Remembered Freedom and Victory !

 

As we come to the end of the summer of 2005 in this 60th anniversary year of Allied victory over the Axis forces we have seen the celebrations of all peoples of all nations, thankful for all these years of freedom and peace. If it had not been for our fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, where would we be right now? Certainly there have been other conflicts and wars but not on the scale of World War 2. Our entire civilization was at stake and our Canadian armed forces answered the call to save us and our children's' futures.

 

In grateful remembrance we must, even after the veterans are no longer with us, do our best to uphold the honour and sacrifice of their efforts. There are many locations across Canada and the United States where memorials to these veterans and their buddies, thousands who never came home, pay tribute to their efforts in the World Wars.

 

Nanton, Alberta is, in this month, raising it's prominence to even higher levels as a memorial for those veterans who gave us so much and paid such a high price for our Freedom. With the up-coming dedication of their Bomber Command Memorial, a 41 foot stone wall inscribed with the 10,645 names of Canadians and RCAF warriors killed in World War 2,  the Nanton Lancaster Society Air Museum will truly have a National memorial. I urge all Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) members and supporters to attend this important all day event at Nanton which will be on August 20, 2005, with the dedication at 2 pm.

 

All of the good people at the Nanton Lancaster Society Air Museum must be congratulated as well as complimented for their vision in building this unique national Bomber Command Memorial. Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) is pleased to be associated with such a fine institution and dedicated people.

 

Further to these wonderful developments Nanton's determined bunch of engineering wizards including Paul and Peter Whitfield, John Phillips, Greg Morrison, Fred Hollawell, and Mel Honeyman have rebuilt and reinstalled the starboard inner Merlin engine of their treasured Lanc and hopefully we will hear the "music of a Merlin" soon at their museum with the first official run on the dedication day , August 20th.     

 

With such a great example of effort and determination to emulate, Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) is continuing on with renewed energy on "The Halifax Project". With the proposed recovery project to bring home RCAF Halifax LW170 to Canada and Nanton, Alberta there are many factors and difficulties, technical and financial, which must be worked out to complete our mission. I will bring you up-to-date on all of this in our Hali-Facts below.

 

As most of you are aware RAF Halifax NA337, with yours truly as Project Manager, was recovered from a record depth of 750 feet in Lake Mjosa, Norway. After an 8 year rebuild at the RCAF Memorial Museum in Trenton, Ontario Canada's FIRST Halifax will be dedicated on November 5, 2005. Let me reassure all supporters and members of Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) that, just as that project succeeded against all odds, this project will also succeed. I am counting on your support and encouragement  in our mission to recover Canada's SECOND Halifax, RCAF Halifax LW170.

 

 

On to business - These are the Hali-Facts

 

We have had some very positive developments for the Halifax Project. Since my last progress report I have travelled to Scotland, Washington, D.C., and Alberta to build up our project contacts and support. I will be returning to these locations in August to continue the efforts to build support for the recovery of  LW170. Let me fill you in on these matters.

 

Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) had our first Directors meeting since our Registered Charity status was granted in January 2005. This was convened in Ottawa on June 8, 2005. Attending in person, including yours truly, were 4 Directors except Clarence Simonsen who was included by phone link and speaker phone while the meeting was in session. Several matters were discussed concerning the Halifax Project including acquiring funding and sponsors for Phase One, the sonar location of LW170. We also talked about the fund raising which could be provided by special historic projects and gathering artifacts. We thank Directors Jim Blondeau and George Rosskopf from Ottawa along with Chris Charland who drove from North Bay to Ottawa, for attending to these matters for our first official meeting. Thanks to Colleen Charland for assisting at the meeting and offering good advice for future reference.    

 

In July I was in Glasgow and spoke with the founder of 57 Rescue (UK), Ian Foster about the Halifax Project. He has pledged his group's efforts and resources to the location and recovery of LW170. Ian and his group in the UK, some of the best purveyors and scroungers of Halifax parts in the world, believe fully in this project and are a great support to us.

 

I spoke further to Fugro Survey of Aberdeen, Scotland about their sonar services to locate and initially inspect RCAF Halifax LW170. I will be meeting with them on August 5th in Aberdeen to go over the sonar search data to locate LW170 with their manager Andy Morse. Fugro has been most keen to help in this historic quest and with their highest technology in sonar , along with their offers of the lower rates for these expert services due to the historic nature of our project, we are going to have the best services available. More from Fugro in the next report.

 

On July 14 I traveled to Washington, D.C. and had a very constructive meeting with Colonel Paul Drover and Lt. Col. Mike Dorey, the Military Attaches', at the Canadian Embassy. I gave them a full run-down on the Halifax Project, high-lighting the participation of the Americans in the RCAF, as over 7000 of them joined the RCAF with 700+ U.S. men killed-in-action, as well as the story about Flt. Lt. Mel Compton RCAF of Richmond, Virginia who flew our Halifax LW170 in combat. They agreed that we must bring this project to the attention of the American people so that the sacrifice of our American brothers in the RCAF could finally be told. By doing this we will finally give these "American patriots - Canadian warriors" the credit they deserve. The staff of the Canadian Embassy and yours truly will be brainstorming to generate press and spotlight the Halifax Project in the United States. From these opportunities we will be able to gain public, corporate, and financial support for the project.

 

There have been 2 important efforts by 2 of our members to help Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) which will build up our project and keep us financially strong while enroute to our ultimate target, LW170. 

 

The first effort, by author John Neal of Calgary, Halifax bomb-aimer and veteran of 419 Squadron RCAF, is in the writing of a special book titled "BLESS YOU, BROTHER IRVIN". This a wonderful book on the adventures and dangers of bailing out of combat aircraft of several of our air force warriors (all of our aircrews in World War were equipped with parachutes made by the Irvin parachute company). Included in this book is John's personal drama of bailing out of his Halifax over France and the ensuing evasion adventures he experienced. John Neal promised yours truly and Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) that he would dedicate and donate a majority of all the proceeds of the sales of "BLESS YOU, BROTHER IRVIN" to the Halifax Project. This is a great gesture on his part and his donation of  proceeds from his special book will be of great help to our historic group. "BLESS YOU, BROTHER IRVIN"  is in final preparation for printing in Ontario this month and will be available for sale nationwide in September 2005 as well as on our website. Stayed tuned here for news of the release of this exciting new chronicle of our air force warriors' adventures.

 

But wait, there is even more!