Malcolm Kelly wants to help local residents learn more about the area's war heroes of yesteryear.
Kelly, who recently released his debut novel SPROG: A Novel of Bomber Command, will be at the Midland Cultural Centre on Saturday to discuss not only the Second World War-inspired novel, but also some of the local men who followed the novel’s path in real life and joined the RCAF.
A longtime journalist whose first job was as the sports editor of the now-defunct Midland Free Press, Kelly said that while he'll talk about the novel during the afternoon event, he also wants to shine a light on some of the relatively unknown local airmen who served their country during the war.
“When we say ‘we shall remember,’ we’re talking about names on the cenotaph,” Kelly said, noting he wanted to take a deeper look into who these young men were, how they lived before the war and how quickly they had to grow up from being ordinary, “goofy teenagers.”
“They really were teenagers. Their music was important to them, their pop culture was important to them. I’m going to put stories and faces to the names of people we’ve seen on the cenotaph," he added.
Saturday afternoon’s talk will feature stories of Penetanguishene’s Raymond Dion and James Yelland along with the Melville Brothers and Hugh McArthur, of Midland.
As an example of a perhaps unknown story, Kelly noted Dion was shot twice during the war, spent six months in hospital and could have returned home. Instead, he went back into battle and ended up dying after his plane ran out of fuel.
Kelly’s fond memories of the area are reflected throughout the book.
In fact, one of the main characters, Jules Patrice Desroches, hails from Penetanguishene. As well, many scenes in the book are set in northern Simcoe County, and they combine the story with actual characters who lived in the area at that time.
Sprog, which is British slang for baby, young person or rookie, follows the lives of Desroches and four other young men as they journey to join the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941.
Other characters in the novel include an Abilene, Tex., native, who’s determined to get into the fight even though his country is neutral and a top high school athlete from Toronto, who wants to put his bravery to the test in the fight against Nazi Germany.
Kelly said that while SPROG is a tale of fiction, it tells a realistic story about the thousands of young men who flocked to Canada from all over Britain and the Commonwealth, and the United States all hoping to earn their pilot's wings.
Eager to join the war in the skies over Europe, SPROG sets out to detail the challenges these young men must first endure during the British Air Commonwealth Training Plan before taking to the air.
Kelly’s research for the book also afforded some interesting tidbits.
As an example, he noted that Penetanguishene became “Penetang” as a result of the railroad wanting a shorter name for its schedules.
And he enjoys telling the story about Penetanguishene’s status as a ‘wet’ town and central party hub during the war for RCAF trainees out of Camp Borden, who would flood the town on weekends.
Kelly added: “It was such a happening place!”
Following Kelly’s presentation, he will answer questions and sign copies of the book, which is now available for purchase at Georgian Bay Books.
Tickets for the event that gets underway at 2 p.m. can be purchased online.
