Lost Airmen of Buchenwald

Lost Airmen of Buchenwald is a documentary that chronicles the little-known story of Allied airmen imprisoned at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in the waning months of World War II.

In the summer of 1944, 168 airmen from the US, England, Canada and other Allied countries were captured in Paris by the German Gestapo and sent to the infamous "Koncentration Lager Buchenwald" in Germany. Falsely accused of being "terrorists and saboteurs," the airmen faced a terrifying fight for survival and a race against time to escape their execution.

A controversial moment in history that their home countries tried to hush-up, Lost Airmen of Buchenwald tells this harrowing story through interviews with seven surviving members of the group, including their heroic commanding officer. The film follows them from their days hiding with the French Resistance to the darkest corners of the Holocaust, where they struggled to survive as Germany collapsed under the weight of the advancing Russian and Allied armies.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: The seven airmen interviewed for the documentary were: Joe Moser, E.C. Freeman, Ed Carter-Edwards, Chasten Bowen, James Stewart, Don Shearer and Phil Lamason.

A copy of the DVD was presented to Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society 30 November 2011 by F/L James A. Stewart, DFC, ONB, one of the seven airmen interviewed.

For more information: http://www.lostairmen.com/

A horse, hope and humanity

Remembering: Adopted mascot returned to N.B. with 8th Hussars Regiment

Two Members of the 8th Hussars Regiment with Princess
Louise after helping to rescue the wounded filly in Italy
during the Second World War.

SUSSEX - Princess Louise - the horse, not Queen Victoria's daughter - is buried beside a war memorial in a pretty little park outside the community centre in Hampton.

Rescued in 1944 from a battlefield in Italy by a battalion full of New Brunswick farm boys, Princess Louise was as sweet-tempered as a sugar cube and able to count out her age with her hoof. Adopted as a mascot by the 8th Hussars Regiment and named after the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, she was secreted around Europe by soldiers as they fought the Germans, and smuggled into Canada following the Second World War.

Gordon and Mary Bickerton, who took
care of the Hussars' mascot horse Princess
Louise, stand in front of a mural on the side
of a building in Sussex.

"She loved the troops and the troops loved her," says Gordon Bickerton, 91, sitting at his kitchen table in Sussex, a rural town east of Saint John where an equestrian centre and sports park carries the horse's name, and a mural of her is painted on the side of a building just off its main thoroughfare. "She was very kind and easy to look after."

Assigned to take care of Princess Louise after she was brought to Sussex to be reunited with the 8th Princess Louise's Hussars, Bickerton drove her to military parades across the Maritimes, where she marched at the front and was saluted by soldiers.

"Sometimes, during the parades, she fell asleep," says Bickerton, who joined the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps in 1941 and in 1948 joined the Hussars as a tank and truck mechanic, a position he held for 25 years. "Eventually, I'd have to tug on her ear and say, 'Princess Louise, wake up!'?

On a day for remembering fallen soldiers, aged veterans will gather around the cenotaph in Hampton today and think of their comrades and, undoubtedly, Princess Louise. They have never forgotten the horse who brought a touch of humanity to the killing fields of Europe.

Amidst all that bloodshed and chaos and agony, she reminded them of New Brunswick's rolling countryside and the things they cherished back home.

"At the time, we were soldiers doing a difficult job and mostly thankful that we were still alive," Frank Gaunce, 99, says as he sits beside his hospital bed in Sussex, where he is recovering from a broken hip. A member of the 8th Hussars Regiment, he was on the battlefield on the sweltering night of Sept. 16, 1944, when Princess Louise was discovered, months old and crying with a belly wound and walking circles around her dead mother. "Having that horse around helped raise our morale."

A battle unit based in Sussex with ties to Canada's oldest cavalry regiment, the Hussars retrieved Princess Louise from the front lines with artillery above their heads. They then took her to a company medic, who treated her wounds, and after that they took turns changing her bandages to prevent infection.

As the war ground on, they concealed her in a truck in which they had built her a stall and took her everywhere they went, through Italy, France and Holland.

When they war ended, they placed her in a pasture in Holland and, against orders, arranged for her to be shipped to New York aboard a Dutch liner.

A few months later after crossing the ocean, Princess Louise was met by one of the Hussars in New York, and then placed aboard a train and taken to Saint John, where she arrived on March 27, 1946 and was greeted by a military honour guard, the city's mayor and thunderous cheers.

The following day, children were let out of school to watch as she was paraded through the streets of neighbouring Rothesay, and then was taken to the courthouse steps in Hampton where she was given a bale of hay, bag of oats and a shovel, and made a naturalized citizen of Canada, a free woman of Kings County and a full-fledged member of the local Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.

Her last pair of horseshoes are displayed at the Legion hall in Hampton, a short distance from where she lays at rest beside the cenotaph along with her daughter, Princess Louise II. Princess Louise was 29 when she died in 1973, and Princess Louise II, who assumed the role of the Hussars' mascot after her mother, died at age 27 in 1981.

Princess Louise and her daughter Princess Louise II, both of
whim served as mascots for the 8th Hussars Regiment are
buried together near the cenotaph in Hampton

A piece of history, the beloved filly was written about in a children's book by Ana Dearborn-Watts and chronicled by the Reader's Digest. A hit everywhere she went, in parades she was dressed in Hussars' regalia and, occasionally, she misbehaved.

Once, she ate a bouquet of flowers intended for the guest of honour at a ceremonial parade, another time she left a deposit at the legislature. Often, when she was supposed to be standing at attention, she was digging through the pockets of Bickerton's wife, Mary, searching for sugar cubes.

Always, she ate like a horse, favouring equine staples, as well as tobacco, whiskey and beer.`

"She ate just about anything," says Mary Bickerton, 85, who on Nov. 20 will celebrate her 68th wedding anniversary with Gordon. "The only thing she didn't eat was cheese."

On Princess Louise's 25th birthday, a party was thrown in Sussex, the home of the Hussars. The chef at a local military base baked her a cake out of oatmeal and cigarettes and layered it with icing and raw carrots.

Gordon Bickerton presented it to Princess Louise, who eyeballed it for a second.

"Then she drove her nose into the middle of it, nearly up to her eyes," he says. "She nearly knocked me down. She split the cake in two."

A native of England who moved to New Brunswick as a baby, Bickerton enlisted in the Second World War. He was in London, walking in Trafalgar Sqaure, when he and an Army buddy met Mary and a friend.

In no time the boys were chatting them up and the couples paired off. Later that night, they thought better of their choices, and switched - and now the Bickertons have been together seven decades, have three children, six grandchildren and six great-great grandkids.

A native of London, Mary moved to rural New Brunswick following the war, to Millstream, near Sussex.

"I knew there was no water in the house and I knew there was an outhouse way out back with catalogues that weren't there for reading, but hearing about it is one thing and living it is something else," she says.

Now, of course, that seems long ago, and it is. But they share a lifetime of memories, and a love for a horse that was rescued from a battlefield in Italy.

One time, while trying to apply for a military medal for Princess Louise, the Bickertons chased her around a field in Sussex trying to get her to step on an ink pad because the form required her signature.

"She looked at us like we were crazy," Mary says.

A former member of the Canadian Women's Army Corps, she helped her husband in the keeping of Princess Louise.

"The children used to call me 'the horse's mother'," she says. "They could have called me something worse."

SOURCE: The New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal (Saint John, NB) - November 11, 2011.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: Princess Louise made numerous appearances at Camp Utopia during the 1950's.

Services remember history, fallen

Column: Fourth of a four-part series of columns remembering those who served at Pennfield Ridge Air Station.

