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Charles became an international celebrity after 33 1/2 hours. Millions would come out to see him in person over the next several months.

5/30/2014

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On Wednesday I started to tell you the story of the fellow  who came to the US with a few Francs in his pocket, ended up a millionaire and started another on the road to do the same. Of course the 2nd fellow had to win a contest by being the first ever to fly solo across the Atlantic between New York and Paris, in either direction, and do it non-stop.

Charles set his goal to raise the funds needed to get a plane built to his specs. As he set about doing this he also sent a cable to the contest holder, New York hotelier Raymond Orteig. He identified himself simply as C.A. Lindbergh, and that he  wished to enter the contest.

Charles had soon raised the funds and identified a firm that would work with him to design and build the special plane. They had only 60 days to build it. It had to be very light weight, have a most powerful engine, have capacity to carry more than the usual payload of fuel, and ability to run  non-stop for over 40 hours in cold temperatures. The plane would have only the one engine and one cockpit made for a lone pilot. 
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The Spirit of St Louis, so named in honour of those who helped finance the venture, rolled out of the shed within the 60 day period. It had no front window, and thus no forward sight due to the fact that the engine was so big and the oil tank was installed directly behind the engine. For a forward sight the plane had to be banked and a view taken from one of the side windows. Also a periscope was installed for additional viewing.

The monoplane was very light because most of the usual gages were not installed... including a fuel gauge. Charles was a tall man and the cockpit was so small that he could not even stretch out his legs. Even the normal pilot's heavy seat was scrapped for the lighter seat made of wicker. Charles had no formal training on how to make his own flight charts but he did the math and calculated the fuel requirements and even drew up a flight path and had all double checked and approved by the experts. Above is his monoplane sitting outside a hangar. Also shown is a sketch of his flight path over the Eastern seaboard of the US, along the shores of Nova Scotia, across Newfoundland, over the Atlantic Ocean for about 2,000 Kilometers, over Ireland, England and finally to France.  

On 28 April 1927 The Spirit of St Louis was flown for the first time at San Diego California. After a series of tests, on 10 May Charles began his famous venture by flying to St Louis and then on to the Long Island airport known as Roosevelt Field. The flight only took  21 hours and 40 minutes and shattered all current records of the day for Transcontinental flights. 

For the next several days final preparations were  made for the long flight. The plane's radio had been removed as well as all navigational lights, and... get this... he took no parachute! Charles would take a compass and sextant and maps, but being so concerned about weight he even clipped off the top and bottom parts of the map not needed.

On 20 May it was decided that the bad weather was letting up enough over the ocean that it was the day to take off. The plane was loaded onto a flatbed truck and hauled off from Curtiss Field to Roosevelt and the bucket brigades were put to work dumping another 450 gallons of fuel into the tanks from 5 gallon cans. 

Over 500 had garthered to wish him well, including Admiral Byrd. Charles was given 5 sandwiches but somewhat said that surely would not be enough. Charles responded with... "If I get to Paris I won't need any more. If I don't get to Paris I won't need any more either." He then crammed himself into the small cockpit and headed off down the muddy runway with folks pushing on the wings to get him going. But the slow going because of the muddy ground, coupled with the added weight of all the extra fuel caused problems.

It took three runs before the wheels finally lifted off the ground. While the crowds went wild with excitement, perhaps they missed the fact that the plane just cleared the end of the runway and telephone lines by about 10 feet. It was about 10 a.m. NY time. 

Within a couple of hours Charles would see the shores of Nova Scotia approaching. For the next four hours he would travel through Canadian air space, along the length of Nova Scotia and over the southern portion of Newfoundland before heading out to sea and a 2000 kilometer stretch to Europe. 

The flight was very taxing for Charles who had little sleep before the start of this venture. He passed out a few times  but the cool air quickly woke him again. To prevent this he tried several things including stomping his feet, singing aloud and even slapping himself in the face. Several times he ran into heavy fog and was blinded for miles and miles. At one point the wings became iced and he had to drop so low, to warm up the wings,  that the plane was only about ten feet above the ocean. 

During the 28th hour of flight Charles pulled out of a fog and saw some boats below. He then dropped down to about the 50 foot level, TURNED HIS ENGINE OFF to get rid of the roar, and hollered out... "Which way to Ireland? But he got no response, fired up again and about an hour later the sun rose and there ahead lay the shores of Ireland. Within another 2 hours he was flying over England and in his 33rd hour he was over France.

His first glimpse of France was when he saw thousands of lights and thought it was the shoreline. It in fact was cars coming to greet him. He'd soon be circling the Eiffel Tower from 4000 feet above.

Having never been to the airport he did not know where to go... but then he found some hangars and at about 33 1/2 hours after he left the ground at New York he crawled to a stop. The French has sent out 2 companies of troops, with rifles fitted with bayonets to protect him for the crowds gathered. But they swarmed the plane anyway and got him torn from the cockpit and were carrying him around hoisted above their heads. Finally two officials got him down to ground finally... and into a Renault automobile and spirited him off to US embassy in Paris. Crowds then attacked his plane for anything not nailed down as a keep-sake of this historic moment. 

Raymond Orteig, who was running the contest was in Europe at the time and got a message from his son that Lindenburg was expected to land in Paris very soon. Orteig raced off to Paris and got there just in time to meet Charles at the embassy. It just happened to be the anniversary... to the very day... of the start of the contest eight years earlier.

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Captain, (later promoted to Brig. General) Charles Lindbergh is shown here meeting Raymond Orteig (on right) in France.

For days the newspapers all around the world told of the New York to Paris contest and that Charles was the winner.

Charles would tour Belgium and England and then would sail back to the US on the USS Memphis ordered to Europe to pick him and plane up and bring them home. He would get over 700 cablegrams congratulating him, would  receive many awards and medals and tour 49 states over three months, ride in over 1,200 miles of parade routes, would give almost 150 speeches and be seen and heard by millions.

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Charles Lindbergh's ticker tape parade in New York  on 13 June 1927 would need over 100 trucks and 2,000 "white wings" to clean up the mess later. President Coolidge would personally present Charles with the Distinguished Flying Cross a month later and in June of 1928 at the White House, as shown about , he presented Charles with the Medal of Honor. In later years this became somewhat of a controversy as he was nether on military duty, not in the face of the enemy when on this historic flight. (The President is 2nd from left and Charles is 3rd. US VP Sawes is 4th.)

