Obituaries

I believe the story was posted earlier but I can't locate it but it deserves a follow up as they were buried today


KRAKOW, Poland – The remains of Canadian and British crewmen of a Royal Air Force bomber shot down in the Second World War were buried Thursday in southern Poland with full military honours.

The Halifax bomber was shot down in 1944 by the Nazis while on a mission to drop weapons and other supplies to Polish resistance fighters, but was only recovered last year.

Relatives of the airmen attended a mass at the military church in the historic city of Krakow, near where the plane was downed, before the burial in the military section of the city's Rakowicki cemetery.

Two British and two Canadian pall bearers carried a single small wooden coffin for burial containing the remains of all the crewmen as a Polish Air Force honour guard stood to attention.

British and Canadian Air Force chaplains said prayers over the coffin before it was lowered into the ground while more than a dozen relatives of the crewmen looked on.

"This is a closure," said Cheryl Blynn, 52, of Paradise, Nova Scotia, whose father's brother piloted the plane on its ill-fated final flight. "We now know where they are."

The crew, all members of the RAF's 148 Squadron, included five Canadians: Flight Lt. Arnold Raymond Blynn, of Plympton, Nova Scotia, who was 26 when he died; Flying Officer Harold Leonard Brown, 20, of Huron County, Ont.; Pilot Officer George Alfred Chapman, 24, of Toronto; Flight Sgt. Arthur George William Liddell, 31, of Montreal and Flight Sergeant Charles Burton Wylie, 20, of Hazenmore, Sask.; and two Britons: Sgt. Kenneth James Ashmore, 32; and Sgt. Frederick George Wenham, 21.

The Halifax JP-276A took off on its final flight from the Italian city of Brindisi around 8 p.m. on Aug. 4, 1944, to drop weapons, ammunition and medical supplies for resistance fighters involved in the Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis.

Resistance fighters took control of the capital but were eventually defeated by the Germans amid tremendous destruction and loss of life.

The plane was shot down by Poland's Nazis occupiers and crashed near the town of Dabrowa Tarnowska, in southern Poland.

Local residents at the time found some remains and buried them in a local cemetery, then later had them moved to the Rakowicki cemetery in Krakow – a burial site for some of Poland's most respected figures, including the parents of Pope John Paul II.

The aircraft stayed buried deep in the fields for 60 years, until the residents disclosed its existence to the Warsaw Uprising museum.

In November 2006, the museum's historians recovered the badly damaged wreckage of the Halifax, more remains, documents, maps, two revolvers and personal belongings including a pocket knife and an airman's gilded badge.

The historians also found containers with supplies that the crew did not have time to drop.

The museum opened an exhibition on the find on Aug. 4, the 63rd anniversary of the plane being shot down.

DNA from the relatives was used to identify the remains and a Canadian veterans' organization arranged for the burial

Col William "Wild Bill" Cummings, former PTO fighter pilot in Java before taking command of newly formed 355th FG.

He was the first and longest wartime commander of the 355th FG and commanded it to number three position of 8th AF Fighter Groups in total number of German aircraft destroyed and damaged.

He personally led a Fighter Sweep to Munich area on 5 April, 1944 that navigated over complete cloud cover, brought the Group's Mustangs through a blinding snowstorm and wreaked havoc and destruction over 5 German airfields.

The 46 destroyed on the ground plus five in the air and two probables along with 81+ damaged aircraft (mostly NJG twin engine a/c) for the loss of 3 Mustangs and pilots earned the 355th their first DUC.

This mission for number of enemy aircraft destroyed woul hold until September, 1944

His personal leadership style was was lead from the front and if the choice was go for the Luftwaffe or stick with the bombers, he made sure his group kept them covered.

Cummings passed away yesterday in San Antonio.

RIP

Charles

TO

Willard Sweetser, retired Navy admiral, dies at 105
Decorated officer was the U.S. Naval Academy's oldest living alumnus
The Associated Press

6:20 PM EST, December 3, 2007

Willard Sweetser, a retired Navy rear admiral who was the U.S. Naval Academy's oldest living alumnus, died Friday at the Maine Veterans' Home in Paris, Maine. He was 105.

Sweetser served aboard the gunboat USS Panay, which in 1937 was attacked by the Japanese while at anchor in the Yangtze River in China, and went on to command the destroyers USS Lardner and USS Hickox in the Pacific. His awards included the Silver Star and two Bronze Stars.

