Church bells will ring on Friday in honour of bravery and sacrifice.
May 8 marks the 75th anniversary of VE Day (victory in Europe) in 1945, marking the end of the war against the Nazi and Axis forces. (Japan would surrender later that year, on Sept. 2, ending the global conflict that was the Second World War.)
Barrie and area men and women played a huge part in the European war, and while many lost their lives, or lived on with their memories, their sacrifices will never be forgotten.
That is the hope of Steve Glover, of the Barrie Royal Canadian Legion, and Bill Sergeant, chairman of the 441 Huronia Wing RCAF Association along with the Barrie Public Library. In February, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Barrie and local veterans organizations were organizing public events to commemorate the 75th anniversary.
One of the events was supposed to be an outdoor PowerPoint display that would be shown every evening during the first full week in May on a building wall-screen at Memorial Square in downtown Barrie.
“Because of the pandemic, this is not possible," Glover says.
But thanks to a determined group of volunteers — and some virtual technology — residents will be able to learn more about those sacrifices from the comfort and safety of their homes.
“The City of Barrie, through the Barrie Public Library, assisted us with the use of the library's social media platform to create a series of narrated slides, or modules, that the public can view beginning on Friday at 9 a.m.,” he says.
Glover says there will be an introductory set of slides about VE Day and then five additional modules: the early years (1939-1943); the Italian Campaign (July 1943-February 1945); the North-West Europe Campaign (1944-1945) and then two modules around special themes: the Barrie Royal Canadian Legion 1949 Provincial Wall clock memorial and Barrie’s Second World War veterans.
Of the latter, there are no shortage of stories about heroism and bravery.
In researching the stories of Barrie and area men who served during the war, Glover came upon the story of Pilot Officer Chuck McDonald, who, before the start of the war, owned a service station on Burton Avenue.
McDonald originally signed up for the infantry with the Grey and Simcoe Foresters in June 1940, but then transferred to the RCAF and received his wings in November 1941, Glover says.
“During the war, he flew 72 missions and was twice awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and once, the Distinguished Conduct Medal. In April 1943, his Lancaster bomber was attacked during a bombing mission over Germany and he flew it back over the Baltic Sea and landed off the coast of Sweden, saving the entire crew," Glover says.
“He and his crew were imprisoned in neutral Sweden, but eventually returned to Britain where he continued to fly bomber missions over the European continent. When he broke his leg in a bad parachute landing in the summer of 1944, after he bailed out of a damaged plane, he was sent home to Canada to help with the Victory Loan war effort as one of Canada’s heroes.”
McDonald died in 1957 at age 48 from a car accident near Hamilton, Ont.
Sergeant is no stranger to the dedication of Canada’s military, having served the country for almost 40 years in uniform.
His grandfather was awarded a medal for his service at Vimy Ridge in the First World War and his father flew as a navigator with Bomber Command in the Second World War.
“I learned about community service from both of them and the value of the freedoms that Canadians enjoy today,” Sergeant says. “My daughter served in Afghanistan as a nurse with the Canadian Forces. None of them spoke much about their time in the service, but they always ensured that they were present on Remembrance Day to pay tribute to those who they served with, and especially the ones who did not return.”
Sergeant says it’s important to honour and remember those who have sacrificed so much for their fellow Canadians.
“I have known many of Barrie's Second World War veterans and mourned their passing, one by one, over the past two decades,” he says. “There are very few of ‘Canada's greatest generation’ left.”
The RCAF Association 441 Huronia Wing lost three of its Second World War veterans in 2019: Ronald Steers, Tom Carney, and Dr. Jim McPhee. Allister ‘Mac’ MacDonald is the last of that generation still active in the wing.
“Their dedication and public service served as a role model for all of us,” Sergeant says.
As part of the tribute to Second World War veterans, eight churches (and counting) in the greater Barrie area have agreed to ring their bells 75 times at 11 a.m. on Friday.