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Canada's Prime Minister Mackenzie King invited Charles to come to Ottawa to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of our Confederation. (He is shown here outside our Parliament Buildings.)

He arrived on July 2, 1927 flying his Spirit of St Louis monoplane, and was escorted by 2 USC Air Corps  Curtiss Hawks. It is believed  they all stayed a couple of days and before leaving spent about 30 minutes touring Ottawa by air and even circling  our Peace Tower.

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Charles was back in Canada in 1933 when he spent about 2 weeks  with his wife touring across the north of Canada whist enroute to Tokyo.

Charles served in WWII and eventually retired in Hawaii were he died and was laid to rest in 1974.

Bart


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Rags to riches busboy starts contest, motivates unknown to international hero status, and also gets Medal of Honor!

5/28/2014

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It had to take a lot of guts for Ray to pocket his 13 Francs, leave France when only 12 years old, cross the Atlantic and join his uncle at New York. He'd obviously had enough raising of the family sheep and his new career would find him as a porter at a restaurant. That would soon lead into a job as a busboy, then a waiter and still later a maitre'd. But Ray was still not happy so he bought the hotel. Within short order he and a partner leased another and he would even later buy out that partner.  His 13 Francs were now worth a little more!

Ray Orteig would be attending an address for famed flyer Eddie Rickenbacker when he got to thinking. He wanted a way to get more business...and especially from his old homeland of France. He then came up with an idea to sponsor a contest and pay $25,000 to the first person who flew non stop from New York to Paris... in either direction. The contest would be opened for five years. It was announced on 22 May 1922.

And that got Charles listening. And reading page after page in newspapers about others trying... and failing, and in some cases even dying in attempts to win that whopping prize. Charles, being no newbie to the age of flight, decided he'd better take some actions on his own.     
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Charles was not born wearing goggles. But in 1903, when he was only one year old aviation history was being made. It was in that year that a couple of brothers were doing things right. Their names proved it. They were the Wright brothers and they flew the first powered, heavier than air, machine in controlled flight with a pilot on board. This was the famed December flight in their Kitty Hawk in North Carolina.

But Charlie would get his turn.

Charles was born in Detroit at the home of his grandparents but within short order the family moved to Little Falls. Charlie would get his formal education there and then start University course in engineering at the University of Wisconsin. But after several semesters he got bored and left school

Remembering the roars of planes flying overhead and of course reading of the Orteig contest got Charlie taking his first flight... as a passenger... in 1922.  Within days he was in the pilot's seat and flying, but not on his own. But by  1923 he was flying solo.

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Soon Charlie would be in the business of making a few bucks with his investment of $500 and getting his first plane. A cruise above the city would cost anyone 5 bucks. He'd get involved in attending fairs, doing barn-busting and even having the nerve... or stupidity... of walking on the wings of the plane as it roared over the audiences.

In 1924 Charles signed up with the US Army in their Air Reserve Pilot training program. There would be 104 students. All washed out except 18. He was #1 in his class and was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. But soon the Army came to realize that since not at war, there was not a lot of need for flyers. Charlie then moved on to become a mailman. But with a plane. He worked for awhile shuttling the mails back and forth between Chicago and St Louis. But he soon bored with this job. Flying alone and at night was not his thing.

It was at about this time that Charles started thinking very seriously about entering the contest the papers were always talking so much about.  But he had some difficulties to deal with. He had little money and no plane that could make the several thousand mile trip. And who would lend or finance him? No one knew him enough. Others were well known and could get lots of financing. The completion included Admiral Byrd, Igor Sikorsky and Tony Fokker. All well known in aviation circles.

He also felt that what the others were trying or about to tackle were all wrong. He thought that a better route could be determined and that a better designed plane could do the job. A plane with not two...but only one engine. And only one cockpit with a single pilot to keep weight down. He calculated fuel consumption, length of trip, best routes. He took the results of all this planning to several potential backers and airplane builders. Finally he found a small company in California called Ryan, the very giants of the industry today. They would work with him... not for him...whcich was exactly what he wanted. But they needed $10,000 to do the job, and he only had $2,000.

So he went on the road seeking money and finally found some backers. They were so excited they even helped him come up with a name for the plane. It so represented them. That name was.. the Spirit of St Louis.

About 30 men of Ryan's staff worked on the job and within 2 months the plane rolled out the door and was ready for its first test drive.

I'll bring you that run on Friday.

Bart










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Record of discipline problems shattered by bravery, and the awarding of the Victoria Cross.

5/24/2014

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Yesterday I started to bring you the story of Private John Bernhard Croak of Newfoundland. After receiving training in Canada and shipped off to England, he spent more time than most getting himself into trouble with liquor, being AWOL, insubordinate to officers and much more. These troubles followed him, but at a lower incidence, once his unit got into battle in France. Becoming more and more battle hardened, be would finally show what he was made off in early August of 1918. It was about time he started earning his  whopping $1 a day for soldering!
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It would be on the first day of battle east of Amiens on  8 August 1918 that John Croak and tens of thousands of others would take part in a mission that would go down in history as one of the greatest Allied victories over the entire war. It would take place about 10 miles east of Amiens, (which is about 75 miles north of Paris France), The British, Australian, Canadian and French armies and the RAF all played critical roles in the several day battle. The objective was not only to continue to drive the Germans back east into their own country, but to destroy property and shatter their morale en-route. 

Amiens had been earlier in the hands of the Germans and its fall to the Allies had to be held. Losing it meant that the area... a major hub of railways, could be used by the Germans to move men and equipment about very quickly.

The Allied plan called for complete secrecy and movement by night of massive amounts of troops and equipment along a front of about 50 miles long, and along the left edge of the shaded area above. Troops were to be rested when, at same time, the enemy was not. And the enemy was looking elsewhere for them. This was because the Allies sent a far lesser amount of soldiers off in another direction with the intent of misleading where the next battle was going to take place.