Sweetser, whose parents ran a grocery store in Gray, Maine, enrolled in the Naval Academy in 1922, his interest in life at sea mirroring that of ancestors who had been shipmasters.

"I guess, as young folks do, my father at a young age had a passion for the sea and wanted to serve his country," said Willard Sweetser Jr. of Annapolis, one of his two children.

After World War II, Sweetser served as naval attache at U.S. embassies in the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, a posting that involved gathering intelligence on the Communist governments then in power.

"He would count smokestacks. He would count airplanes," his son said. "There was an awful lot of subterfuge going on in those days."

After his retirement in 1956, Sweetser earned a master's degree from Purdue University and went on to teach mathematics and statistics at LaSalle University in Philadelphia.

After his wife, the former Martha Callanan, died, Sweetser remarried. In 1972, he moved back to Gray, where he lived with his second wife, Barbara Bigelow, until her death. He co-authored a book about his hometown's history.

Sweetser's caretaker, Elaine Verrill, described him as an independent person who lived a full life. "When he turned 100, he made a conscious decision not to drive his automobile again. He put his license in a drawer," she said.

Sweetser's son said his father kept a positive outlook and remained vibrant, even at 105.

"He was reading the Wall Street Journal every day, and his memory was like the memory of an elephant," his son said.

A private funeral was planned.

Besides his son, Sweetser is survived by a daughter, Ellen Allen, of Stony Brook, N.Y.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

TO

From the local paper but sounds like he was an interesting guy

SCHELLINCK Anton Albert (Doc) (Lt. Cmdr, retired) died on Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 in Fort Erie, Ontario, after a brief illness. Born in 1925 in Kindersley, Saskatchewan, he was a son of the late Henri and Lucy (Vandermoor) Schellinck. Doc was an extraordinary pilot. He managed to enlist in the RCAF and graduate as a pilot officer by age 17. He then served in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Army in England. He then continued his career in the RCN. As an exchange pilot in the USN, he flew in elite squadrons, piloting the most advanced jet aircraft in the world at that time. He served aboard all three Canadian aircraft carriers: the Warrior, the Magnificent and the Bonaventure. A navy pilot to the end, he flew the last plane off the Magnificent. As one of the original pilots in the young Canadian naval air arm, he was frequently put in the role of test pilot. He piloted 27 types of aircraft including Seafires, Cougars, Seafuries, Vampires, Hellcats, Fireflies, the Bell 47G and the Consolidated PBY 5A converted for water bombing. He launched the first Banshee initial deck trials on the Bonaventure and was the first pilot to survive a carrier overshoot and ditching of a Seafury. He was squadron leader of the first Trackers to fly across the Atlantic. In, 1963-1965, he was the commanding officer of VU33 in Pat Bay, Vancouver Island. Following his retirement from the Canadian Armed Forces in 1972

