Re: History - Topics & Posted Articles

by **Lockey** Mon 09 Nov 2020, 8:08 am

Liberation stories from Canadian veterans and Dutch survivors

November 8 2020

In 1945, Canada helped liberate the Netherlands from Nazi occupation during the Second World War. Now a new documentary looks into how that liberation has turned into a bond between two countries. Robin Gill reports on the Dutch survivors, and the Canadian veterans reflecting on the horrors and heroism.

https://globalnews.ca/video/7450726/liberation-stories-from-canadian-veterans-and-dutch-survivors

by Cooper Wed 11 Nov 2020, 3:22 pm

A Canadian veteran’s story

Delta Optimist
NOVEMBER 11, 2020

History - Topics & Posted Articles - Page 42 Shirley-burnell

Born in Vancouver in 1923, Shirley Burnell was only 18 months old when after the sudden death of her father, she and her mother relocated to Japan.

https://www.delta-optimist.com/community/a-canadian-veteran-s-story-1.24234108

by **Lockey** Thu 26 Nov 2020, 4:50 pm

26.11.2020

by **RazzorSharp))** Tue 01 Dec 2020, 4:23 pm

Human remains found in Belgium in 2016 identified as Newfoundland Regiment member

Stephanie Kinsella · CBC News · Posted: Dec 01, 2020

History - Topics & Posted Articles - Page 42 Private-john-lambert-left-and-an-unknown-soldier-right-photo-the-coady-family

Pte. John Lambert, left, and an unknown soldier, right, are seen in an undated photo. (Submitted by the Coady family/Government of Canada)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/john-lambert-remains-identified-newfoundland-regiment-the-rooms-1.5823234?fbclid=IwAR2-_GBzFIeSmBdPgWucHxS-oCTF8-jTgUEHGsmqFpIDkBCmOmeIAlHsJWk

by Jackal Sun 24 Jan 2021, 4:22 pm

CTV National News: 1946 plane crash

21 Canadian veterans lost their lives in a 1946 plane crash in Saskatchewan after surviving the Second World War.

Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021

by **GeminiTeam** Sun 14 Feb 2021, 4:17 pm

How this WWII veteran cheated death 4 times to find love

Bonnie Allen · CBC News · Posted: Feb 14, 2021

History - Topics & Posted Articles - Page 42 Reg-harrison

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/reg-harrison-meant-to-be-second-world-war-1.5906969

by Stealth Mon 22 Feb 2021, 8:54 pm

Canadian courage in the Battle of Hong Kong

Gilbert Taylor
Publishing date: Feb 22, 2021

https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/taylor-canadian-courage-in-the-battle-of-hong-kong

by Jeremiah Fri 16 Apr 2021, 11:07 am

HMCS ESQUIMALT

THE SINKING OF HMCS ESQUIMALT

SINKING OF HMCS ESQUIMALT

by **Zoneforce** Tue 08 Jun 2021, 4:07 pm

German researcher may have found Canadian bomber crew missing for 7 decades

June 08. 2021

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/german-researcher-may-have-found-canadian-bomber-crew-missing-for-7-decades/ar-AAKPnB1?

by **Spider** Sun 11 Jul 2021, 9:24 am

Major Edwin Lewin Knight in the Great War

Major Edwin Lewin Knight born 23 April 1882 in Collingwood, Ontario. Married to Margaret Allan Knight. In addition, Superintendent of Bridge and Highway construction in Simcoe County.

Major Edwin Lewin Knight

by Caliber Thu 12 Aug 2021, 9:37 pm

Canadian history being recovered off the coast of Sweden

Published Thursday, August 12, 2021

History - Topics & Posted Articles - Page 42 Image

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/canadian-history-being-recovered-off-the-coast-of-sweden-1.5545032

by Whiskey Fri 13 Aug 2021, 11:22 am

Canadian Forces Base Valcartier

Article by John Boileau
Published Online August 12, 2021
Last Edited August 11, 2021

The Canadian Encyclopedia

by Firefox Mon 13 Sep 2021, 9:39 pm

Veterans commemorate Battle of Britain

Veterans commemorate the 81st anniversary of the Battle of Britain on Monday in Barrie.

Monday, Sep. 13, 2021

The Battle of Britain
Canadian pilots do battle in the skies over England during the first crucial battle of the Second World War

During the summer of 1940, a few hundred fighter pilots stood in the way of Hitler's massive air attack on England. One hundred Canadians were among them.
Dubbed the Battle of Britain, it was the first decisive clash of Second World War and the first battle in history to be fought exclusively in the air.

"It is certainly an awful sight to behold those ugly black bombers in rank after rank," remembered Canadian pilot Ernest McNab. "Your mouth dries up like cotton wool. You lose all sense of space and time. We fought far above the clouds in a world of our own - a world of freezing cold, of limitless space traced with white plumed trails of wheeling aircraft as they fought. It was like skywriting gone mad. "

From July to October 1942, Germanys powerful air force, the Luftwaffe, launched relentless bombing attacks on British ports, radar stations and airfields. Hitler wanted to destroy the country's air defenses to make way for an invasion of Britain.

For some Canadian airmen the Battle of Britain was baptism by fire. At the time, Canada had a fledgling air force. Many Canadian pilots fought with the British military. But as the Battle of Britain raged on, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) number one squadron went into action.

Ernest McNab led the Canadian squadron. The short, stocky engineer from Rosthern, Saskatchewan was the country's most experienced fighter pilot but on the eve of battle McNab was worried.

"This is the lowest point in my life. I didnt think my men were ready for combat."

