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Progress Report No.23
April 15, 2008
Registered Charity 84586 5740
RR0001
Greetings to all our members and supporters with a
Happy 84th Birthday to our Royal Canadian Air Force as of April 1, 2008.
Over 4 years ago I gave almost the same greeting to you when we sent our
very first Progress Report No.1. We did not know how difficult it would be
to pursue our goal to find our Halifax but we carried on with the
determination and spirit inspired by the huge sacrifice and effort of our
bomber crews in the RCAF and Bomber Command.
Each day I am in Nanton I take a walk-about the town, along the perimeter of
“the biggest little town in Alberta” and the home of Canada’s Bomber Command
Memorial, and I pause at the Wall. I look at the 9000+ names of those young
Canadians who died fighting for our Freedom and I single out one name. I
remember this name and go inside the museum to look up his name in “They
Shall Grow Not Old” and think about this person and what he did for me and
what he did for you.
This sacrifice of these airmen is the greatest sacrifice in all of Canadian
history. There never has, nor will there probably ever be, a sacrifice of
this magnitude again in Canada.
And if you were to look back at the almost 100 years of powered flight, from
1909 to 2008, there will be several great aircraft that stand out during
these years. There is one that Canadians flew the most often and which could
signify the Canadian experience in flight, and as it has been so aptly
described as “Second to None’, it is the Handley Page Halifax.
As we proceed in the coming weeks in getting ready for our historic sonar
survey to find LW170 we realize just how important she is to all of us and
that we must do our very best to find her and bring her home.
Keep your eyes on the target.
On to Business – These are the Hali-facts:
I wanted to remind you of several things coming up soon for the Halifax
Project and also to tell you about new and very positive developments for
our fund raising campaign. Also, our good friends at the Nanton Lancaster
Society Air Museum are making great progress and planning for the summer
season of 2008 which we wanted to tell you about.
I will, as Project Manager, be traveling over to Ireland on May 1, while on
a flight to London , to meet with the officials of the Irish Marine
Institute at Galway to discuss the future plans for the sonar survey of
Halifax LW170 this summer. The deep-sea research ship “Celtic Explorer” of
the Marine Institute has been granted ship time to survey for the Halifax.
Standby for more information on our planning and Marine Institute meeting
next Progress Report.
Remember, thanks to the computer processing sonar data efforts of Fiona
Fitzpatrick last year, we already have a prime target and several other
targets in our survey box which could be, keep your fingers crossed, our
Halifax. We are indeed heartened by these preliminary targets which will
greatly help us efficiently check out all the possibilities to find LW170.
Our thanks to all of you who have sent in your 2008 membership renewals,
donations, and have made purchases of our beautiful Halifax limited-edition
print “INVINCIBLE ITEM”. Thanks to your generosity we have been able to
continue on in our efforts for the Halifax Project. Your loyalty and
sincerity to our most honourable project is greatly appreciated.
Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) has some new friends and supporters for our
project and they are Michael Potter and his premiere flying museum at
VINTAGE WINGS of CANADA, based in Gatineau, Quebec. VINTAGE WINGS have
recently joined us in support of the Halifax Project. I met personally with
Michael in Jan.2008 at the Vintage Wings Museum hangar and gave him a
briefing on the project. Michael fully understood the significance of the
project and pledged the support of Vintage Wings to Halifax 57 Rescue
(Canada) with a generous donation to the Halifax sonar survey fund.
Further to this, Vintage Wings of Canada website, at www.vintagewings.ca has
done a great article on the Halifax Project called “Fishin’ for Halibags”
which is being sent out to the warbird fans all over the world. My personal
thanks to Vintage Wings Communications manager and webmaster Dave O’Malley
for all his special help and encouragement for the Halifax Project. You
should not miss any opportunity to go see the great collection of warbirds
and their museum-hangar at Gatineau. This is a first class outfit and
installation.
On to our Fund-raising campaign! In late 2007 one of our Halifax Project
supporters, whose father was a decorated Halifax pilot, indicated that he
would be willing to donate some securities , in the form of shares of stock,
to our group to help us with raising the funds to do the sonar survey.
Tax laws allow registered charities like Halifax 57 Rescue to accept
securities such as stocks, bonds, and mutual fund shares as a tax deductible
donation to our cause. After consultation with our accountants our Directors
agreed we should apply for an official brokerage account which would allow
us to accept all donations that were in the form of stocks and bonds or
other securities.
I am pleased to announce that Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) now has this
special investments account , thanks to the efficient work of the Royal
Bank.
I know there are those of you supporters and members out there who have
donated funds to our project. There are some of you who would like to have
donated more but we all have budgets and must keep the home fires burning.