DICK BRIMMELL 1928 - 2007 Richard Philip (Dick) Brimmell died suddenly at home while watching TV, of a massive heart attack, on Wednesday, November 28, 2007. He was the beloved husband of 56 years of Helen Bannerman-Brimmell: the dear father and father-in-law of Richard Chester Brimmell and his wife Andrea of Victoria B.C. and of daughter Louise Ellen Brimmell and her spouse Lynn Tripp of White Rock B.C., and cherished grandpa of Andrew and Marianne Brimmell of Victoria. Dick was born in Leicester, England, on August 4, 1928. The eldest child of the late Richard Dangar Brimmell and Phyllis Jones-Brimmell. The family moved to Ramsgate Kent where his father served as Borough Surveyor (City Engineer). Also surviving him are brothers, John of Mill Valley, California and Robert of Wimborne, Dorset, England and sister, Sheila Cole of Ramsgate. Dick apprenticed under the British Union of Journalists working on the Isle of Thanet Gazette in Margate, Kent. The Second World War soon drew him into the British army where he served in the Royal West Kent Regiment after training with the Irish Guards and the Officers short course at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. He then moved to the Water Transport Division of the Royal Army Service Corp and spent the rest of the war at Memai Bridge, Wales. After completing his journalism training at the end of the war, he took a job with the Royal Gazette in Hamilton, Bermuda, where he met his future wife who was already a member of the staff. They were married April 14, 1951 at her family home in Owen Sound, Ontario. They both worked for a time at The Oshawa Times Gazette before Dick was moved by The Thomson Company, owner of both papers, to the Guelph Mercury in 1954. He covered the city hall and education beats and became news editor. In 1960 he changed careers and became Secretary-Treasury of the Guelph Board of Education where he oversaw the changes for it to become the Guelph District Board of Education and later the Wellington County Board of Education. He was active in the Ontario Association of School Business Officials and was president in 1970/1971. During this time he kept his journalist hand in by writing the editorials for the Guelph Guardian newspaper. In 1973 he returned to the Guelph Mercury, where his wife was then family editor, and became managing editor. He greatly enjoyed the world of journalism and one of his greatest pleasures was creating the front page pictures for the April Fool's day issue, which always caused a stir. In 1983 he returned to public administration as the city's purchasing officer, again changing jobs to stay in Guelph, the city that he dearly called home. He was very active with the Ontario Public Buyers Association and also served as its president. Again, moonlighting, writing editorials and anonymous columns for the Royal Tribune (as it was then known) upon retiring from the city he put his name to the column, Tribe Trivia. He and Tribune editor Chris Clark created an outstanding short history of Guelph for the city's 175th Anniversary in 2002. This was one of many historical pamphlets that he created. Having been a Master Marksman in the British Army, Dick joined Guelph's 11th Field Regiment Royal Canadian Artillery where he captained the 11th Field Shooting Team. Always packing a Sergeant's tunic when they traveled so he could join his teammates in the Sergeant's mess after competition (although he ranked as a Lieutenant). He was very proud of being made a life member of the 11th Field Sergeant's Mess. He was a highly enthusiastic member of the 11th Field Officers Mess poker club "the Tuesday night prayer meeting". When the regiment reorganized, the poker club moved to the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 234 and all players of the "prayer meeting" quickly became proud legion members. He served on the Guelph Public Library Board and also became its chairman and then served as chairman of the Mid-Western Ontario Library Board. He was appointed by St. George's Anglican Church to be their member on the Guelph Cemetery Commission and served as secretary. A sports lover, he was a member of the Oshawa Cricket Club and then of the Guelph and District Cricket Club. In addition he organized its history, which was presented to the Guelph Public Library Archives. Dick was a long time avid member of the Guelph Community Boating Club. Tennis, badminton and curling are just a few of the sports he enjoyed but his true love was golf. He was a member of the Guelph Country Club for fifty years and a recent member of the Senjan Club. In retirement, since 1992, he greatly enjoyed being a member of the Guelph Wellington Men's Club and the St. George's Church Men's Club, the Evergreen Centre and reminiscing with fellow city hall retirees at their monthly luncheons. In earlier days he had belonged to both the Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs. A memorial service to celebrate Dick's life will be held at St. George's Anglican Church, 99 Woolwich St. on Wednesday, December 12 at 2 p.m. Flowers are gratefully declined. Anyone wishing to honour Dick may make a contribution to St George's Anglican Church or the Salvation Army. Arrangements entrusted to the GILCHRIST CHAPEL - McIntyre Wilkie Funeral Home , One Delhi Street, Guelph (519-824-0031). We invite you to leave your memories and donations online at: Gilchrist Chapel-McIntyre Wilkie Funeral Home


sounds like an intersting fellow, especially his involvement after the war

Great Escape survivor dies aged 92

Article from: Agence France-Presse
From correspondents in Wellington
December 22, 2007 04:57pm

THE last New Zealander involved in the famous World War II Great Escape from a German prisoner of war camp has died aged 92.

Mick Shand, a Battle of Britain fighter pilot, died at his home in Masterton, near Wellington, according to a death notice in the Wairarapa Times-Age newspaper.

A specialist in low-level attacks, Mr Shand was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in September 1942 after his 60th sortie, but the same month his Spitfire was shot down while trying to destroy a train in Holland.

Imprisoned in the notorious Stalag Luft 3 at Sagan, southeast of Berlin, Mr Shand took part in the Great Escape of March 1943 when 76 RAF officers tunnelled their way to freedom.

Almost all the escapees were recaptured and 50, including three New Zealanders, were then shot dead on Hitler's orders.

Mr Shand, who spent four days on the run, said in a recent newspaper interview that it was only by the grace of God that he was not singled out to be shot after his recapture.

Charles