The Allies also tried something new. Instead of "ranging" the guns when first firing, ie determining the distance and elevation for firing, they resorted to mathematics and brain power. Coupling both, so that when the signal to start the battle was given, instead of having 500 guns shooting too short of the target, or beyond, now they would shoot AT THE TARGET. And that they did, on at least 500 of the 530 they faced. Imagine the effects of causing them serious grief within minutes!  Minutes in an unexpected attack.

The Allies went into this battle with  32 Divisions on the attack against 14 German divisions. The enemy were unnumbered and outgunned and soon found out the hard way.

Four Divisions of Canadians fought here with the French Army on their right and the Australian Army of their left.   In the midst of one of the Canadian divisions was the 13th and within that was the Private John Croak, the former troubled Newfoundlander.

The battle started at about 4.30 a.m. on the 8th of August. There was a blinding fog which caused  real problems for the tanks and carriers who could not follow the troops closely for fear on not seeing them and running them over. So the men moved as infantry do, by foot. Along with the foot solders were the cavalry and artillery and above their heads were the planes. An amazing 1900 Allied planes against only 365 German planes. On the ground it is understandable when you hear that the earth shook that day. Once the fogs lifted the tanks advanced over  100 meters every 3 minutes.

The Canadians and the Australians spearheaded the charge and in fact gained more ground than the other armies. Canada with an amazing 8.1 miles of ground gained that first day, Australians close behind at 6.8 miles, then followed by the  French at 5 miles and the Brits at 2 miles gained. Five German divisions where whipped out and nine took heavy losses. By the end of the battle the  Allies would capture some 29,000 POW's 338 powerful field guns and liberated  116 towns and villages. But with the high cost of over 22,000 dead, wounded, POW's or missing. Their captured ground is the shaded area in the above sketch.

The decisive win for the Allies caused such morale problems for the Axis powers that men were losing the will to win and where thus easier to conquer. This first day of what was to become know as the beginning of  "Canada's 100 Days," but by something else for the Germans. Their high command labeled it the Black Day for the German Army." 

In the midst of all of this John Croak, soon after the battle began, got separated from his platoon while operating in the area near Hangar Wood, shown above.  He stumbled across a machine gun pit and on his own attacked it, captured the gun and also the gun crew. Not long after he was advancing and saw a series of machine gun crews in a long trench, jumped in and started to  shoot and  bayonet the enemy. While he took out yet  3 more MG's he was shot and within minutes his war was instantly over. As was his life of only 26 years.

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In September of 1918 Pte John Bernhard Croak was awarded the Victoria Cross by the King of England. Above is the citation from the London Gazette dated 27 September. The award of course was posthumous, and was sent back to Canada and presented to his mother at a very special ceremony at Government House in Halifax Nova Scotia by then Lt. Governor MacCallum.

The above issue of the gazette may well be rather unique in itself. While most issues cover a variety of topics, this one was issued for the only purpose of awarding Victoria Crosses. It awarded nine. AND SEVEN went to Canadians. One for actions in the very same battle and location where John was killed.

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In July 1918 a new grave yard was started at Domart, just a few miles to the west of where Pte Croak gave his life. (Domart is shown in above sketch.) Today he rests there along with 160 other Commonwealth heroes. And 58 of these were from Canada.

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Croak's medals passed through the hands of several family members over the years and today is in the very proud collection of VC medal groups held at the War Museum at Ottawa.

There is a monument in a Glace Bay Nova Scotia Cemetery and a memorial park in the same area in honor of John Croak.

Inscribed on this hero's grave are the profound words... "Do you wish to show your gratitude? Kneel down and pray for my soul."

Certainly something to think about as we reflect on the fact that 132 years ago last Sunday this Canadian hero was born.

Now it is your turn to take a few minutes and send me your thoughts on these blogs.

Bart




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Record includes being AWOL twice, often drunk, caught  out of uniform, lying to an officer, but still soldiers on and earns the Victoria Cross!

5/23/2014

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What a record! And there is lots more. But you get the picture.
It started back in 1892 when John was born in Newfoundland. By the age of 2 he'd moved away from home to the Cape Breton area of Nova Scotia. But don't worry...he took his parents with him. He got his formal education there and then at age 14 would get a job in the coal mines to help out with financing at home. By 19 he'd leave... without parents this time, and take up work in the wheat fields of Western Canada, but within a few years he would be back closer to home... in Sussex New Brunswick.
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Perhaps it was a poster like the one at left from Montreal advertising for recruits for the Royal Highlanders that caught John's attention. But regardless, he soon became a private in a French contingency of the Black Watch known as the 55th battalion. From then on he was known as Private John Croak. It is not known why he chose the spelling of his surname, and it stuck to him for life, despite the fact that his birth certificate clearly has the name spelt CROKE. A few years later he would be transferred to 13th Battalion, collar dogs of both are shown above.

On 7 August 1915 John signed attestation papers at Sussex NB and committed to serving in the army for the duration of the Great War. After a few months of training on Canadian soil he would board the Canadian Pacific's SS Corsican for the trip across the Atlantic.  After several days at sea in very dangerous waters patrolled by  German U Boats the soldiers arrived in England on 9 November.  Like thousands more,  he would never see the shores of Canada again!

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This is a picture of John a few years after joining up. While  the collar dogs are difficult to see, they are for the 13th Battalion.

The SS Corsican, shown here,  had been chartered for years by the CPR who would years later eventually purchase it from the Allen Lines. It was used as a troop carrier during the war.

In its earlier days it was taking a run to North America and got caught up for 3 days in the ice fields off Atlantic Canada. The same ice, and the same night being one of them, that sank the famed Titanic. It however had no damage because it had slowed down to less than 5 knots whilst the Titanic apparently kept up a speed of about 26 MPH before it plowed into the iceberg that took so many lives.

John would get some basic training in Canada and then on arrival in Britain would be sent off for further training at Camp Bramshott, about 50 miles South West of London and close to the English Channel. Either military or just camp life was probably very difficult for John. Over his years of service  was often in trouble with his superiors. Here is a partial list of some of his difficulties before leaving England for France...



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This is  a portion of a document that came out of his service file held by the Canadian government. It only covers some 17 months of soldiering but shows a clear discipline problem. Besides drunkenness and insubordination it includes two times when he was actually AWOL. This is an offence that could well have led a soldier to being shot, depending on circumstances. At the bottom of the card there is a note that he was finally transferred out of the 55th and sent of to the battlefields of France with the 13th Battalion. (Note the spelling error of the ship at top of document.)

