Monthly Archives: January 2021

Weyburn revisited

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Updated with this comment…

Pierre, thanks for forwarding this.  I read all the stories with interest.  The one about the Avro Anson near Estevan was especially interesting for me.


My father began his post WW2 life farming near Estevan.  One intriguing thing that he did — and I’ve never heard another similar story — is that upon returning from Europe at the end of the war and his discharge from the RCAF in August 1945, he was able to buy the fuselage of an air force plane very cheaply — perhaps it was free.  (He had trained on Avro Ansons in Dafoe, Saskatchewan.)  In true Renaissance-man fashion, he hauled the derelict structure back to our farm in pieces in his Fargo pickup, cannibalized its electrical components, and used them to energize our house with six-volt electricity.  It was a luxury none of the neighbours had for at least five or ten more years.  Of course he needed power, so he next drove to Wisconsin with the truck and bought a Jacobs windcharger.  I clearly recall the light switches in every room, pearl-ended toggles from the cockpit, and a larder of batteries from the fuselage for energy storage.  We were lucky to be raised by a real man who understood that survival, even in a free country, requires hard work and sometimes even an obligation to uncover one’s ingenuity.

 

ORIGINAL

Jim Christie sent me this message about yesterday guest post…

Hi Pierre,

Thanks for the update.

Interesting Story .


Maybe you and Chris Boyle will have seen some of these before about Weyburn. 

Not a lot about the BCATP post but some interesting side stories.

They turned up in a Google Image Search I tried.

Jim

 

I. CANADA 150: 1-5 BCATP Vignettes (hillmanweb.com)

How a poem helped a Weyburn woman discover her father’s WWII letters (ctvnews.ca)

WW2 Era Plane Discovered Near Estevan – Discoverweyburn.com

Long-lost Second World War letters found in Weyburn, Sask. | Watch News Videos Online (globalnews.ca)

Victor Allan Mulhall | Weyburn Review

Mental Hospital at Weyburn An Archaeology of Madness – Part 2 – YouTub

 

 

BCATP Guest Post

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My blog is all about preserving the past. I have invited Chris Boyle to write a post. Chris has a blog and the link is below…

Home

This is what he wrote.

My name is Chris Boyle, and I was born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan in 1949.

Weyburn hosted a BCTAP base during World War II. My Mom, Lorraine Butters Boyle was a piano player with a popular dance band, Charlie Candy’s Orchestra. Mom turned 18 in December 1944.

As I was growing up, I heard many stories of the “bad old days”, but most of these stories revolved around the “dirty thirties.” I did know about the old training base, but not much. As with many war stories, I think the attitude was “we don’t need to talk about that.”

My mom passed away three years ago, and I inherited her diary.

There are many entries about along the line of: “Charlie phoned at 9:30p; went to the Legion and began to play at 10:30p; in bed at 2:45a.” However, the diaries are silent about any interactions with young airmen. I would love to hear if anyone has heard stories from airmen who trained in Weyburn.

My Mom’s younger sister, Wilma, fills me in on her memories. But qualifies “remember the war was over before I became a teenager!”

One story Aunt Wilma tells is about a friend of the Butters Family, Bill Carey. Bill was a WWI vet and made it his mission to visit the young men at the base and to bring them home for dinner when they were on leave. As the war continued, he also began to take these airmen for outings to the Butters farm. Here the fliers would meet all four of the Butters girls. In 1943 the Butters girls were all attending Riverview (country) School about a mile from the Butters place. One day, the entire school was thrilled to be buzzed by a couple of training aircraft, piloted by these men, waggling wings and all!

I found these undated pictures in my Dad’s Photo Album (Keith Boyle).

I suspect that Dad was on an outing with the woman in the picture, prior to meeting my Mom in February 1946.

I think that we can conclude that the picture was taken in the summer/fall of 1945.

Pierre Lagacé, with the BCATP Blog site provided the following information about these pictures: “This is a North American AT-6 which were called Harvard in the RCAF. This was taken during WWII or a little after while visiting the base. My guess is that they would not welcome visitors during the war. Probably they did allow visitors after the war.”

 

 

Revisiting Windsor Mills

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I wrote this first post in October 2012. Little did I know then that I would embark on a journey which will lead me to Macleod, Alberta on November 25th, 1943.

Original post…

Cam Harrod posted this on the Facebook group page British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada

Hi Everyone
Just joined the group and am happy I found it. Dad served at #9EFTS St Catherines from 1939-44. Here is a picture of my actual Fleet Finch taken at #4 EFTS Windsor Mills Que. She is #4494 and I fly her in aviation events thru out Ontario.

A black and white photograph of E. Weldon McKay in winter flight gear in front of a Fleet Finch II Model 16B with a sliding canopy for winter flying.   The photo was taken while Weldon McKay was stationed at Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) No. 4 Windsor Mills, Quebec.   Weldon McKay received his training at No.4 EFTS from November 22, 1941 to January 31, 1942. 

From the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum Archive (source)

This is his plane…

More to come…

Meantime… click here.