Would you like to help us in our honourable quest and do you or your family
have some stocks, bonds, or securities that have been sitting quietly,
waiting to be put to good use??
If the answer is yes to the above then please consider us as the recipients
of your stocks, bonds, or securities which could be the ideal method of a
donation to the Halifax Project if other funds are not available right now.
There is an added advantage to you, the donor of said stocks, bonds, and
securities, for if you were to cash in these securities for yourself you
would have to pay the capital gains tax on the profit you obtained from the
sale of these securities. By donating these securities to our registered
charity you will receive a tax deductible receipt for the full value of the
securities you give to our cause. Thereby, you will be saving on tax owed to
the government AND helping out our worthy project of saving Canada’s rarest
warbird.
Please check with your financial advisors and planners and you will see what
a great opportunity this would be to help Halifax 57 Rescue.
I remember that one gentleman donated a major parcel of high value stock to
the RCAF Memorial Museum in Trenton, when we were rebuilding RAF Halifax
NA337, which added up to more than $100,000. and became one of the best
donations to their cause.
I urge you now, based on this wonderful opportunity, to help us prepare and
strengthen our financial position to save RCAF Halifax L1W170. We hope to
hear from you with any questions and ideas you may have for a donation of
stock, bonds, and securities for the Halifax Project.
On the Nanton scene, I wanted to let you know that our friends at the Nanton
Lancaster Society Air Museum, the future home of the recovered LW170, have
been going through an exciting major expansion of their buildings and
facilities. With the addition of the new north hangar onto their main
building they will now have almost twice the floor space for their aircraft
and exhibits. It is truly amazing what they have done in Nanton and with
with their raising of “Canada’s Bomber Command Memorial”, they truly have
the best tribute in all of Canada to our RCAF Bomber boys.
Please mark on your calendars these special dates this summer to visit the
Nanton Museum and be a part of their festivities and programs. Please see
the Nanton Museum website at www.lancastermuseum.ca for all the details
June 7, 2008 Planes, Trains, and Elevators
- a full day of festivities of the town of Nanton involving the Air Museum,
history of Trains, all the merchants, and tours of their totally rebuilt
Grain Elevators. Special ceremonies for the opening of the new hangar
addition at the museum are planned.
July 19, 2008 Annual Fly-In at the Flying A-J Ranch.
August 22 and 23, 2008 Annual Memorial Event:
- theme is the Lancs in the 50’s with special focus on the 50th anniversary
of the retirement of the Nanton Lancaster from the RCAF in 1958 and the
contribution of the Lanc to the RCAF in the 1950’s. All RCAF personnel from
the postwar RCAF are invited as well as our distinguished veterans of
wartime.
I should point out that the pilot of RCAF Halifax LW170, Russell Earl DFC,
of Estevan, Sask. who flew our Halifax LW170 11 times in 1944, has advised
me (come heck or high water!) that he and his good wife Elsie will be
attending our ceremonies in August. We look forward to his presence as
another one of our distinguished aircrew of LW170.
WORLDS LARGEST RCAF FLAG flies at Nanton, Alberta
-this flag at 40 feet by 20 feet (13 meters by 7 meters) is flown on special
occasions by the Nanton Museum over Canada’s Bomber Command Memorial.
- to give you some perspective of the size of this great flag look closely
at the top of the 103 foot (34 meter) flagpole and you will see the train
symbol on top. This train emblem is over 3 feet (1 meter) long!
As the weeks progress let us stay resolved to do our best to find LW170 and
begin the process of bringing this historic aircraft back to Canada. No
matter what the odds or problems, whether they be financial or technical or
political, we will do whatever needs to be done to find the greatest
aviation symbol in all our 100 years of flight, RCAF Halifax LW170.
Over 60 years ago young Canadians went forth into battle flying the flag
that you have just admired. They did not give up on us or Canada, and unto
death they gave us our Freedom, and as bombers crews were “second to none’
in excellence and effort. We may not see their like ever again but we can
keep their memories alive by saving and preserving the aircraft they flew to
Victory.
“Press on Regardless…”
Sincerely,
Karl Kjarsgaard
Project Manager
Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada)
Registered Charity :
84586 5740 RR 0001
Halifax 57 Rescue
(Canada) Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada)
P.O. Box
606 Unit 31C – 174 Colonnade
Road
Nanton,
AB Ottawa, ON
T0L
1R0 K2E 7J5
Phone 403 - 603 -
8592 Phone 613 – 863 – 1942
Or 613 – 226 – 4884
www.57rescuecanada.com
email:
57rescuecanada@rogers.com
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