While with the 55th and then with the 13th John filled out a military wills, now found in the files at Ottawa and seen below. Note that while serving with the 13th Bn., he indicated his first given name was JACK. 

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It is unknown what the date of the first document was, but the 2nd was dated 8 April 1916. A very close look at both documents could lead some to think they were written by two different people.  HMMM!

NOTE... I am being called away from computer for several hours so will return tomorrow to finish this blog....

Bart


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Wednesday  blog postponed till Friday

5/20/2014

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Other duties require my publishing the Wed blog on Friday and Friday's on Sunday.

Sorry folks but it can't be helped.

cheers

Bart

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May 9th was the Nation Day of Honour in Canada

5/16/2014

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Military bases, veterans organizations, municipal officials and many others hosted events across Canada on May 9th. These were times to reflect and  recognize the incredible job done, and the terrible price paid, by our military and attached comrades in Afghanistan over the past dozen years.

On Wednesday I brought you the first of this 2 part blog on these events. I left off with the ceremony that took place at Trenton Ontario at the Afghanistan Repatriation Memorial. This is located quite close to the entrance to Highway 401, a portion of which is now called the Highway of Heroes. Canadian troops who had fallen in Afghanistan, traveled along this route  westbound to Toronto and steps closer to their final resting places on Canadian soil.

Several days before the May 9th formal ceremony at Ottawa, troops again  departed from Trenton, on the next leg of this journey in remembrance. But this time they went in the opposite direction... and started their several day march to Ottawa.
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Over the years there have been thousands of Canadian troops who have suffered permanent visible injuries. Perhaps as many and more are less permanent and even less visible. Never the less all are real. Back in 2006 an element of the Department of National Defence was set up to deal with these issues and help the serving, and even those who have since left the service in their daily plights to deal with these issues. Some 800 have already been aided in one way or another.

From within this group a subgroup calling themselves the Soldiers of Afghanistan Relay (SOAR)came forth to actual march to Ottawa and take part in the National Day of Heroes ceremony. In doing so they planned on making it well know that many still suffer and need attention. They also want to recognize those that have fallen.

Nineteen of these men and women, some still serving, some not, and some not in the military but attached to the forces that served in Afghanstan took part in the several day march to the capital. Some walked, some ran or rode their wheelchairs and all had opportunities to carry their torch. Actually it was not a torch but a flag. The very Canadian flag that was last flown over the International Security Assistance Force Head Quarters facilities at Kabul, noted in the first of these two blogs. 

That most honourable flag, having done its duty,  was going to our capital. There it would play a most important part in the ceremony taking place. It would pass through the hands of several very high ranking military officers, our Prime Minister and ultimately presented to the Commander in Chief of all of Canada's forces... our Governor General.

The trip would take from 4 to 9 May and pass through several municipalities en-route.(See map above.) At these, the public had a chance to witness the event and also pay tribute to our internationally respected brave military. Especially those wounded, those killed in action in Afghanistan and those at home that gave so much in the way of supporting the forces so far away.

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After several days of operating in relays the 19  members of SOAR finally arrived at Ottawa's city Hall on May 8th. As you can see from the image on the left, two fellows in the front had lost both legs in combat. Look closely at the centre and right images and you will see that the flag is in a specially constructed  baton and mounted on the wheelchair. You can view a most interesting video of their march whist travelling through the Kingston area at...

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=654036771318578&set=vb.211815292207397&type=2&theater     

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The Prime Minister and the Governor General both came out to greet the relay before the ceremony. The image on the right has one of the relay members getting applause as he passed by some of the large crowd gathered on the 9th.

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Families of the fallen warriors were invited to a very private breakfast with the Prime Minister.

Later that day formal ceremoby started with welcoming comments, and the arrival of the Parade of Honour of troops and 4 bands, that marched on to Parliament Hill from the War Museum some ten blocks to the west. After the troops were inspected by the Governor General, there was a 21 gun salute, singing of O Canada, and the benediction.

Then came the beginning of a 2 minutes of national silence, to be conducted at the same time all across the country. This had a rather noisy ending when 8 planes flew overhead, some of the very planes that saw action in Afghanistan. These included Chinook and Griffin helicopters, Hercules, Airbus and Globemaster transport planes.

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Half way through the ceremony the last relay of runners arrived at the Parliament Buildings and in a formal manner presented the baton containing that last flag flown over the HQ in Afghanistan  probably to RIck Hanson the Internationally known and respected Man in Motion, who serves as the Honorary Colonel of the Canadian Forces Joint Personal Support Unit. He is shown above in the centre and right images.

From there the flag would be passed up the chain of command to the last serving commander of Cdn troops in the 12 year war, to the Chief of the Defence Staff, to the Prime Minster and finally to the Governor General as the Commander in Chief of all of Canada's military forces. The PM is receiving it at the left and presenting it to the Governor General in the centre image.

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There were a number of static displays at Parliament Hill. One of these was  the Afghanistan Memorial Vigil which was prepared in Afghanistan by the soldiers themselves. It came back to Ottawa, and whilst decisions remain to be made about where it shall eventually be housed and displayed, the photographs of the members who lost their lives were put on display. Here they are shown in the Hall of Honour at the Centre Block. The public were encouraged to come and see these. Above of course is our PM, the Right Honorable Stephen Harper and his wife Laureen and His Excellency the Right Honorable David Johnston with his wife Sharon.

This display will actually be travelling across Canada and even to our embassy at Washington DC, and select cities across the US. The schedule as it currently stands for Canada can be seen at... 
http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/honours-history-military-memorials/Afghanistan-memorial-vigil.page


On a final note, for those who need a boost in pride for being Canadians, I highly recommend you visit the following link to hear what NBC anchor Tom Brockaw had to say about our wonderful country some time ago. Listen carefully to the last comment... it's a hoot.... and is at... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV_041oYDjg 

Feel free to send comments on what you are seeing at this site.

cheers,

Bart 










 














 












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Canada remembers and honours our Afghanistan War dead and injured, over 40,000 more who served, families and communities back at home who supported these troops. 