Since 2009, the Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society has been hosting the Pennfield Ridge War Memorial Service. The overall purpose of the service is to "Honour the seventy-eight (78) service personnel killed at these two Charlotte County bases; remember those who have since gone on to join their comrades in the sky and listen to the stories from those we still have with us."

To aid us in hosting these services, we have spent countless hours pouring through microfilms, acquiring aircraft accident reports, scouring old newspapers looking for news accounts, etc. Recording the numerous “prangs” however was just the first step and once completed we began the arduous task to seek out the families of those killed at the base.

This past July we hosted our third memorial service and held a banquet dinner at the St. George Legion to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Pennfield Ridge Air Station. Next year we will celebrate the 70th anniversary of A-30 Canadian Infantry Training Centre (Camp Utopia) and the 80th anniversary of the landing of Capt. James Mollison.

On 2 December 2010, as we continued our on-going research for locating families members and preparations for the pending memorial service, we received a phone call from Frank V Burnham from Sidmouth, England. We had previously contacted Frank’s cousin Michael Burnham who had visited here in September 2008. With the encouragement of his cousin Michael and with an invitation from our society to attend the upcoming memorial service, Frank made plans to make his first trip to Canada.

On Friday 22 July Frank flew into the Greater Moncton International Airport where a welcoming committee of four met him. Shortly before his arrival Everett McQuinn, a Second World War Veteran and a member of the Turnbull Chapter (CAHS), turned to me and asked me if I knew what Mr. Burnham looked like. I told him I did not and with the words still lingering in the air I said: “Here he comes now” which received a puzzled look from McQuinn. Although I did not know what he looked like, I had seen 2 photographs of his brother Hugh, and coming down the ramp was an older gentleman who bore a strong striking resemblance to Hugh.

Brenda Ferguson, Mayor George LeBlanc, Frank Burnham,
Christian Larsen & Everett McQuinn

Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc, who officially welcomed Mr. Burnham to the city, soon joined us and presented Mr. Burnham with a gift from Mayor and council. From the airport we ventured off to Elmwood Cemetery where Mr. Burnham knelt before the grave of his long-lost brother, whispered a final prayer and said farewell 68 years later. He also paid his final respects to P/O P.L. Edmond (RAAF) who is buried next to Hugh. The third crewmember, Sgt. J.E. Hogan, lies buried at St. Bernard’s Roman Catholic Cemetery, our last stop before leaving Moncton.

Frank Burnham visits the grave of his brother for the first time.

We then headed off to St. Andrews where he spent the weekend at a lovely bed and breakfast within the historic seaside resort community. F/L James A. (Jim) Stewart, DFC, ONB (Ret.) was gracious enough to provide Mr. Burnham a tour of the area on Saturday and brought him to the memorial service on Sunday.

Jim Stewart has been accommodating enough to lay the RAF wreath every year since we began hosting these services. Although never stationed at Pennfield Ridge. he did receive a portion of his training in Canada at No. 39 Flying Service Training School, Swift Current, SK in 1942. The closest he came to Pennfield Ridge, during the Second World War, was when the train he was aboard rolled through Moncton on the way to No.1 “Y” Depot in Halifax, NS.

At the conclusion of the banquet dinner, where both Frank and Jim were guest of honour, we took Frank on a brief tour of the base to see where Hugh spent some of his final days and then back to St. Andrews for the night.

The following day we returned Frank to Moncton so he could begin the journey back to England. Upon his return home Frank wrote, in part, “I did appreciate the memorial service and all that you are doing to keep alive the need to remember those who gave their lives in the doing of their duty to the security of our country.”

We look forward to the next memorial service and hopefully being joined by yet more family members. The memories of long ago are still very much present in all those who remember the base – Veterans, family members who have heard the stories or the older members of our community who were a part of the greatest generation.

The purpose of these columns is to awaken the general public interest and in addition, to bring forth more of the unrecorded history of this “Forgotten Base”.

The base had a major economic impact on the communities surrounding it from St. Stephen to Saint John and all points in between. However, 70 years later, there is nothing to suggest the significant role those blueberry fields played in the allies winning the war. Recording this history (still on-going) makes us realize that one should not be able to drive by this base without knowing its existence. Provincial Historic Designation is currently being sought so this location can be properly marked and perhaps a place created where people can read some of the stories and see photographs of what took place here. We need to remember all those who served and make sure the forgotten heroes, those who died in the preparation of war before their finest hour such as Sgt. H.J. (Hugh) Burnham, are honoured.

Per Ardua Ad Astra.

SOURCE: The Saint Croix Courier (St. Stephen, NB) - November 8, 2011.

Remembering Sgt. Hubert John Burnham

Column: Third of a four-part series of columns remembering those who served at Pennfield Ridge Air Station.

As mentioned in Tuesday's column, one of the 1943 crashes was that of Ventura AJ211 near Richibucto on 8 February 1943 claiming Sgt. Hubert John (Hugh) Burnham (RAAF) (Pilot) and two others.

Hugh was born 5 September 1923 in Worthing, Sussex, England to Albert George and Doris May Burnham. At the age of 15 he traveled to Australia under the Big Brother Movement that was organized by the Boy Scouts. The idea of the program was to provide young men an opportunity to start a new life in an exciting developing country. It was here that Hugh worked as a Farm and Station Hand at “Innesfail” in Gurley, NSW, Australia.

On 1 March 1941 Hugh submitted an “Application for Air Crew” but being only 17 years of age he was not accepted. With his ultimate goal of returning back to England he was not put off and 9 September 1941 he enrolled himself in the reserves. On 11 October 1941 he enlisted himself in the permanent forces of the Royal Australian Air Forces.

At once he was sent to No.2 Initial Training School in Lindfield to begin his training, and by December was to begin his pilot training. On 22 May 1942 he was attached to the Royal Canadian Air Force and embarked Melborne the following day aboard the Argentina to continue his training in Canada. He arrived in San Francisco harbour 20 June 1942.

Upon his arrival he began a journey across Canada, via train, with his first stop three days later at No.33 Service Flying Training School in Carberry, Manitoba. It was here, upon graduation, that he was awarded his Flying Badge and promoted to the rank of Sergeant 23 October 1942. He was then granted a 14-day leave and, upon completion of the leave, was to report to No.34 Operational Training Unit at Pennfield Ridge.

Hugh arrived at No.34 OTU 7 November 1943 to be part of Course No.6 (Pilots) that began 9 November 1943. The cold winter weather of the Maritimes was not kind to Hugh and he spent, in total, 11 days in the station hospital in December during two separate visits.

On 16 January 1943 Course No.6 was detached to No.34 OTU Detachment in Yarmouth, NS for their armament-training portion of the course. As the Station ORB recounts: “A shuttle service of aircraft was arranged, but the weather closed in at Yarmouth with the result that only two Ansons and one Ventura were able to land there, the remaining aircraft being recalled to Base.”

The Ventura that landed was Ventura AE926 containing five airmen from Course No.6 as passengers, one of them being Burnham. Upon landing the starboard undercarriage collapsed but none of those aboard where injured.

Two days short of returning back to Pennfield Ridge for graduation, Sgt. H.J. Burnham and crew of two climbed into Ventura AJ211 and took off from Yarmouth at 5:50am. on a cross-country navigation exercise.

From Yarmouth they flew to Bridgewater and then onto West Point, PEI where they turned West and began to head towards Blissville (near Fredericton). The last contact from the aircraft was received at 6:27am and what transpired over the next 48 minutes remains unknown. What is known is that at 7:15am. Ventura AJ211 crashed 4 miles from Richibucto, and exploded on impact killing the entire crew.

