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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 31, 2009 - 12:29am PT
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There is some footage of Jim's uncle in In the Shadow of the Chief, the movie about the first ascent of Squamish's Grand Wall by Jim Baldwin and Ed Cooper in 1961. He was then the mayor of Squamish (as he was for many years), a lumberjack, and was behind getting the town (maybe village, then) to support Baldwin and Cooper.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C. Small wall climber.
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 11, 2009 - 03:43pm PT
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Well, it's just about 11 AM, which is the 'official' time for commemoration today - the exact time that the armistice started in France. But close enough.
Remembrance Day is a major civic event in Canada, and a statutory holiday. For the event, and in the week or so leading up to it, people very often wear poppies, in commemoration both of the Canadians who died in both (and other) wares, and of John McCrae's poem.
So if you get Canadian television, e.g. the CBC, and were wondering...
I also wear a pin, both at this time of year and on formal occasions at other times. It is of a Lancaster bomber, and was given to me at the memorial for my uncle three years ago.
This is what a Lancaster bomber would have looked like in daylight - they were mostly flown at night.
There's lots of information about them on the web, e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Lancaster Some relatives had a look at one of the last surviving airworthy Lancasters, in England, a year ago.
Far up thread, I reported that after sine effort I'd been able to locate two of the six other families of uncle Richard's crewmates. Well, this week, out of the blue, a third contacted me. Bit of a story, but one of the two sisters of FO John Travis.
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em knot
Trad climber
isle of wyde
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Nov 11, 2009 - 04:20pm PT
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Blinny wrote:
>"World War II and Korea killed him - it just took some time. A pound of
> bacon and six eggs a day - coupled with all the cigarettes he could
> smoke - followed by becoming a finance guy after his stint. . . all
>bein' heaped on top of bein' a hardwired anal retent, sorta did him in."
ditto here...my dad, Charles John Robba, was at Hickham Field in Honolulu the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor. My mom recently told me about that day: when the Japanese planes arrived to attack Pearl Harbor, they first struck Hickham Field and destroyed all but one of the U.S. planes which were there to defend Pearl Harbor. The pilot of the lone plane that was left immediately took off against the whole Japanese airfleet and was shot down. My dad was one of the gunners on the ground trying to defend against the attack. My grandmother, who was Austrian (and detested Hitler) used to have a torn-up piece of a Japanese MIG on her wall. I never really understood the full significance of that until my mom told me the story.
Great courage.
>"Here's to dads who gave their all!"
Thank you Anders, for reminding us to remember. A salute to all who serve(d), then and now.
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cleo
Social climber
Berkeley, CA
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Nov 11, 2009 - 04:25pm PT
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My Poppop (granddaddy) on a WWII troop carrier
My Grandpa, also in the Navy
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Topic Author's Reply - May 1, 2010 - 02:02am PT
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The people at Stoke Rochford, the place where my uncle's plane crashed in 1945, have a modest memorial each year on the anniversary, April 28th. A photo of the memorial plaque and tree, taken this morning:
And a rainbow over the crash site:
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Watusi
Social climber
Newport, OR
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God Bless them, one and all!!
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flakyfoont
Trad climber
carsoncity nv
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In remembrance,also:my Great Grandfather Amers. Member Northumberland Fusiliers. Killed WWI . RIP
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 11, 2010 - 11:13am PT
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Annual bump. The Great War ended 92 years ago today.
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Barbarian
Trad climber
The great white north, eh?
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Nov 11, 2010 - 11:24am PT
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Bumped it before I got to it. Thanks to all veterans!
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 11, 2010 - 12:02pm PT
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Somewhere way up thread, I mentioned a memorial that was held in 2006, at Stoke Rochford, where my uncle and his crew died. We've been able to find three of the other six families, and this September one of the younger sisters of John Travis, one of the crew, visited Stoke Rochford with some of my cousins. (Alleyne is from Nova Scotia.) The first time any of of the families has met in person. I'll try to get some photos from cousin Jane.
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
SoCal
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Nov 11, 2010 - 12:10pm PT
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To Louie wrenching in the the Phillipines, WWIi
George of the 10th Mtn, Muleskinning in Italy.
My pal Steve in Nam.
Gaurd Savage, horsethief for the Union
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dogtown
Trad climber
JackAssVille, Wyoming
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Nov 11, 2010 - 10:35pm PT
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My wife is a VA nurse of fifteen years, its Veterans Day everyday for her and colleagues. Our troops make sacrifices that most of us can hardly imagine. We went to the service at the hospital today it was truly moving. Not a dry eye in the crowd.
DT.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 2, 2012 - 01:08pm PT
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There is one surviving airworthy Lancaster bomber in the world, which flies regularly on summer weekends, sometimes with other vintage war aircraft. For the royal jubilee a few weeks ago, it flew over London, together with four Spitfires and a Hurricane.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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nita
Social climber
chica de chico, I don't claim to be a daisy.
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Nov 11, 2012 - 11:46am PT
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I heard this beautiful story on ~The California Report...
Violins for Veterans...watch the video, too.
http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201211091630/c
eKat, I think you would enjoy this video.....
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Jennie
Trad climber
Elk Creek, Idaho
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Nov 11, 2012 - 01:16pm PT
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Great link Nita...and thanks,again, Anders for sharing the story of the uncle you didn't know.
... the grim paradox of war...while conducting to the fore the most destructive and fatal aspects of human behavior...it frequently brings out humanity's finest and most transcendent attributes.
...such stark incongruity.
Gratitude and deference to the loyal who served...honor and remembrance to the brave who were lost...
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Nov 11, 2013 - 11:52am PT
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I love that Lanc vid, Mighty! Churchill's words were, if anything, understated.
I thought there was a flyable Lanc in Ontario?
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Ihateplastic
Trad climber
It ain't El Cap, Oregon
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Nov 11, 2013 - 12:55pm PT
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My dad was a trainer for pilots learning to fly the Lancaster. As the war was a bit heavy in the UK he was stationed for a while in western Canada.. He crash-landed a Lancaster somewhere in Edmonton! I am fortunate that I can see him occasionally on late night TV if they show the film Dambusters. He was Sir Barnes Wallis' model maker and, as a result of his top secret work and because he built the real testing device, he was cast in the movie.
Best dad Ever.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa
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Nov 11, 2013 - 01:19pm PT
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While moving my mother to assisted living this summer, I discovered my father's military records. He was a photo mapping officer - "received aerial photos of enemy and friendly territory, layed in mosaic patterns in accordance with ground surveys or steroscopic survey data. Drafted map outlines, border information and scale, corrected foreign maps, etc. In the Phillipines, performed all offical photography for AFWESPAC. Received the European African Middle Eastern Service Medal, Army Occupation Medal (Germany), World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic Pacific Service Medal".
All he ever told us kids about the war was that he spent most of it crossing the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on a slow boat zig zagging to avoid submarines. He ate nothing but turkey while crossing the Atlantic and Spanish rice over the Pacific, and never could stand either after that. He also used to entertain us with songs they sang while marching such as "B.S. makes the grass grow greener". It was only some years ago when we opened a box of his war photos including those of the European death camps and Santa Tomas Prison Camp in Manilla, that we realized a lot of his melancholy must have come from the war. I believe everyone who served made sacrifices, many of which we were never aware of.
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