5/14/2014

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I hope you were at this site a week ago today. If so, you then read about the 50 Royal Air Force Officers who marched some 100 miles in Poland from the Stalag Luft 111 former German POW camp to a cemetery. This is where 50 Allied officers (6 being Canadian)  were later buried after being murdered by the Gestapo and immediately cremated to hide the causes of death.

Today I am going to talk about a somewhat similar event that happened the day after that blog. This is when 19 serving or former injured Canadian Forces members, or attached to said forces, walked, wheeled and rode almost twice the above noted distance. This being in honour of the Canadian injured or disabled and well over 40,000 CF members and yet more attached to the forces and having served in Afghanistan. The tasking started 12 years ago and ended just short of two months ago. (The biggest commitment of forces for us since WWll.)

This was a costly mission for Canada in more ways than one. The most significant being the loss of 158 men and women in uniform, 1 diplomat, 1 journalist, 2 civilian contractors and an additional 40 US troops under our command.

It was only a month after the 9-11 attacks that Canada's first 100 members were dispatched. Within 7 months of having "Canadian boots on the ground," we would suffer our first casualties. Four soldiers shot. Not by the enemy but by the friendly forces in a horrible mistaken firefight.

Over the years it became a reality that Canadians were not only doing their bit for the cause but were also paying with their very lives more and more. Brian Williams, the likeable and well respected NBC news anchor would bring to his American audiences an article about the costs Canada was paying. His piece can be still seen on the net and tells of our Highway of Heroes from Trenton Ontario to Toronto where the remains of the deceased soldiers travelled on arrival back home from war. This can be seen at...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc6t6HLt7vA

As moving, is a very sad song written and recorded by Ontario's Jack London also called the Highway of Heroes. He would later state that the inspiration for the song was the tragic death of Captain Nichola Goddard, a Forward Observation Officer with Canadian troops in Afghanistan in 2006. She was in command of a team that came under ambush. She was killed when two rocket propelled grenades struck her command vehicle whist she was calling down artillery fire near Kandahar. 

Captain Goddard was Canada's first female victim of this war, and the first  female of the war to command troops into battle. She's been in the country only about 4 months. And she turned 26 just 2 weeks before her death. Jack London's very emotional song can be heard in a video at...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34n4AJu2mkg

With some irony, I was in Ottawa with family to conduct a service for our late parents, both veterans of WWll. We were there to bury their ashes at the nation's national cemetery called Beachwood. While in the capital I toured and did research at the War Museum. One of my most vivid memories was that of the Memorial Hall. 
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The Memorial Hall is a rather dark room  with only one entrance/exit. All the walls are concrete and have grooves on them as seen at above left and right. These are there for a purpose. They represent row after row after row of grave markers. On the left is an actual grave marker of a Canadian soldier who died in France. It is in fact the very marker of Canada's Unknown Soldier and it is mounted on the wall at eye level.

Up high on the opposite wall is a small opening... or window if you will... and the only one in the entire room. The design of the room is such that the sun will shine through this opening and on the 11th..of November...Remembrance Day...the sun will be in the proper position to shine through the opening and actually light up the grave marker of that unknown soldier, as shown at above right. As the sun moves it actually travels along the dark line on the floor in front of the marker.

On the very day that I visited this memorial... the local paper carried the story that  Captain Goddard was just killed in action the day before. Someone clipped the article and taped it to the wall above the marker. It was an emotional site that I shall remember for many more years.

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On March 12 of this year our mission in Afghanistan came to an end. We have a long record of accomplishments there and as already noted, not without some steep prices  paid.

During the 12 years of service as part of the International Security Assistance Force, (ISAF) the flag of Canada flew high and proud over the ISAF HQ buildings in Kabul.

This image is the final parade where the Canadian Flag was lowered for the last time at the ISAF HQ. A video of the parade can be viewed at...  http://globalnews.ca/news/1202538/canadian-military-involvement-in-afghanistan-formally-ends/

Six days later the last 93 Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan got their feet back on the ground... IN CANADA. Their plane arrived with an escort of two CF 18 fighter jets.

With all our men and women back home, the federal government started to move forward on a plan to have a special day created in honour of those lost, and to further all those who served, including families and communities back home that did so much to support those in the war zone.

At Trenton Ontario, where the deceased members first landed, a monument was unveiled to these men and women back in 2012. It is called the Afghanistan  Repatriation Memorial and is located at a small park close by to both CFB Trenton and also a portion of old Hwy 401 now known as the Highway of Heroes. 

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The memorial consists of a soldier's silhouette overlooking two large granite Maple Leaves. That in red contains the Canadian Forces emblem and the shields of all Cdn. Provinces. That in black has etched on its surface the names of all those fallen. When unveiled over 175 families attended the ceremony and heard speeches from several dignitaries including the Minister of Veterans Affairs. There was also a flyover and opportunity for the laying of wreaths.


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The image of the soldier looking on is easier to see in this photo at far left, as are the inscriptions of the fallen service members.

The provincial and territorial shields are to the right.

While the national proclamation ordering the creation of the National Day of Heroes, to be celebrated on May 9th, was yet we to come, the ceremonies really started from this park several days earlier. But more on this on Friday.

Bart


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Wrong date, wrong name, wrong number of medals... must have been a  party... as the Irish Rovers said in their popular song!..

5/9/2014

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It started back on the very first day of last year and continued through to 25 February. What a hang-over I must have had, but I can't even remember it. Maybe that's a sign! Anyway today my feet are being held to the fire from as far a way as England and Massachussetts.

Anyone brave enough or dumb enough in some cases to take on the massive job of researching, collating,  and then doing daily or later three times, and still later twice weekly blogs probably needs a regular pass to see his or her shrink. 

With all the frustrations of doing the blog, the writer is often, though not enough, blessed with comments from readers who contribute great information and sometimes throw our feet into the fire, as needed, to tell us of yet another goof up, and I have had my share. Today I will be spending this blog  making three past stories more accurate.

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Even the great Abe Lincoln would tell of mistakes made and later sorted out.

In fact one of his cute errors was back in 1863 when his "few appropriate remarks" to a gathering of some 15,000 came with the caveat that...:
The world would little note, nor long remember what we say here."
It's been 151 years and millions still remember most of his 272 words in one of the most famous speaches of all time... the  'Gettysburg Address." 