The crew were brought back to Moncton and laid to rest with full military honour at Elmwood Cemetery 11 February 1943. The mourning, bearer and firing parties were made up of airmen from No.31 RAF Depot and No.8 SFTS, both from Moncton.

There would be two crashes in 1944 that claimed, in total, four airmen and another two crashes in 1945 that claimed 8 airmen.

Since January 2007 Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society (PPMHS) has been working hard to record the history of the Pennfield Ridge Air Station and A-30 Canadian Infantry Training Centre, CA (Camp Utopia). Our primary focus is honouring and remembering the 78 service personnel, along with the 7 civilians, killed at the Air Station and Camp Utopia.

On Tuesday: Services remember history, fallen

SOURCE: The Saint Croix Courier (St. Stephen, NB) - November 4, 2011.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The above noted story as originally written vs the shortened one that appeared in the newspaper.

A dangerous time

Column: Second of a four-part series of columns remembering those who served at Pennfield Ridge Air Station.

After No.2 ANS closed it became No.34 Operational Training Unit (OTU), an RAF base, on 1 June 1942 flying the Lockheed Vega-Ventura. The Ventura was a twin-engine medium bomber designed to train crews destined for a Medium Bomber Squadron overseas.

It was during the tenure of No.34 OTU that close to 81% of the fatalities took place, almost 62% of those occurring in 1943 alone, with 12 fatal crashes and 5 additional aircraft being listed as “missing”.

In 1997 F/L John Park (Ret.) of Bass Hill, Australia remarked: "Such 'prangs' were quite common with 'circuits and bumps' as this was the last stop before Europe and the real thing."

Ventura AE950 would disappear over the Bay of Fundy 23 July 1942 with a crew of two; Ventura AE932 would crash 4 miles NE of Caledonia, NS and Ventura AE868 would crash on the aerodrome at “the Ridge”.

In regards to the latter crash it was witnessed by many airmen and has been recounted numerous times in print, video and verbal narratives. Anyone who witnessed the horrific crash has never forgot it no matter how hard they have tried to eradicate its memories from the pages of their mind.

The devastation of 1943 began 23 January 1943 when Ventura AE872 crashed at Hills Mountain (near Waweig) and did not let up until 10 August 1943. During this period at least one aircraft a month would crash – January and February would see 2 whereas June would see 3. To close out the year, on 19 December 1943, the Angel of Death would claim four more airmen when Ventura FD697 struck the 30’ water level indicator atop an 80’ water tower in the marshalling yards at McAdam Junction.

It was one of these crashes in 1943 that would claim the life of Sgt. H.J. (Hugh) Burnham and his crew on a cold February morning.

One of the more tragic tales is the crash of Ventura FN973 10 August 1943. On that day, the crew of Ventura FN973 was detailed to fly a cross-country mission lasting approx. 3 hrs. At 1855 they completed their task and upon return, radioed the control tower asking for permission to bomb the Utopia Range. The aircraft never made it to the range and at 1900 hours it was spotted heading out to sea. The following day Ozra Newman and his son Lawrence, of Wilson’s Beach, and another fishing vessel from Grand Manan came upon wreckage from Ventura FN973 about two hundred yards north of White Horse Island. One of the objects recovered was a life raft partially filled with water. Tangled within the ropes was the body of the Navigator, P/O R.A. Ledingham (RCAF) who survived the initial crash and later succumbed to his injuries and exposure. The other three-crew members were never found and the cause of the crash remains “obscure”.

Sometime between 1943 and 1959 an airman from the base, who was at the crash site at Hills Mountain, wrote: “We kept losing aircraft after aircraft and no one knew the reason. So many people were killed that we had to have practically a permanent funeral party. All the fatalities were among the student crews and never with the instructors. Naturally morale was rather low. It wasn’t until about mid 1943 that we found the answer.”

The answer the airman was referring to came from the investigation into Ventura AE678 that “forced” landed near the Burns Road in Digdeguash 29 May 1943. The crash killed the Pilot and injured the WAG but the aircraft itself, although it struck a tree, did not burn and was not extensively damaged. Upon examination of the wreckage it was discovered the Stromberg carburetors were full of air.

The practice of switching over to a full tank was to switch the cocks to the tanks required, then put the booster pumps on. However if the booster pumps were switched on first then it would pump air from the nearly empty tank into the carburetor stopping the engine dead. To correct this problem the carburetors were installed with a bleed pipe back to the main tank. No more aircraft were lost in this way again.

Since January 2007 Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society (PPMHS) has been working hard to record the history of the Pennfield Ridge Air Station and A-30 Canadian Infantry Training Centre, CA (Camp Utopia). Our primary focus is honouring and remembering the 78 service personnel, along with the 7 civilians, killed at the Air Station and Camp Utopia.

On Friday: Remembering Sgt. Hubert John Burnham

SOURCE: The Saint Croix Courier (St. Stephen, NB) - November 1, 2011.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The above noted story as originally written vs the shortened one that appeared in the newspaper.

Would-be rescuers mark first station fatalities

Column: first of a four-part series of columns remembering those who served at Pennfield Ridge Air Station.

A lot of changes have occurred at the former Pennfield Ridge Air Station since it closed towards the end of 1945.

This column, along with the next three to follow, is intended to focus on the 170 accidents and/or mishaps (“prangs”) at the Pennfield Ridge Air Station and ultimately honour Sgt. Hubert John (Hugh) Burnham, RAAF (Pilot). Burnham, a 19 year old from Worthing, Sussex, England serving in the Royal Australian Air Force, was chosen to represent all those killed at Pennfield Ridge due to a recent visit by his younger brother Frank V Burnham this past July. Frank, now age 86, made the journey from his native England to Canada to say his final goodbye to his beloved Hugh 68 years later. Frank represents, for many of the Commonwealth airmen killed at “the Ridge”, what numerous families have not been able to do – bid farewell to those brave airmen lost so long ago.

The former base holds a special place in the hearts and minds of those who served there. For many airmen it would be the last place in Canada they would spend their time before being posted overseas. It was here friendships would be forged that would be life long, especially those who “crewed” up and later served together in battle squadrons overseas. We have discovered that once a Veteran begins to talk about Pennfield Ridge it is hard for him to share any other memories. Family members, the next generation, have often heard the stories about Pennfield Ridge or have come across the name when they begin their own research. This is why we have heard from 24 Veterans and over 120 family members since 2007, many of whom we still maintain fairly regular contact.

There were fourteen fatal crashes in various parts of New Brunswick (9), Nova Scotia (4) and Rhode Island (1) that account for the loss of 40 airmen. Another seven aircraft crashed into various bodies of water accounting for 21/22 airmen and 1 seaman (passenger) being listed as “missing”. Families struggling with the sudden loss of loved ones were further compounded with the waiting for additional word. Long after all the searches were abandoned and all hopes for a positive outcome were exhausted; “presumption” of death was finally issued. The remaining seven airmen died from natural causes.

The base officially opened 21 July 1941 as No.2 Air Navigation School (ANS), an RCAF base, operating the Avro Anson, the mainstay of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). Sixteen days after the base opened the first minor mishap transpired when an Anson “…overran the runway into a ditch”, and then nineteen days later the first fatal crash befell the base involving two aircraft and nine airmen.

The first aircraft, Anson 6649, was out on a night navigation exercise with a crew of five when it became lost near Liverpool, NS. Dropping flares and flooding the shore with a landing light, the crew was unable to find a suitable place to land. The pilot, F/O John Barneson, a native of San Francisco serving in the RCAF, climbed to 6,000 feet and ordered the crew to bail out around 3:30 a.m. The entire crew, save Sgt. J.H. McKay who fractured his arm when he struck the tail of the plane while bailing out, escaped unharmed.

