 High Street West Moose Jaw, Sask S6H 1P7 306 694 1322 www.mjvexpress.com editor@mjvexpress.com With special thanks to our advertisers who made this publication possible and in acknowledgement and with special thanks to all those that have contributed to this issue: An unidentified man holds a shovel in front of a shack in Saskatchewan in 1933 during the 'Depression Days' as written on the photograph.
Brig. Gen Alex Ross went overseas in 1915 with the Canadian Expeditionary Force’s 28th Battalion as a Major and finished the war as Brigadier General. Saskatchewan Military Museum photo
than 1,000 relief parcels for children in the area. Brig. Gen. Ross would go on to play an important role as Legion president during the '30s. A provincial court judge, he initially resisted the nomination, but once he accepted the role, he took it on with gusto. The Legion movement was waning in 1934. Some Chambers of Commerce were lobbying to no longer mark November 11th as a holiday. Meanwhile, the coffers at the Legion were short on funds. Ross proposed that they focus on strengthening their own organization. "Either we continue in the rut of legislative endeavor and live on subsidies until the people of Canada become nauseated by our importunity, or we branch out boldly into a new and wider sphere where the ex-soldier will solve his own problems and make himself responsible for the care and well-being of his comrades," Ross told the 1934 national convention as relayed in James Hale's Branching Out. "It is for us to decide now, and I am firmly of the opinion that we are at the parting of the ways and
that our decision will have a far-reaching effect on the ultimate destiny of the ex-servicemen in Canada." Ross proved correct. There was a large membership drive that came out of the national convention and renewed plans for a pilgrimage to the Vimy Memorial. Two years later 6,300 veterans make the trip by sea with another 4,000 friends and family to Vimy for the unveiling of the Vimy Memorial. It would be a testament to the power of the Legion as an organization to co-ordinate with various governments and agencies to help organize such a massive undertaking. Under Ross' leadership, the government gives in to pressure from the Legion and recognizes the Canadian Pension Commission and establishes a royal commission to study the issue of veteran unemployment. The Canadian Pension Commission is still one of three agencies administered under the umbrella of the Department of Veterans Affairs that is in place to provide aging veterans and their dependants with medical care and financial assistance. A year later that royal commission recommended the establishment of the Veterans Assistance Commission to aid the more than 35,000 unemployed veterans at the height of the Great Depression. It also recommended the creation of the Corps of Commissionaires. Today the Commissionaires remains a major source of employment for former members of the Canadian Forces.
Publisher: Robert Ritchie - rob@mjvexpress.com Editor: Joan Ritchie - jritchie@moosejawtoday.com Sales: Wanda Hallborg - whallborg@moosejawtoday.com Gladys Therens - gbaigenttherens@moosejawtoday.com Kevin Ogle - kogle@moosejawtoday.com Steve Seida - Special Sales Contributors: Jason G. Antonio, Richard Dowson Designer: Sandra Stewart The contents of this publication are the property of Moose Jaw Express. Reproduction of any of the contents of this publication including, but without limiting the generality of the following: photographs, artwork and graphic designs, is strictly prohibited. There shall be no reproduction without the Express written consent of the publisher. (rob@mjvexpress.com) All ads are published in good faith without verification, and the Moose Jaw Express does not under any circumstances accept responsibility for the accuracy or otherwise of any ads or messages in any of the publications editions.
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legion project honours 500 area residents who died in both world wars by Jason G. Antonio, Moose Jaw Express
Legionnaire Sue Knox displays a binder filled with about 180 names of area men who fought and died in the First World War. She also has three binders filled with over 380 names of area men who died in the Second World War. Photo by Jason G. Antonio
Sue Knox’s quest to learn about relatives who served in the First World War turned into a project to honour every service member from the area who died during both world wars. Knox began conducting research several years ago and found that four uncles had served in the First World War. Three returned from the bloody battlefields of Western Europe, while a fourth was killed in action and buried overseas. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020 and shut down society, Knox had the time and opportunity to further her research. Since she is a former military member, she had access to federal databases and looked up information about soldiers, sailors and airmen from the area who fought and died. “Because of my association with the (Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 59), I thought it would be a neat idea to memorialize all the men and women from Moose Jaw who gave their lives and fought in support of our country and do something with it,” she said. “Be-
The 128th infantry battalion was based in Moose Jaw and was also call the Moose Jaw Battalion or the Bull Moose Battalion. Over 800 men of the original battalion became casualties during the First World War. The unit is now known was the Saskatchewan Dragoons A photo of Sgt. Herbert James Stewart, who fought and died in the First World War. According to his attestation papers, he was born on March 2, 1893 in Ireland, came to Canada to work, later served with the Canadian Corps Gas Services and died at age 23 on July 5, 1918. He is buried in the Etaples Military Cemetery. Photos submitted
cause most of them have been long forgotten.” Knox first started researching the personnel who served in the First World War, which occurred from 1914-18. Branch No. 59 has a book from that time listing the area soldiers who died, which was put together by women who recorded the deaths as they came in. Through other sources, Knox found names of more men who fought and died and weren’t listed in the book. “It was kind of a bee in my bonnet, I guess. It grew into something that I didn’t expect, but it was very interesting to do … ,” she said. “If we can do something to bring that (remembrance) back into the forefront by identifying individuals who still have family in the local area, I think it would be an honour to that family to have that done.” These families can also better inform their kids, grandkids and great-grandkids about these relatives and help make remembrance
The headstone of Pte. George James Bailey, who died during the First World War. His attestation papers show he was born in Moose Jaw on March 7, 1897, served in the 50th infantry battalion, and died at age 20 on June 3, 1917. He is buried at La Chaudiere Military Cemetery.