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ooops one involves the story of the great Toronto Ontario hero, Alexander Dunn who earned a Victoria Cross in the famous Charge of the Light Brigade  during the Crimean War. He was a young officer who led a cavalry troop down what was later called the Valley of Death, made famous by the later poem.  cannons of the left... cannons of the right...   and they even faced cannons mounted side by side at the end of the valley.

It was a turkey shoot and he, his men and others totalling about 630 brave men were the turkeys. Most were slaughtered. Of Dunn's 110, only 25 survived.


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This artists' rendition of the events have Lt Dunn in the centre and fighting off several of the enemy who were attacking one of the friendly forces already driven from his horse.

This of course happened after they had ridden through the Valley of death, still survived and then faced  yet more enemy in the form of mounted troops. 

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The cannons at the end of the valley may have been beyond the bottom right of this image.

Note the massive amount of cannon balls lying all along the road.

The image was taken very soon after the battle.


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Alexander Dunn was the only officer in the charge that was later awarded with the Victoria Cross. In my blog, as titled above, I mentioned that his was the only VC in the charge. This was wrong. His was the only officer VC, and that is what I meant to say, but a sharp reader named Mike noted that there were others...they just were not officers. And he is correct.

There were at last 9 VC's awarded for the charge. Dunn's above, plus Private Samuel Parkes, Sergeants Henry Ramage, Joseph Malone and John Farrell, Surgeon James Mouat. and Sgt. Major's Charles Wooden, John Grieve and John Berryman.

You can have a read or a second re-read of the original story by clicking on this link...    http://www.canadianmedalofhonor.com/1/post/2013/02/only-one-victoria-cross-awarded-in-charge-of-light-brigade-and-it-went-to-a-canadian.html 

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ooops two involves hero Phillip Smith, a Victoria Cross recipient for his bravery in the front of the Redan, during the battle at Sevastopol in June of 1855.

Many web sites note that Phillips 2nd given name was Felix, but no so according to Steve, a  decendant, and reader of my earlier blog on Smith. I was also told that regardless of many internet notes re a birth at Dublin or County Armaugh, Phillip actually came from Lurgan, near Virginbia, co. co. Cavan, Ireland.

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Smith is depicted here carrying one of the many wounded from the Redan. The artist is the famed Terrence Cuneo, British born, who made a name for himself with art work in oils of the many railways, military, horses and portraits of many famous personalities of his day. 

Steve, the above noted relative, also points out that my blog told of the story of Smith being presented his Victoria Cross in Canada. But he adds that I got the location wrong. And this, again a slip on my part, had the citadel presentation back in 1857 at Montreal when clearly, the major parade and presentation, one of very few in Canada, actually took place at Quebec city.

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You can read, or re-read the story of Acting Sgt. Smith  by going to ...  http://www.canadianmedalofhonor.com/1/post/2013/01/the-first-victoria-cross-to-come-to-canada.html   

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ooops three involves yet another slip-up on my part.  A year ago I brought you a blog about Colonel Morgan who was so highly thought of that the US government named a current war base after him.

Col. Morgan was serving in the Cavalry and took part in the several hour battle with the natives in what became known as the Battle of Big Dry Wash, near a place called Happy Jack, Arizona, back in the late 1800's

My mistake was in hitting the wrong key on that ever changing keyboard and typing in that the battle occurred during Civil War days of 1862 when in fact it was in July of 1882. I knew that, but the keyboard yet again failed to read my mind properly. 

A sharp reader by the name of Drew sent me a note probably wishing I'd ditch my keyboard, but being nice and simply noting the date was 20 years off the mark. Sorry folks.
 

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Here is the title of the Morgan blog. It can be read for the first time... or re-read by going to this link ...  
www.canadianmedalofhonor.com/1/post/2013/01/it-took-the-bullet-65-12-years-to-do-the-job.html

NOTE:   With all joking aside, I truly do appreciate hearing from my readers and, when I go astray, being led back on the right path. I trust I am getting these stories, now over 250 of them, more right than wrong.

The website has new enjoyed well over 100,000 hits and I do very much appreciate your following me along this fascinating journey with regards to those from Canada, or with connections to Canada that have earned either the Medal of Honor of the Victoria Cross. I believe there is no other source dedicated specifically to this cause.

The more we write, and correct as we go, the more we do in helping to preserve the memories of these true heroes. 

Please keep your comments coming.

Bart








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Fifty  Allied Airmen murdered by Gestapo remembered and honoured in Poland!

5/7/2014

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Over the last several weeks I have brought you many blogs on the Great Escape of 1944. In fact more  than on any other subject in any of the mini-series blogs given to Victoria Cross and Medal of Honor recipients and stories related to these subjects. With one exception, those covering 21 days I spent in the US at Gettysburg and Washington DC visiting the Canadian Embassy, Arlington, the Pentagon, the US National Archives and other sites, last Fall.

Today's wraps up the current subject by telling a little about how Britain has recently carried the flag. In doing so we are again reminded of this most significant historical event with current celebrations at two locations.

In March, some 70 years ago, in the late hours on the 24th and early hours of the 25th, the escape from the HARRY tunnel took place at Zagan Poland. (It was then occupied by Germany and called Sagan.) 

Ironically, 25 March also is the anniversary of the first presentation of a Medal of Honor to a US soldier, back in 1863. Now the US celebrates National Medal of Honor Day each year on that date, as regular readers of these blogs will hopefully recall.

There have been a number of events to honour those lost and those who also played roles in the escape of 1944. In fact they started  back in December of 1944. The camp commander allowed  30 POW's from the camp to hold a ceremony at the camp memorial containing urns of the 49 victims. The very monument  was not only permitted to be built by the Germans at the camp, but they went much farther by even played a role in the ceremony. The guards provided an honour guard that actually fired a volley in salute to the murdered victims.

There were 21 British Airmen honoured. Another 6 being came from Canada and 6 from Poland, 5 from Australia, 3 from South Africa,  2 from New Zealand and 2 from Norway, and 1 from Lithuania, Belgium, France, Greece and Czechoslovakia.