Not trained as fighter pilots, his men had spent only 20 hours in their planes. Most had fired only once at a moving target. Now they had to face the fearsome Luftwaffe during some of the fiercest fighting in the battle.
And their inexperience proved deadly. On August 24th - these new Canadian fighters realized too late that some of them had been firing on British, not German planes. Two planes escaped, a third did not.

As Battle of Britain continued, Allied aircrews were out-numbered and losing pilots faster than they could be replaced.

Hartland de Montarville Molson had left Montreal, the family business and his young bride, Maria Magdalena Posner, to fly for Canada.

"Since noon yesterday we have done seven patrols of at least an hour each. Bill Sprenger, Cupe Hyde, Bob Corbette and Jean Paul Desloges have all either had to bail out or force land, but are not in bad shape. Having had two slugs and dinner it is now time for sleep, because we go at dawn tomorrow. "

By mid-September, Hitler was running out of time to establish air superiority over south and east England. Soon winter weather and tides would force him to delay an invasion of Britain until spring.

On September 15, 1940 Germany launched as all-out aerial attack.

At 11:30 in the morning, air raid sirens wailed over London. Waves of incoming German aircraft left thousands dead and London in ruins. British, Canadian and other Allied pilots scrambled to their Hurricanes and Spitfires.

"It was a terrific spectacle," McNab recalled. "There were more than a thousand aircraft in the sky just south of London. So many that there was as much danger of colliding with another fellow as there was of being shot down."

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was in the command bunker deep below the streets of London. "I asked Air Vice Marshall what other reserves have we," he wrote. 'There are none,' he replied. The odds were great; our margins small; the stakes infinite."

The German planes retreated but came back two hours later. "It was a quick shot and away for someone was sure to be on your tail," Ernest McNab remembered. "I counted nine aircraft falling at one time, and there were parachutes everywhere. After fifteen minutes there was hardly a plane in the sky - the Germans had run for home."

But by the end of the day Germany has lost over 60 aircraft and failed to smash the Allied air defenses. Although British cities would be bombed nightly for the next six months, the threat of invasion was over, the Allies had won the Battle of Britain. Twenty-two Canadian pilots had died winning it.

Canadian aviation underwent rapid growth after the Battle of Britain. By the end of the war, 48 RCAF squadrons were stationed overseas. Almost 10,000 Canadians died in air raids over Germany in an effort to destroy German industry and the morale of the German people.

By the end of the war, 232,632 men and 17,030 women had served in the RCAF, and 17,101 lost their lives.

by XTYF--33 Mon 20 Sep 2021, 8:37 am

75 years marked since Estevan plane crash killed 21 WWII veterans

By Kelly Skjerven Global News
Posted September 19, 2021

Wednesday marked 75 years since a tragic plane crash in Estevan, Sask., that killed 21 veterans from the Second World War.

On Sept. 15, 1946, 20 pilots and one grounds crewman were headed back to Estevan from Minot, North Dakota after surviving the Second World War.

About a year after the war ended the crew was ferrying warplanes between Estevan and Minot.

Britain had borrowed planes from the United States during the war.

The pilots would take planes down to the states and then fly back together in their mothership, Dakota 962.

Author Marie Donais Calder is a local expert about the tragedy and the airmen involved.

Donais Calder said less than an hour into their travels, the plane crashed right outside of Estevan, killing all on board.

“The sad thing is that they were forgotten by people other than the families. Many family members came to Estevan over the years looking for something to mark this event and they just didn’t find anything.”

Donais Calder and fellow Estevan resident Lester Hinzman hired a sculptor, Darren Jones, to build a monument to remember the 21 airmen.

Getting the monument built was no easy task — the group only had access to photos of 17 of the airmen that were given to them by 15 Wing airbase in Moose Jaw.

“I took on the task of finding the other four and it took me two years to find those four photos,” Donais Calder said.

In the process of finding and researching the families who lost loved ones in the crash, Donais Calder was writing her 25th novel and included photos of the mass funeral held to mourn the 21 individuals.

Global News ended up featuring the story in a Focus Saskatchewan episode, bringing more attention to the crash that seemed to be forgotten in history.

Donais Calder said because of this episode, the son of one of the pilots found her and reached out.

“(He) started telling me about what it was like for him losing his daddy,” Donais Calder said.

“My heartstrings were pulled and I realized I need to write a book just for them.”

Together Forever In The Clouds outlines the history of the group and each chapter is devoted to each of the airmen.

Donais Calder did her own research using documents such as news articles to guide her writing, but she didn’t stop there.

She sent each chapter to the pilots’ families, asking them for their input.

“A lot of the times they would say to me, ‘well, I really don’t know anything,’ but we’d start talking and they would tell me the most incredible things that they didn’t even realize,” Donais Calder said.

“So I don’t call it my book, I call it our book.”

“I would like people to know that we lost 21 courageous young men. I also would like them to know that to start, as Canadians, to honour and recognize all those who have and who continue to serve,” Donais Calder said about the crash anniversary.

To commemorate the day, a private service was held at the 15 Wing airbase. The gathering was limited due to rising COVID-19 cases in the province.

The event was live-streamed on Facebook for friends and families to watch who couldn’t attend.

Though COVID-19 halted their plans to do it this year, the group is planning a larger two-day event in July 2022 for family members of all 21 airmen.

The sculpture memorializing the 21 men sits on Hinzman’s property, just south of Estevan, for the time being.

“I encourage everybody to come down and have a look-see,” Hinzman told Global News.

-with files from Marney Blunt

Estevan plane crash killed 21 WWII veterans

by XTYF--33 Fri 05 Nov 2021, 7:57 am

He's one of Canada's most decorated war veterans. This Toronto school is making sure he isn't forgotten

Published Thursday, November 4, 2021

CTV News

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