When the clock strikes the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Canadians are asked to pause for a moment for the thousands of men and women who served in the military and to those who sacrificed their lives.
The largest monument in Memorial Park, at the end of Main Street is to recognize the people of Clarendon and Shawville who served overseas during the periods of World War II (1939-1945), the Korean War (1950-1953) and the Gulf War (1991).
In the Korean War around 26,000 Canadians went to battle with over 500 killed. In the Gulf War about 4,000 Canadian Forces went overseas.
There are 194 names on the Memorial Park monument and beside thirteen of those is a star, which signifies people who gave the ultimate sacrifice and never came back. All 13 had fought in the Second World War.
More than a million Canadians battled in World War II and over 45,000 died. Many of these names may be just etched in stone, but they each have a story.
Courage
Sergeant John Barber, an air gunner, had been part of the Royal Canadian Air Force. He died on November, 13, 1942 and was just 22-years-old. Sadly, Barber wasn’t even in the thick of action as he was part of a crew of a Hudson AM982 which was making a return from conducting a training flight. The plane crashed outside of Derbert, Nova Scotia and the other three members of the crew also died.
The Shawville United Church was crowded to capacity on July 19, 1945, according to records at the Pontiac Archives. The town honoured and remembered Barber for his service, along with Able Seaman Ronald Masson, Flying Officer Raymond Lynch, Flt Sergeant Leslie Hodgins, Pilot Officer Gordon Strutt, Private Neilson Campbell, Private Maynard Morrison and Private Earl Russett. All the grieving families were given communion tables, which were handcrafted.
The intriguing aspect of this United Church service is there is no Pte. Earl Russett’s on the monument in Shawville. Library Archives Canada records have the 25 year-old’s parents in Quyon and they were Gordon Peter and Mary Ella Russett. Pte. Russett passed away in 1945 on March 2, which actually was his birthday.
Able Seaman Ronald Masson’s name is listed in Halifax, on the memorial for those who died at sea. Masson was only 19 and had been on the SS Caribou, a passenger ferry. It was torpedoed and sunk by a German U Submarine on October 14, 1942. There were 237 people on board and 136 of them had perished.
Flying Officer Raymond Lynch’s records make a point of noting he was a graduate of Shawville High School. He was part of the Air Force, like Barber. Lynch died in a crash while conducting an air patrol off the coast of Scotland. The crash happened on November 1, 1943 – Lynch was 23.
Flight Sergeant Leslie Nellis Hodgins was living in Ottawa with his parents, when he decided to join the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940. He was single and had been a clerk for the Department of National Defence. Hodgins went missing after an air operation on April 27, 1942. He was 24.
Pilot Officer Gordon Strutt was involved in numerous bomb raids and even received the Distinguished Flying Medal. Strutt was decorated for being part of the crew that attacked and sunk a submarine in the Bay of Biscay (off the coast of France) from the height of about 40 feet. This was a couple months before he died on August 6, 1942. He was 25.
Pte. Neilson Campbell joined in 1943 at Fort William as he had been living at Long Lac, ON. He was putting in work as lumberman at the time. Campbell was part of the march of the Cameron Highlanders and died at 22 years old on July 21, 1944.
Pte. Maynard Morrison had been involved with the Algonquin Fusillers after he enlisted in 1940. After his initial training was completed, he spent nearly a year in service in Newfoundland before finally heading overseas in 1943. Pte. Morrison was killed in action in 1944. He was among the few with Shawville ties to be in his thirties at 34.
Twenty-two year old Irvine Brownlee was a farmer in Shawville and he went missing after an air raid in Germany. It was later discovered the plane had crashed and killed the entire crew. He was posthumously awarded a Silver Cross for his service.
For Dalton Devine, he was just caught at the wrong place at the wrong time when he died in action. The cause of his death is classified as friendly fire. The 21year old Devine and his Sergeant Major were required to replenish the munitions. This decision was taken during battle and in the confusion the Allies dropped bombs behind their own lines. This was in August of 1944. Devine had married a lady named Daisy Knight, but the couple never was able to celebrate two years together as husband and wife.
Melvin Laughren was born in Shawville but signed up in Vancouver. He would be the oldest to call Shawville home at 36 years old. The cemetery where to find Laughren’s marker is in Italy.
The only Elmer Richardson found was living in Calgary and said he was from Radford, according to his enlistment form. He died in action in 1944 at 32.
Though records surely exist for Bert Swartz, nothing substantial was found about this man during the initial research stage.
The last of the 13 stars goes to Herbert Wickens. He was 29 years old and had been part of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
By: Scott Campbell – November 2016