Before the crew of Anson 6649 was reported safe, a search party from Pennfield Ridge was organized.

One of the searching aircraft was Anson 6644 with a crew of four, including the pilot F/L Walter Samuel “Leslie” Smallman (RAF) who had been residing in St. George with his wife Mollie and young son since July 1941. Spotting a bonfire around 7:00 a.m. Smallman put the aircraft into a steep diving turn toward the East and as it banked, possibly with the pilot’s vision being aggravated by glare from the rising sun, the port wing struck a tree and disintegrated killing the entire crew.

This was to be the only fatal crash at No.2 ANS which existed for just over 10 months and the final line of the Station ORB reflects the mood of the station that day: "A very 'blue' Monday."

Since January 2007 Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society (PPMHS) has been working hard to record the history of the Pennfield Ridge Air Station and A-30 Canadian Infantry Training Centre, CA (Camp Utopia). Our primary focus is honouring and remembering the 78 service personnel, along with the 7 civilians, killed at the Air Station and Camp Utopia.

On Tuesday: A dangerous time

SOURCE: The Saint Croix Courier (St. Stephen, NB) - October 25, 2011.

Reflections, Pennfield Ridge Air Station

A lot of changes have occurred at the former Pennfield Ridge Air Station since it closed towards the end of 1945. So much unwritten history is located on this hallow piece of ground and yet many of those unrecorded voices have been silenced by the cold hand of death. Priceless memories continually slip through the hourglass of time to be forever lost in the continuum of life. It's now a race against father time and he, as always, has the advantage on his side. Also, so many unfilled dreams of a brighter tomorrow ended before they really had a chance to begin. The youthful exuberance of the innocent and an uncertainty of a tomorrow often exacted a high toll on those who answered the call of duty.

Since January 2007 Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society (PPMHS) has been working hard to record the history of the Pennfield Ridge Air Station and A-30 Canadian Infantry Training Centre, CA (Camp Utopia). Our primary focus is honouring and remembering the 78 service personnel, along with the 7 civilians, killed at the Air Station and Camp Utopia.

Our column is intended to focus on Pennfield Ridge Air Station. The former base holds a special place in the hearts and minds of those who served there. For many airmen it would be the last place in Canada they would spend their time before being posted overseas. It was here friendships would be forged that would be life long, especially those who "crewed" up and later served together in battle squadrons overseas. We have discovered that once a Veteran begins to talk about Pennfield Ridge it is hard for him to share any other memories. Family members, the next generation, have often heard the stories about Pennfield Ridge or have come across the name when they begin their own research. This is why we have heard from 23 Veterans and over 120 family members since 2007, many of whom we still maintain fairly regular contact.

There were fourteen fatal crashes in various parts of New Brunswick (9), Nova Scotia (4) and Rhode Island (1) that account for the loss of 40 airmen. Another seven aircraft crashed into various bodies of water accounting for 21/22 airmen and 1 seaman (passenger) being listed as “missing”. Families struggling with the sudden loss of loved ones were further compounded with the waiting for additional word. Long after all the searches were abandoned and all hopes for a positive outcome were exhausted; “presumption” of death was finally issued. The remaining seven airmen died from natural causes.

One of the more tragic tales is the crash of Ventura FN973 10 August 1943. On that day, the crew of Ventura FN973 was detailed to fly a cross-country mission lasting approx. 3 hrs. At 1855 they completed their task and upon return, radioed the control tower asking for permission to bomb the Utopia Range. The aircraft never made it to the range and at 1900 hours it was spotted heading out to sea. The following day Ozra Newman and his son Lawrence, of Wilson’s Beach, and another fishing vessel from Grand Manan came upon wreckage from Ventura FN973 about two hundreds yards north of White Horse Island. One of the objects recovered was a life raft partially filled with water. Tangled within the ropes was the body of the Navigator, P/O R.A. Ledingham (RCAF) who survived the initial crash and later succumbed to his injuries and exposure. The other three-crew members were never found and the cause of the crash remains “obscure”.

A total of 27 members of the Royal Canadian Air Force, save one, were all returned to their native provinces for burial. The other airmen from Commonwealth Countries (9 Royal Air Force, 6 Royal Australian Air Force and 6 Royal New Zealand Air Force), were buried with full military honours near where they were killed or died. Family members were sometimes sent photographs from the military funerals and were always left with more questions than answers. Many of these questions have gone unanswered for 60 plus years now. We have discovered it is now the second generation who have picked up the torch and have begun the search for answers.

Sgt. R.F. (Ron) Brier’s younger sister June (along with her husband) and a niece (daughter of another sister) made the trip from New Zealand to Canada in June 2000. The niece later remarked, “It was a cold, miserable, foggy day and it was a very bleak isolated place but it was wonderful to BE THERE. and to walk were Ron had walked. We only stayed about 1/4 hour and felt that we could understand what the flying conditions would have been like.”

Helping to answer those long held unanswered questions is why we have spent countless hours pouring through microfilms, acquiring aircraft accident reports, scouring old newspapers looking for news accounts, etc. To date we have documented over 170 accidents and/or mishaps that occurred at the former Air Station.

The majority of these accidents and/or mishaps naturally relate to aircraft accidents. In addition to the 70 service personnel killed, another two airmen were “seriously” injured; fifteen airmen were “slightly” injured and another seven airmen bailed out of their respective aircrafts. A couple of the reports pertain to fires at the Quonset huts at the bombing range in Musquash and five relate to various car accidents involving, in total, 16 airmen (1 fatality) and 3 civilian fire fighters stationed at the base.

One these vehicle reports relates to Military Transport Vehicle enroute to Saint John to take volunteer blood donors to the hospital 19 February 1942. An icy road caused the wagon to skid into S.M.T. bus injuring 5 airmen. The regular Blood Donor Clinic in St. George, which some local residents may recall, did not begin until 7 February 1943. Dr. R.D. Smith and Dr. F.V. Maxwell ran the clinic with many local nurses, residents and Boy Scouts assisting in vacuous capacities.

Still many minor mishaps and/or “close” calls went unrecorded and only until Veterans and/or family members steps forward to share their stories, the total number shall remain unknown.

An RAAF airman, F/L Nevin (“The Fox”) Filby (Ret.), provides an example of an unrecorded mishap: “...what now I see as stupid bravado, I flew at a cliff, low level and delayed the pull-up. Dickie, my new WAG, was standing behind me and quite rightly dropped to the floor. The propellers kicked up stones from the cliff top and pitter-pattered against the fuselage. The propellers were nicked and were repaired, quietly, by our very co-operative ground staff and I missed out on being charged. The silliness of youth! The Venturas were slow to react, as I found out quite nervously.”

Filby’s Course No.12 at Pennfield Ridge would experience the loss of three aircraft (8 classmates killed and one seriously injured). For Filby himself it would be the personal loss of Sgt. A.E,E. (“Buck”) Rogers (RAAF). Both Filby and Rogers had trained together at No.15 SFTS, Claresholm, AB before coming to “the Ridge”. Also it would mean the loss of his first WAG, Sgt. L.A. (“Skinny”) Ellis (RAAF) who was seriously injured when the pilot of Ventura AE678 attempted a forced landing in a field near Didgeguash. Filby and his all-Australian crew would eventually fly over 50 Ops. with 98 Squadron.

An RCAF airman, P/O H.W. (“Scoot”) Muir (Ret.), offers personal insight into one of his two close calls at the base: "We were fortunate in being able to practice low-flying legally. I liked flying with F/L Owens as leader. He wasn't satisfied unless his prop-tips were picking up water or disturbing the tops of pine-trees. One afternoon we were over the bay, zero alt. when a flock of gulls decided to take off. I ended up returning to base with a gull in the oil rad. of the port engine, one in the radial engine itself and one hit the air-screen in front of me which got my attention. The engine started to run hot which made it necessary to return to base. All turned out well.”

