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.