When the Hollywood made movie had it's premier showing at Toronto, many were piped into the theatre by the bagpipes of my old regiment... the Toronto Scottish. Some of the Canadian POW's from Stalag Luft lll  actually attended, as did the Lt Governor of the province and other dignitaries. Some would later say that they were upset due to the complete lack of "Canadian content" in the movie. They also objected to the McQeen "made up" scenes of the motorcycle escape attempt and the breakout in spring weather when it was clearly the middle of the winter with fresh snow on the ground. Some were very upset with  the scene were most of the POW's were shot by machine guns in one event. When truth be told, they were shot down in ones and two's in what was perhaps a couple of dozen or more separate events of murder. Not just one!

The Toronto showing resulted in a donation of $10,000 to the RCAF's Ex POW Benevolent Fund.

In 2003, 40 years after the release of the movie, the American Film Institute placed the movie on a list of the 50 most thrilling movies in history. Today it is listed as # 19 out of the top 100. Millions saw it and came away from the movie thinking of the tenacity and bravery of the Americans, when not one was amongst the murdered, possibly only three Americans (one was in RCAF) were amongst those 80 who did initially escape and when many of the key roles depicted in the movie were performed by Canadians and other British Empire officers.

Talk about identity theft!
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Here are the first 19 of the top 100 movies, as shown on the internet this week. I saw 16 of them. How many did you see?

Over the years there have been a number of re-enactments at the Stalag Loft lll POW camp site, but this year things changed.

This year the Royal Air Force put into action an exercise it called  "Exercise Great Escape Eagle." This was an exercise in leadership and hardship endurance and involved a march of over 100 miles spread over several days by 50 serving RAF Officers.

They would hold a formal memorial service at Stalag Luft lll, lay wreaths, and then march the 100 miles to the current site of the graves of most of these murdered officers. They would also hold a formal service at this cemetery as well.

The event would again bring forth in a most powerful way, the stories of all who played a role in the escape and of course bring further honor to those who perished. And they would do it in a way the whole world would learn about the events for the first time, or be reminded of tragedy of 70 years ago last month.

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This year was the first year a formal memorial was performed at either the Luft lll location or at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Old Garrison Cemetery at Poznan Poland, and being actually attended by former POW's involved in the escape. Other dignitaries attending at one, the other or both, included The Poznan Province Governor, members of the Diplomatic Corps from Poland, the UK, Canada, Russia, France and New Zealand. One of the POW's who escaped and attended this ceremony was an officer by the name of Charles Clarke. After he escaped and later got back to Britain he continued to serve with the RAF rose in rank to Air Commodore. The Vice Marshall of the RAF also attended and participated in the memorial services.

Each of the 50 RAF officers, both men and women, carried a picture of one of the men murdered, as shown at above left. This and the centre image appear to show the officers arriving at Loft lll. During the ceremony each officer passed by the crowds of dignitaries, military, former POW's family and friends and general public numbering to several hundred, and in so doing also displayed one after another... the images of the men shot by the Gestapo.

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Again at the left, the officers march past the audience and display the images of those being honoured that day. During the service many presented and layed wreaths at the very exit point where the 80 men came up to ground level from 30 feet below in their quest for freedom. The officers also gave a volley of shot in salute on the 50 heroes, as seen at above right.

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The urns containing the ashes  of the murdered men were placed inside the memorial at Stalag Luft lll, at Zagan. (At bottom of map.)

Many years later the urns were moved to the Old Garrison Cemetery at Poznan, just over 100  miles North East of the POW Camp. (See top of map.) 

This may have been the exact route the 50 RAF officers marched during this memorial march.

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Here you can see the officers starting their march, leaving Stalag Loft lll behind and heading off on their 4 day, 100 plus mile march northbound. They were required to put on the highly visible vests to help oncoming traffic avoid colliding with them.

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There are almost 300 British Commonwealth graves at the Old Garrison Cemetery. Above the ashes of the 50 victims there is a Commonwealth War Graves Commissioned marker. The centre image again shows the honour guard after their 100 mile march. Each proudly holds the image of one of the Allied victims. Each then placed the image in front of the marker for the man he was honouring. They also placed candles in front of each marker.

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A moment of pause to think about what the heroes went through!   Then the public were invited to view the markers and finally the candles were lit to give a stunning end to a most wonderful gesture of the part of the British Air Force and all those who played roles in ensuring this memorial service was performed.

Their work to preserve yesterday's history, is today's history.

On a closing note, here are the images of the six Canadians who were a part of the 50 who gave their lives so that we all can enjoy the freedoms we have today.


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Henry Birkland (misspelled above) was from Spear Hill Manitoba, Gordon Kidder  from St. Catharines Ontario, Patrick Langford from Alberta, George McGill from Toronto Ontario, James Wernham  from Ontario and George Wiley was from Windsor Ontario.  

Lest we forget!

Bart




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The Great Escape of 1944 came to an end with the murder of 50 Allied air force officers by the Gestapo on direct orders from Hitler.

5/2/2014

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On Wednesday I brought you some of the horrors the men faced when trying to escape through tunnel HARRY at the POW camp in Poland. Four men were caught at the exit of the tunnel, but 76 initially got away.  Within weeks all but 3 were captured and held by the local police. Then the Gestapo took out 50 officers in groups of ones and two's in numerous locations around Poland, shot the POW's in the back and left them laying on the ground. They then instructed the local police to retrieve the bodies and immediately cremate them and send the ashes back to Stalag Luft lll. The lives of 27 officers were spared and sent back to several camps, but most right back to Luft lll.

While most would say the escape was a dreadful failure, the Allies could little predict such harsh treatment for escaping. The Geneva Convention clearly allowed for escape activity and mandated short jail time for any caught trying to escape. In fact, many thought it was their duty to escape, no matter the costs.

But this aside, one must remember that one of the goals in the attempt was to force the enemy to tie up their resources, in the hunt for the men, their transfer and later captivity. It has been said by some that after the escape, the Germans had 100,000 in the youth movement, the military, the police and others searching every possible escape route, trains, buses, etc and checking homes and barns to find these officers. That took up lots of time, manpower and dollars that could have been spent on more warlike activities. Many resources say the number of 100,000 was very low.

Back at Loft lll the German guards and their own officers were horrified with what the Gestapo did, and tried to assure the POW's in camp that they had nothing to do with the crimes and wanted the men to know that. They felt so bad they even helped by giving some land to the Allies to erect a memorial to the murdered men. 
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This is an early image of that memorial located near the edge of the camp.