The purpose of this column is to awaken the general public interest and in addition, to bring forth more of the unrecorded history of this “Forgotten Base”. The base had a major economic impact on the communities surrounding it from St. Stephen to Saint John and all points in between. However 70 years later, there is nothing to suggest the significant role those blueberry fields played in the allies winning the war. Recording this history (still on-going) makes us realize that one should not be able to drive by this base without knowing its existence. Provincial Historic Designation is currently being sought so this location can be properly marked and perhaps a place created where people can read some of the stories and see photographs of what took place here. We need to remember all those who served and make sure the forgotten heroes, those who died in the preparation of war before their finest hour, are honoured.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was submitted to our local newspaper for a possible column. However the editor rejected it saying: "I felt the column was a bit long – but we didn’t suggest targets. Otherwise, there was some interesting data there.

What I think I’d like to see is something along the lines of three or four entries in advance of Nov. 11, which I think would be a timely lead-in to Remembrance Day. The article you submitted earlier could become two columns if the idea of one column to highlight one past veteran were considered."

Personally speaking I think you lose many of the personnel anecdotes that breath life into the piece by focusing on just one Veteran. While it is true that each accident ultimately produced the same result, the tragic and sudden lost of a family member, they also have their own unique testimony and most, if not all, have stories wrapped up within stories. Also I feel that you, in the final edit, cut out the humanity by limiting the scope and focus to just one Veteran and ultimately highlighting that particular crash verses the others.

Walking The Ridge with Donald C.F. Moors

Christian Larsen and Veteran Donald Moors
Pennfield Ridge Air Station, 14 September 2011

Veteran Donald C.F. (Don) Moors of Nova Scotia heard a news report about the 1942 Connors murder approximately four months ago. This sparked his interest because he had been stationed at RCAF Station, Yarmouth, NS (about 2 hrs. away as the crow flies) during this time period. However he never heard any details of the crime until recently which is surprising since it received national coverage at the time.

Sgt. T.R.R. Hutchings, the accused murder, had been stationed at No.34 Operational Training Unit, Yarmouth, NS between April and May 1942. Then No.34 OTU moved to Pennfield Ridge in June 1942 and Hutchinson came here. A few months after the murder No.34 OTU, due to a shortage of buildings at "the Ridge", would establish No.34 OTU Detachment, Yarmouth between August 1942 and June 1943.

Not long after hearing the documentary, Moors contacted his son Don here in New Brunswick to see if he might be able to find additional for him. Don began by searching the internet for any information and this is when he stumbled onto my website. He then began printing off any material he thought might be of interest to his father and then would send the material, via snail mail, to his father.

The material, as with anyone who reads it, left Moors with many more questions and he then asked his son if it would be possible to travel to Pennfield Ridge. He wanted to see the base, or what remained of it, for several reasons. With the connection between No.34 OTU, Pennfield and RCAF Station, Yarmouth Moors knew a couple airmen who passed through here. More importantly he also wanted to learn more about the Connors murder and share his memories and reflections from long ago.

Moors identified, in some respects, with the accused murder since in 1942 both were Sergeants and both were married with young children, Hutchings with a young daughter back in England and Moors with twin daughters and a son who would be born shortly after Hutchinson met his maker.

So after a few phone calls and numerous e-mails a date of 14 September at 10:30 am. was set for the tour. The weather was questionable with a ground fog and cool dampness in the air but luckily no rain. However the weather was almost ideal as many of the airmen at the base would experience just such conditions.

I meet with Mr. Moors and his son Don at the Pennfield Ridge Irving. From there we traveled out to the base and began our tour. We chatted for awhile and looked over photographs that detailed the storied history of the former base. We then walked out to the one remaining structure still visible from the highway, the 25 Yd. Range.

Time may have slowed his step but memories of long ago, firmly pressed between the pages of his mind, remain ever present and very clear. We stopped near the 25 Yd. Range and took a couple photographs before heading out onto the runways. We drove around on all three of the runways which are still in remarkable condition all these years later.

After leaving the base we headed into Blacks Harbour for a small tour. It was here in the harbour that several airmen were attending a dance at the local community centre that fateful night in June 1942. Before leaving the village we drove down Deadman's Harbour Road close to the spot where Bernice Connors was eventually discovered after failing to return home from the dance the previous night.

Next stop was Comeau's Resturant for Fish'n'Chips (and a side order of scallops that father and son always share). Good food and pleasant conversation quickly pass the morning into mid-day. After recharging the batteries and discovering sunshine as we stepped outside, we head off to the St. George Rural Cemetery where 10 airmen from the base are buried.

Christian Larsen, Veteran Donald C.F. Moors and Don Moors
St. George Rural Cemetery, 14 September 2011

We spent time at the Cemetery talking about some of the crashes at the base and Moors shared his memories of the Venturas along with other aircraft that were at RCAF Station, Yarmouth. We were joined at the cemetery by my wife Sheri who presented Mr. Moors with a postcard of her painting "In Training at Pennfield Ridge".

Last stop on the tour was a trip to St. Andrews. Here we stopped at the St. Andrews Rural Cemetery to visit the unmarked grave of Hutchings. Then we stopped at the St. Andrews Courthouse where the trial was held and concluded the day by visiting the Old Goal, now home to the Charlotte County Archives. Longtime St. Andrews resident Kate Akagi was on-duty and provided us with a tour of Hutchinson cell, additional information on his time at the Old Goal and showed us a photograph of Hutchinson with jailer George Goodeill.

Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society Membership

Interested in becoming a non-voting member of PPMHS? Only requirement is as follows: 1) Veteran who served at Pennfield Ridge Air Station or A-30 Canadian Infantry Training Centre (Camp Utopia) or 2) Family member of a Veteran who served at one of these two bases.

Membership is currently free of charge but donations are always appreciated to assist us in continuing forward the annual "Pennfield Ridge War Memorial Services", military research, etc. PPMHS is a registered charity.

Send an e-mail to G Christian Larsen at pennfieldparish@yahoo.com for membership.

Donations are currently being accepted for "Pennfield Ridge War Memorial Project".

Airfield Kindles Memories

They came from across the continent, and across the seas to see a place that will forever have a role in their lives.

In the early 1940's, Pennfield Ridge was home to a bustling air force base, over the weekend a number of veterans and family members returned to the base for a weekend of remembering.

Maureen Bearpark made her first trip to Canada to see where her father Frank Ablett spent two years working as an accounting clerk between 1942 and 1944.

Ablett was with the RAF and had been stationed in Pennfield from Hull, England.

On Saturday evening she paused to look into a stand of alders at the place where the administrative building once stood.

Bearpark was accompanied on her journey from Withernsea, England by her husband Terry, and daughter Janet to see this spot that her father talked so much about.

The family brought a number of photos of Ablett, and Janet brought her grandfather's engagement ring, which she wore to the memorial service on Sunday.

Ablett always told his wife, Lilly, that when he retired he was going to take her to Canada. Sadly they never made the trip.

"Because of ill health they never made it, and now I have lost them both," said Bearpark.

The family spent time touring the area and seeking to meet some of the people that her father may have met.

Among those people were Doris Noddin and Lydia Hanselpacker who danced with the young RAF pilot in training.

For Peter Manning, the trip to Pennfield was coming home.

Manning's father, George Edward (Jim) Manning came from England to train at the base and met Randi Silvertsen from Blacks Harbour.

The Silvertsen family had come from Norway to work at Connors Bros. On April 8, 1944 Silvertsen and Manning were married at St. Mark's church rectory in St. George.

