World War II bombers to be honoured 70 years later
Due to controversy surrounding heavy civilian casualties from bombing, the bomber command was never formally recognized. Now, as many of them enter their nineties, they’re set to receive a special bar commemorating their work.
By: Tim Alamenciak News reporter, Published on Sun Aug 25 2013
Canada’s Second World War bombers will finally be recognized in a ceremony Monday commemorating their wartime efforts nearly 70 years after the fighting stopped.
The move is an attempt to give recognition to a branch of the armed forces virtually shunned by officials in the days following the war. Bombing incurred heavy civilian casualties and, while it played a big role in ending the war, there was discomfort in the upper ranks.
“Just about the time the war ended, bomber command had sort of a blight on it because of the heavy bombing, particularly of Dresden, right near the end of the war,” said Michael Burke, 92, a radar mechanic with the bomber command. “As a result, after the war was over, there was no specific recognition for members of air or ground of bomber command for the effort that was put into the war.”
The bomber command bar will be given out Monday by Julian Fantino, minister of veterans affairs. It is worn on the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, awarded to those who served 18 months during the Second World War.
Veterans recall a harrowing time in the bomber command — dodging anti-aircraft guns, flying at night, using primitive equipment to get around. Many were in their early twenties.
“It was a bunch of kids flying. It had to be kids . . . you know the games they play nowadays where they’re always shooting at targets? That’s what it was. We were playing games. We were too young to know any better,” said Nathan Isaacs, a 90-year-old veteran who flew his first mission when he was 21 years old. Isaacs flew 35 missions during his career.
About half of all aircrew who flew bombing missions over Nazi-occupied Europe didn’t return. A total of 10,659 Canadians lost their lives on the bomber command, according to the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alta.
The bar was announced over a year ago when a memorial to the bomber command was unveiled in England. Forty-two veterans of the Canadian bomber command made the trip in 2012, including Albert Wallace, a 92-year-old veteran who will receive his bar Monday.
For Wallace, the honour is significant but late — many of his fellow airmen have already passed away. Many others did not even make it back from the war.
“In the morning at our squadron, the word would come through that there was going to be an operation, we got geared up, prepared,” said Wallace. “We always had bacon and eggs before we got geared up for an operation. For many, that was their last meal.”
Wallace nearly lost his life when his plane was shot down above Germany. Gunfire from the ground blew a hole in the wing. He and four other crew members parachuted to relative safety. Two remained on the plane and died when it crashed.
“The pilot . . . I think he was very busy keeping the plane flying. He gave his life to save the rest of us,” said Wallace.
He landed on a German farm where police swiftly picked him up, beginning an 18-month detention that would only conclude with the end of hostilities. His return was a typical soldier’s welcome — crowds waiting at Union Station, family meeting him as the train pulled in.
But the official recognition was still decades away. Memories of Dresden, where as many as 25,000 civilians were killed by Allied bombers, loomed large in the public consciousness.
“After the war, in England, the government pulled together all of the army generals and the navy people. The air force they literally ignored,” said Wallace.
Posted:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/08 ... later.html
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