more concrete, she added. Knox eventually compiled a list of about 180 area men who died in the First World War into one binder. Meanwhile, she identified more than 300 area residents who died in the Second World War, either overseas or while training in Saskatchewan; that material is in three binders. The pages contain information about where the men lived, where they served, their unit, their injuries, and where they are buried. Even though Knox is not a historian, she is still interested in military history, so learning about the men’s histories was exciting. Many men — originally from Europe — worked on farms and decided that life wasn’t for them, so they went off to war, she said.
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A note from the Canadian War office explains how and when Pte. Steward David Bolton died during the First World War. His attestation papers show he was born in Moose Jaw to Albert W. and Jean Gibson Bolton, served with the 10th infantry battalion and died at age 20 on Jan. 13, 1916. He is buried at Boulogne Eastern Cemetery.
Most thought they would be there for six months and then return home, but that wasn’t the case. Meanwhile, boys too young to fight managed to sneak overseas, hoping to see action. However, they were kept in England until they turned 18 before being sent to the front. Knox travelled overseas in 2017 to attend a 100th-anniversary event honouring the Battle of Vimy Ridge. She also visited 40 war cemeteries in 10 days, which she found humbling. After returning, she walked through both
FOR THOSE WHO LEAVE NEVER TO RETURN. FOR THOSE WHO RETURN BUT ARE NEVER THE SAME.
we remember
The headstone of Cpl. Harry Foster, who fought with the 10th infantry battalion during the First World War. He died at age 29 on April 9, 1917 — the first day of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. He was born to Mr. and Mrs. Simon Foster of Moose Jaw and is buried at Nine Elms Military Cemetery.
of Moose Jaw’s cemeteries, looking for old graves that might not have been marked with veterans’ headstones. She maintained them as part of Decoration Day in June and Remembrance Day in November, so she was familiar with most veterans’ graves. Over the years, several families have said their relatives did not receive flags during Decoration Day. However, Knox pointed out that the legion can’t mark plots if it doesn’t know about them. That is why the public’s help is important in identifying gravesites, especially in old family plots.
A picture of Pte. John Alexander Sealy, a medal from World War I, and a cross that marked his gravesite. Sealy was born Aug. 13, 1881 to George Horatio Sealy and Annie Hall Sealy of Moose Jaw. He served with the 46th infantry battalion and died at age 36 on May 4, 1917. He is buried in Villers Station Cemetery.
During the past year alone, Knox has found 30 unmarked veterans’ graves and added them to her list. She is now working with the city hall to identify other graves and is collaborating with the Last Post Fund to acquire headstones. Using Knox’s research, the Moose Jaw Express/MooseJawToday.com plans to feature some men in upcoming editions and on the website leading up to Remembrance Day.
THERE IS NO GREATER SACRIFICE THAN THAT FOR ANOTHER...THANK YOU.
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The Visit Moose Jaw Board would like to
thank our veterans for their service.
We will never forget...
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Moose Jaw Exhibition Company 250 Thatcher Dr E Moose Jaw, SK S6J 1L7 (306) 692-2723
Mosaic Place 110 1st Ave NW Moose Jaw, SK S6H 0Y8 (306) 624-2040
Quality Inn & Suites 323 Diefenbaker Drive Moose Jaw, SK S6J 0C1 (306) 972-7829
Temple Gardens Hotel & Spa 24 Fairford St E Moose Jaw, SK S6H 0C7 (306) 694-5055
Th k you to e Past d Pres t Veter s for your sevice d sacrifice.
Remember
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They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them. Laurence Binyon, For The Fallen
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A COMPLIMENTARY MEMBERSHIP A complimentary membership for NEW MEMBERS will be given to serving or retired veterans for the year 2021-2022 only Please call for more information: 306-692-4412
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Remember All Our Fallen Heroes Today Tomorrow and Always
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Army, Navy and Airforce Veterans MOOSE JAW No. 252 279 High Street West LEGION 2021• PAGE 48 • WWW.MOOSEJAWEXPRESS.COM