This was not Manning's first trip to the airfield. He had flown out of Pennfield with his father as pilot.

"It was my beginning here," said Manning.

Two years ago he returned to the area to bury his mother.

Manning made the trip with his daughter Charlotte, who was in Charlotte County for her first time.

After her husband died in England, Randi came to live with her son and his family in B.C. so Charlotte grew up listening to stories from her grandmother.

"My Norwegian grandma was a very big part of my life," said Charlotte.

Charlotte related that her grandmother always talked fondly of the area and her early life in Blacks Harbour.

John Charters has personal memories of the airbase.

It was here in 1945 that he was on a Ventura bomber that crashed on the highway by the airfield. Although all three crew walked away, the plane was a total loss.`

The next day Charters found the plane on the base where it had been taken. He climbed up on the wing, and removed a section of one of the Plexiglas windows.

From that, he fashioned a heart approximately seven centimetres high. He mailed the heart to his girlfriend, Barbara, back in Quebec, to remember him by.

In 1947, the couple married and over the years they continued on with life. They had a son and two daughters. Along came four grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

A few years ago he found the heart, and had it set into a gold frame and hung from a gold chain. Barbara wore the pendant to the dinner on Sunday.

Dave Poissant came to the event from Mississauga, Ont. Poissant serves as the chair of the second Tactical Air Force Medium Bombers Association. He was at the memorial because his father Cyrille (Cy) Poissant trained at the base.

"I was here last year for the ceremony, and this year I am laying a wreath," said Poissant.

Poissant has always had a fascination with all things military because of his father's service.

Another visitor from away was Frank Burnham.

Burnham flew into Moncton from England and went in search of his brother's grave.

Pilot Sgt. Hubert Burnham was one of the three Royal Australian Air Force airmen who were killed when the Ventura bomber they were in went down near Richibucto on Feb. 8, 1943.

Frank was met at the airport by the mayor of Moncton and was taken to the Elmwood Cemetery where his brother was buried alongside wireless air gunner Sgt. John E. Hogan. Navigator Sgt. Phillip Llewellyn Edmond was buried at St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Cemetery - also in Moncton.

Frank is a quiet soft spoken man who said he was touched by the kindness shown to him as he visited the area.

As he looked out over the assembled crowd of veterans, and those who felt an attachment to them, at a dinner held Sunday there was a hint of mischief in his voice.

"I wonder how many tall tales are being told right now?", he mused.

And at every table there were stories being told.

SOURCE: The Saint Croix Courier (St. Stephen, NB) - July 26, 2011.

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July 23rd, 2011: "Walking The Ridge"

July 24th, 2011: Conclusion of "Pennfield Ridge War Memorial Service"

Brother says farewell to long-lost airman

Pilot Sgt. Hubert Burnham was one of two RAAF and one RNZAF airmen killed in a plane crash near Richibucto on Feb. 8, 1943.

Frank Burnham visits the grave of his brother for the first time yesterday at Elmwood Cemetery.

Frank Burnham knelt before the grave of his long-lost brother last night, whispering a final prayer and saying farewell 68 years after a plane crash near Moncton that killed his brother and two other members, a Royal Australian Air Force airmen and a Royal New Zealand Air Force airmen.

"I feel mixed feelings," Frank Burnham, 86, said after a private visit to his brother's grave in Moncton's Elmwood Cemetery last night. "There is a sense that I could weep. But there's another sense that I feel very proud that he gave his life like so many others. You see the stupidity of war and can't understand how politicians can talk and talk and say we're going to settle it."

Frank's brother, Pilot Sgt. Hubert Burnham, was only 19 years old when he died. He was the pilot of a Ventura bomber flying on a training mission on the morning of Feb. 8, 1943. They were flying out of Yarmouth, N.S., when the plane went down in an explosive crash in a boggy area approximately four miles northeast of Richibucto.

Also killed were navigator Sgt. Philip Llewellyn Edmond, 27, of Adamstown, New South Wales, Australia; and wireless air gunner Sgt. John E. Hogan, 22, of Ruatoria, Gisborne, New Zealand. Burnham and Hogan were buried at Moncton's Elmwood Cemetery. Edmond was buried at St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Cemetery on Pleasant Street.

Frank said his family lived in Sussex, England, and his big brother decided for some reason that he wanted to go to Australia to work on a sheep farm. He hadn't been there very long when war broke out. And as soon as he was old enough, Hubert went to Sydney and signed up with the RAAF. He had completed his pilot training in Australia and came to Canada for advanced bomber training. He was only a few days shy of graduation when he was killed in the crash.

Frank says he was 17 in 1943, working as an air raid patrolman, and vividly remembers the night the knock came on the door with the delivery of the bad news. He was in bed, his father went to the door and then upstairs. Then he heard his mother scream in anguish.

But in Sussex, England in 1943, the news of war was all around. England had been pounded by air raids and ships were being sunk by submarines.

"The neighbours were getting similar news from the army, the navy, the air force, so it was all around us," he said.

"War is a different kettle of fish. As civilians, you are just as vulnerable as a soldier or a sailor and you have to accept it, put up with it. Everyone was under pressure."

Frank says he thought about his brother for a long time and felt he should make a trip to Canada to say goodbye. But it wasn't until his cousin Michael came to Moncton, saw the grave and urged him to make the trip that he relented. He was met at the Greater Moncton Airport last night by Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc and G. Christian Larsen, president of the Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society. Hubert Burnham was actually stationed with the Pennfield Ridge Air Station, but was detached to No.34 Detachment in Yarmouth shortly before his fateful flight.

This weekend, Frank Burnham will be the guest of honour at a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Pennfield Ridge Air Station near Saint John.

Larsen says the ceremony will honour the 70 airmen and six civilians killed at the base during training operations during the Second World War.

Moncton was also home to training bases of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan, and at least 11 fatal crashes occurred around the Moncton region.

SOURCE: Times & Transcript (Moncton, NB) - July 23rd, 2011.

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Brenda Ferguson, Mayor George LeBlanc, Frank Burnham, Christian Larsen & Everett McQuinn

"In Training Pennfield Ridge" Painting

The below painting was donated to "Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society" in 2009 to raise funds for "Pennfield Ridge War Memorial Service".

Original Piece of Art Work by Sheri L. (Burhoe) Larsen measuring 11" x 14" (Oil and Acrylic on canvas).

Tickets are $2.00 each or 3 for $5.00 with all proceeds going to "Pennfield Ridge War Memorial Service". The winning ticket will be drawn at this year's memorial service.

For more information please see:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nbpennfi/penn8b1PPMHS_ArtRaffle.htm

P/O Harold Otho Male (1919-1942)

Sgt. H.O. Male (GB657604) was part of Course No.1 (Pilots) at No.34 Operational Training Unit, Pennfield Ridge, NB. Upon graduation from this course 11 September 1942 Sgt. H.O. Male was “screened and retained at this Unit [No.34 O.T.U.] to fill staff vacancies.”

On 19 November 1942 Male was granted a commission rank which did not appear in "The London Gazette” until 19 January 1945.

On 20 November 1942, while employed as a staff pilot at No.34 OTU Detachment in Yarmouth, he was killed when his aircraft (Ventura AE932) crashed 4 miles N.E. of Caledonia, Queens, Co., NS. He was buried with full military honours 23 November 1942 at Mountain View Cemetery in Yarmouth, NS.

In December 2008 Sheri & I headed off to Nova Scotia in an attempt to photograph the various military markers for Pennfield Ridge training casualties scattered throughout the province. On 14 December 2008 we visited Mountain View Cemetery where Male and three other airmen from No.34 OTU are laid to rest. Male's military marker, as we discovered, reflects his old rank "Sgt. Pilot" and his non-commissioned service number.