While one of the Urns containing the ashes of a murdered officer went elsewhere for burial, 49 came back to the camp and ultimately were placed within this memorial. In later days upright markers were added containing the engraved names and ranks of each of the 50 murdered men. 

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Years later a long line of markers with the names of the murdered Allied Officers were layed out at the compound were the camp once stood.

The line is in fact directly above where the very tunnel travelled. The entrance being duly marked, at the base, and was near the corner of old hit #104. One of the exterior walls of that hut are depicted by the  black row of stakes  near where the fellow is standing and perhaps taking a picture.

Notice the young trees at the top of the page. These were not there in 1944 as all were chopped down. At the very top end of the picture, but  a few feet down would have been the edge of the camp and the barbed wire fences and  entanglements.

Beyond that was about a 30 foot open ground area (after trees were cut down in 1944,) and at that point is where the exit of the tunnel came up from 30 feet below ground. It appears in the image that there may be people at that location.

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These markers show the end of the tunnel and the exact point from which the 80 prisoners made their initial escape. Several dozen were below ground awaiting their turn when a guard stumbled onto it and all hope was lost for the rest waiting their turn.

The marker inscription is in Polish, and says..."To the Allied Airmen, prisoners of STALAG LOFT lll, participants in the GREAT ESCAPE, Zagan, 2004."  


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The camp monument to these men has been cleaned up over the years and now had three tablets that list each of the 50 officers that were murdered.

Hank Birkland's name is on the first tablet on the left and in upper left corner. He was from Spear Hill Manitoba. Jimmy Wernham was from Winnipeg. George Wiley was from Windsor Ontario. Their names are on the right side of the center tablet about mid way down. Gordon Kidder was from St. Catherines Ont.,and Pat Langford was from Alberta. Their names are at the top, and bottom of the left side of the far right tablet. George McGill was from Toronto and, while difficult to read,  his name appears a few down from the top of the right side of the 3rd panel, or a few from the top on the left side of the first panel. These Canadians were obviously among the other 44 murdered.

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This is a close up shot I found of the third panel and here you can see  Langford's name at  the bottom left.

In the early 1960's the very successful movie..."The Great Escape"  came out. It was based on the book of the same name written by Paul Brickhill, an Australian pilot attached to the RAF. The introduction for his book was written by George Harsh, an American but serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.  Brickhill. like some 131,000 got training in Canada under the plan called the Empire Air Training Scheme. With only three officers actually finally making it back to England after the escape, two of these were also trained in Canada under this program.

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Many of the famous actors of the day played key roles in this Hollywood movie made for the American public. Steve McQueen was not as well known as some of the others in the movie  at the time but he was rapidly becoming so.

One reference I found said that he was a little insecure in his earlier days, and whilst on the set for this movie in Europe in 1962, he walked off the set... and stayed off for two weeks because  he thought a fellow actor was getting to much attention in the movie. That fellow was James Garner. So the script writers went back to the drawing board and introduced the whole motorcycle stunt that McQueen, an avid racer of bikes, loved. Trouble is, there was no such event involved in the real story, especially one where  he jumps over a 60 ft wire fence with the Alps in the background for added effect. Truth be told, he became famous in part because of the Motor Cycle scene even though he did not even ride in the scene! A stunt man did the scene as the insurance folks were too nervous about the possibilities of him getting hurt.

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McQueen, pictured at right in this picture during the shooting of the movie, played the part of the Cooler King, the prisoner most troublesome and often in the cooler (jail)  for his antics. His character was probably a combination of many real prisoners.

James Garner, the movie scrounger, pictured at far left, could have been also portrayals of several real POW's including  Barry Davidson, from Calgary,  who's name has appeared earlier in this series.

Between the two is Toronto born Wally Floody who played a major part in the role of a tunnelling, and was on the executive of the Organization X committee. He was requested by the Hollywood studio to be their onsite advisor, a role he gladly accepted.

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James Colburn played the role of the manufacturer and tin man, the fellow everyone could go too for the onsite making of tools and other items from scratch. Pictured at left, he stands beside Walter Floody on the set, near Munich. Men who played real roles in these jobs included Floody and Johnny Colwell, a BC farmer.

Charles Bronson, at far right, played the role of the tunnelling king, when it real life that  job was performed by Hank Berkland from Manitoba and Floody of Toronto. 

The scrounger and the forger worked closely together in the movie and real life at Luft lll. In the movie, as in real life the forger started to develop eye problems, In the movie he goes blind. The scene below is with Garner partnering up with Donald Pleasence in the role of forger and  just getting out of the tunnel where Garner is committed to assist Pleasence at every step of the escape and be his "eyes". 

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Pleasence plays the role of true life POW Tony Pengelly of Truro Nova Scotia.

Over the last seven blogs on this subject you have read the names on almost 30 Canadians who played key roles in the planning and digging of the tunnels, their security and camouflage, the security above and below ground, the scrounging and forging divisions,  the distractions like the boxing, golf, theatre etc and sand disbursement teams. Over 600 men played a role in the above and below ground work. About 1/3rd of these were Canadians. In fact, it was a Canadian who got back to England after the war and gave the horrific news of the 50 men murdered to MI 5 that in part probably played a role in the investigations and later war crimes trials. And Canadians appeared before those hearings.

The movie has been reported as being about the third MOST downloaded, viewed at a theatre or taken out of the library, of ALL war time movies EVER.

While many Americans helped in the early stages with the digging of HARRY, the later work in the tunnel mostly did not involve them. It is believed that three got out, but were later captured and  NONE of the Americans were executed. Six Canadians were.

Yet the incredible Canadian involvement in this story is not the message any viewer gets after having watched the movie. It is 3 hours long. At one point a German Guard teases a POW about fighting for England and reminds the POW that it was England that attacked the US during the War of 1812.

That is the closest to a Canadian reference I found a few weeks back when I again watched the movie. I did not hear the words "Canada" or "Canadian" once in those three hours!

Strange, in a movie clearly more about Canadians than Americans!

Back on Wednesday.

Bart






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    Author;
    Bart Armstrong, C.D.,
    Recipient, Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers 

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