On 14 March 2011 I sent a letter to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Ottawa, along the supporting documentation to see if this marker could be replaced. Yesterday Sheri received a call from a representative of the CWGC saying that the marker would be replaced this coming summer.

The phone call was followed up by an e-mail on 15 April 2011 saying: "Thank you for bringing to our attention the discrepancy between the information listed in the CWGC database and that inscribed on the headstone of Pilot Officer Harold O. MALE. As I mentioned to your wife, we will arrange to have the existing headstone replaced this year with a new one. The enclosed sketch depicts the layout of the new headstone. Thank you again for your interest in this matter."

Mountain View Cemetery - Yarmouth, NS (14 December 2008)

70th Anniversary Pennfield Ridge Air Station Anniversary Celebration

"The Historica-Dominion Institute says the average age of Canada's 125,000 remaining Second World War veterans is 88 years. They are passing away at a rate of 400 to 500 a week, meaning that in another five years or so, all but the hardiest of Canada's 1.1 million Second World War vets will be gone."
SOURCE: The Canadian Press - November 11, 2010.

Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society has been acting as a steward for the "Pennfield Parish War Memorial Service" for two years now. After another successful service our society has decided to step into the role of permanent host. This will allow us the freedom and control to tailor the event to a true memorial service.

Pennfield Ridge Air Station and A-30 Canadian Infantry Training Centre (Camp Utopia) will celebrate their 70th anniversaries on Thursday, 21 July 2011 and Wednesday, 1 August 2012 respectively. To tie into these historical events, we have decided to move the "Pennfield Ridge War Memorial Service" from its usual fourth Sunday in September event to Sunday, 24 July 2011 and Sunday, 5 August 2012. At the conclusion of each respective memorial service a formal banquet will be held at The Royal Canadian Legion (Branch No.40), St. George. This dinner will provide a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and to make new ones.

Celebrating Three Years of Military Research

P/O D.S.Cormack, P/O S.J. James and Sgt. T.M. Hunter disappeared off Point Escuminac into the Gulf of St. Lawrence 26 January 1943. Sixty-four years after the disappearance of their aircraft I began posting material online about the Pennfield Ridge Air Station. These airmen, along with the other 67 service personnel and 6 civilians killed at Pennfield Ridge Air Station, continue to inspire me to push forward with my research. So this coming Tuesday (January 26th) will mark the third anniversary of my first posting of material, not only on air station but Camp Utopia as well.

Besides continuing with our research in the past year alone we've also taken over hosting the Pennfield Ridge War Memorial Service and have recently launched the "Pennfield Ridge War Memorial Project" as well.

Here are some of the new testimonies:

"Thanks for the wonderful work you have done with your site."
Glenn Carson, s/o Cpl. R.M. Pearce, RAF, No.34 OTU, Pennfield Ridge

"I have enjoyed your site. It is interesting to find links to my father's past in the internet."
Alex Norton, s/o Sgt. A.J. Norton, Class No.39 at No.2 ANS, Pennfield Ridge

"May I on behalf of myself & extended family, thank you & congratulate you and your Society on the wonderful, laborious efforts you have achieved in keeping alive the memories of not only 'brother Jacky' but the many others that gave up their young lives to try and stop these power hungry maniacs who just seem to keep appearing at regular intervals, wanting to take over countries and the world."
Patrick (Paddy) Hogan, brother of Sgt. John E. Hogan (1920-1943), causality at No.34 OTU Detachment, Yarmouth, NS

"Once again I would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation for what you have done in recognizing David's efforts in establishing the "Pennfield Memorial". I'm quite sure it would not have happened had it not been for you."
Joyce C. Stuart, widow of J. David Stuart. Mr. Stuart was the founding member of "Charlotte County War Memorial Committee (2005) and N.C.O. in charge of The Orderly Room (office) at No.2 ANS and No.2 OTU at Pennfield Ridge Air Station (1941-1942).

"I saw your excellent website on Pennfield Ridge."
Wayne Sturgeon, s/o Cpl. Clifford W. Sturgeon, No.2 ANS, Pennfield Ridge

Pennfield Ridge War Memorial Project

"If by chance
I am the one
I pray my God
I will have reached
My finest hour
Before my limbs
Are severed
From my body warm."
P/O Bayden Bala Williams (1917-1943)

Since 27 January 2007 G Christian Larsen has conducted extensive research on the former Pennfield Ridge Air Station. From this research a "Roll of Honour" has been established which identifies seventy (70) service personnel and six (6) civilians who were killed during the history of the former Air Station.

With the "Roll of Honour" now complete the society has decided to continue forward the work of the "Charlotte County War Memorial Committee (2005)". Their remaining goal was erecting a memorial stone listing the names of those killed at the former Air Station along with a three-tier flag pole at the memorial site. The flags to be flown are the Canadian and New Brunswick flags along with the RCAF Roundel.

P/O Williams (author of the above noted poem) was the sixteenth airmen killed at Pennfield Ridge and was among the numerous young aircrew students killed in training crashes across Canada during World War II. They all died in the service of their country while preparing for war and yet they remain forgotten heroes. They remain so simply because they died before their finest hour. We need to remember these forgotten heroes.

So many unfilled dreams of a brighter tomorrow ended before they really had a chance to begin. Sometimes the youthful exuberance of the innocent and an uncertainty of a tomorrow often exacted a high toll on those who answered the call of duty.

We need to remember ALL those who served and/or worked at the Pennfield Ridge Air Station.

The society feels this is an important goal and have been working with Smet Monuments to design a memorial stone.

The purposed monument will be dark black granite (polished on two sides with rough edges) sitting on a grey base. The overall size of the monument is scaled at 48"x8"x72" sitting on a 10" high base.

Proposed Memorial Stone

A committee of two, G. Christian Larsen and Sheri L. Burhoe, has been formed to raise the $12,000 needed to cover the cost of the memorial stone and flag pole. Smet Monuments will include all laser lettering and images as shown above, the concrete foundation work and the installation

Income tax receipts will be issued for donations of $10.00 and over.

To make a donation to this project click here.

Crash Hills Mountain, NB 23 January 1943

Today I set out to locate the crash site of Ventura AE872 that crashed at Hills Mountain, NB on 23 January 1943 claiming its entire crew. P/O B.B. Williams, RCAF (Pilot) and P/O G.A. Norriss, RNZAF (Observer) were eventually laid to rest on 27 January 1943 at St. George Rural Cemetery in St. George, NB. The third member of the crew, P/O P.W. McCarthy, RCAF (WOP/AG), was returned to Ottawa, ON for burial. My wife Sheri and I have visited the grave sites of all three of these airmen.

Taken from the accident report of the crash is the following: "P/O Williams and a crew of two took off at 0910 hours in Ventura aircraft AE872, authorized to carry out formation flying for one hour and 30 minutes with Sgt. Tovell and crew in Ventura No.658. P/O Williams and Sgt. Tovell were to share the leadership time in the formation, normally splitting the flying time into four portions.

After flying for about one hour in formation and at a time when the aircraft were heading back towards the aerodrome at a height of 2,000 ft. P/O Williams was leading; he gave the visual break-away signal and then broke away in a steep dive turn to port and Sgt. Tovell broke off in a steep climbing turn to starboard. Sgt. Tovell lost sight of Ventura 872 but later saw a fire on the ground. Eye witnesses residing some 9 miles from St. Stephen, N.B. and 37 miles from Pennfield Ridge stated that they saw two Ventura aircraft flying in formation when one broke away to the left and made a large circle, going into a steep bank and crashed into Hills Mountain which is about 300 feet higher then the surrounding country. The aircraft, Ventura 872, burst into flames on impact, exploded and was totally destroyed. All the occupants were killed.

An examination of the wreckage and of the scene of the accident disclosed that the aircraft had flown into the top of the trees in a 45° starboard wing - down, 30° nose-down altitude with considerable speed. The impact was so severe that the aircraft made a hole some four feet deep in the ground, exploded and broke into many pieces."

After traveling for a little while we located the crash site which, even after sixty-six (66) years, was still quite evident from the carter created by the force of the crash. Small pieces of the wreckage could still be found throughout the debris field.

Small fragment of Ventura AE872

After taking some GPS readings, along with some photographs to document the crash site, we stopped back at the St. George Rural Cemetery to once again visit the graves of two of the crew of Ventura AE872, namely P/O B.B. Williams and P/O G.A. Norriss. We left poppies at the foot of each their respective military markers and paused for a moment of reflection.

I'll end this posting with the first verse of a poem P/O Williams' brother "...composed when I visited my brother's grave in 1944 when I had just returned from 4 years overseas with the RAF."

"Comrades lie around me all asleep are they
In dreams of home and loved ones
I know that they will stay
For here beneath this pine strewn ground
Our rest is deep our sleep in sound."

Miramichi veteran honours soldiers who served at two bases

When our society took over hosting duties of the Fourth Annual Pennfield Ridge War Memorial Service on 26 February 2009, I wanted to put the focus back on what really mattered...the Veterans themselves. Therefore I began a search to find Veterans to represent the four Commonwealth Countries who lost airmen at Pennfield Ridge and for a Veteran who served at A-30 Canadian Infantry Training Centre (Camp Utopia).

For Camp Utopia I choose Colin Fleiger from Miramichi. I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Fleiger at his residence on September 28, 2008 about his time stationed at Camp Utopia so he was a natural choice. Therefore an invitation was sent on March 26th, 2009 asking if he would lay a wreath in memory of those who served at A-30 Canadian Infantry Training Centre (Camp Utopia) which he accepted. On September 3rd his daughter Colleen contacted me saying that her father had attended a meeting at The Royal Canadian Legion (Branch #3) in Miramichi the previous evening. During this meeting her father mentioned that he would be attending the Pennfield Ridge War Memorial Service at the end of the month. The Legion then asked him if he would inquire if it would be possible for him to lay an additional wreath, which they would supply, on their behalf. We accepted their invitation which how Mr. Fleiger came to lay two (2) wreaths at the service.

G Christian Larsen & Colin Fleiger, September 2008

Mr. Fleiger, his wife and family were all in attendance at the memorial service on Sunday, September 27th. Mr. Fleiger was quite honoured to have been invited to attend the service. Once our local paper ran the story about the service on Tuesday, September 29th, I contacted the Miramichi Leader asking if they'd be interested in doing a follow up story with Mr. Fleiger concerning his service to his country and his involvement with Camp Utopia. Not long after contacting the newspaper, Lucas McInnis contacted me saying he interviewed Mr. Fleiger and asked if it would be possible to obtain some photographs for the story. I sent him several photographs from the service, in particular two of Mr. Fleiger himself, and in the end these were the ones that were used for the story . These were the ones which were most fitting and one in particular, "Mr. Fleiger in a moment of reflection", captured the mood of the service. It was about honouring and remembering those who served.

Here is the story that was run in the Miramichi Leader on Friday, October 9th.

MIRAMICHI - When he was 16, Colin Fleiger tried to sign up to go to war.

His first try, he didn't get too far.

"He said to me, ‘you little son-of-a-bitch, I catch you back in here again I'll boot the arse right off ya.' I got scared. So I took off out the door," Fleiger reminisced about his first time trying to sign up.

It wasn't his last try.

He was told, "You got lots of time, the war's not going to be over tomorrow."

On Sept. 27, Fleiger laid down two wreaths at the Fourth Annual Memorial Service.

Colin Fleiger laying a wreath in memory of those who served at Camp Utopia

The service is held in honour of those who served at the former military bases at Charlotte County, the Pennfield Ridge Air Station and A-30 Canadian Infantry Training Centre, known as Camp Utopia.

The weather didn't cooperate that day and the memorial was moved from Pennfield Ridge war memorial to St. George Legion hall, but 150 people still managed to take in the event.

Fleiger laid the wreath on behalf of the six military personnel killed at Camp Utopia.

He laid another wreath for the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 3 as well, which is in Chatham.

"What went on there, it was more of a memory affair there," the now 83-year-old Chatham resident said.

Fleiger seems to remember those days well. Sitting on his couch he recalls memories as if they just happened, demonstrating the length of their uniforms and the base he spent time in when he was just a teen.

"I would say there would be about, at one given time, probably 2,000 or more men there," he said, speaking of the A-30 training centre. "At that time it was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, one of the biggest in Canada."

Fleiger was embraced with the idea of laying the wreaths by those holding the event: "I don't know, must have been because I was up from this area. Maybe he was trying to get different people in different areas."

Thinking back to his former camp, Fleiger remembers how different it is today.

Colin Fleiger in a moment of reflection

"There's nothing there anymore. Trees are taking over, and grass, whatever. The building are all torn down. The only thing that's left there now is the magazines where they get the ammunition, things like that."

Camp Utopia was set up like a town, he explained, with streets and buildings set up to train the soldiers for what they were to endure in the battlefield.

"Put it this way, we're all kids. All young kids. Anywhere from probably 16 to probably 25. Now, there were senior people there as well. Officers wouldn't be much more than 25 themselves, possibly thirties," he said. "You could almost picture the fellas that were there ... They're not there anymore and I'm one of the lucky ones to get out of there."

Despite the years that should have been ahead of them, Fleiger said fighting for good was all that mattered to the young soldiers.

"We may survive it, maybe we wouldn't. And there was a lot of us that didn't," he said. "I don't know. War is not a playtoy, that's for sure. It may be a rich man's playtoy but it's not a poorman's. And it's the poor man that goes."

SOURCE: Miramichi Leader (Miramichi, NB) - October 9, 2009.

Camp Utopia (Today's Remnants)

On 6 September Sheri and I explored the remnants of A-30 Canadian Infantry Training Centre, CA (Camp Utopia) once again. I'm continually amazed at how much things have changed over the thirty plus years I've been going out there. The pine trees that were planted in and around the former camp many years ago still stand tall. However time has stripped them of their former glory and other types of trees are starting to spring up here and there. Still the pines remain ever present, almost like a sentry standing post waiting for those who will never return. Even the wind whistling through the trees sounds somehow different to me. It's almost like it carries the forgotten voices from long ago when this was once a thriving training centre.

Hallway Through The Pine Trees

As we walk the former roads of the camp, 4-wheelers and other vehicles pass by us every now and then. I reflect quietly to myself if they know the importance of this hallow piece of ground. Between 1942 and 1946 it was one of the best-equipped and most effective Army training centers in all of Canada. This was borne out by the gallant actions of the Carleton & York Regiment in Sicily and Italy and the North Shore Regiment and N.B. Rangers in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, all of whom were principally made up of personnel receiving their advanced training at Utopia. At the memorial service coming up on September 27th, a WWII Veteran from the 2nd Battalion of the North Shore Regiment will join us to remember all those who served.

Remnants of a telephone pole

As we were heading back to the car Sheri, with her ever present artistic eye, spotted a red maple leaf on the ground. To me, personally, it was a sign that all the work putting the memorial service together over the past seven months has been worth it. The maple leaf is emblematic of our country and always reminds me of those Canadians who gave so much for the cause of peace and freedom we all enjoy today.

Lest we forget!