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Bomber Command Museum Archived Newsletters



Bomber Command Museum of Canada
1990 Spring & Summer Newsletter


The President's Message                                                                                                          Editorial


July 27, 1990 Dedication Of Lancaster
Building Fund Response Very Gratifying!
Museum Presented With A Print -The Warren Twins
Two New Engine Displays for 1990
Other Acquisitions
Urgent Help Needed
Turret Project Completed -Now In The Museum
Ian Bazalgette VC
Roy Chadwick's Daughter Now Honourary NLS President
The 1990 Summer Tourist Program
To Saskatchewan For The Cornell 		           Society On The Move
That Other Lancaster
The Other Anson Project
NLS Receives Grants
The SAIT Connection
Kananaskis Memorial To BCATP Accident Victims
CAPA Comes To Nanton
Thanks To Artifacts Donators
NLS Expands -The Calgary Chapter
In Memoriam



On Friday, July 27, 1990 at 6:00 p.m., the Nanton Lancaster Bomber will be dedicated to the memory of S/L Ian Bazalgette, the only Albertan to be awarded the Victorian Cross during the second World War. The Society intends, through this dedication, to honour a hero from our province as well as to make Albertans and others more aware of the sacrifices made by all those who flew for freedom in the war.

Following the dedication ceremony a banquet will be held in the Nanton Community Centre adjacent to the aircraft and the Nanton Air Museum.

George Turner, the flight engineer who was in the cockpit with Bazalgette on the VC flight, will be travelling from Great britain for the event. The guest speaker will be Larry Melling of Hamilton, Ont., who alternated flying the same Lancaster with Bazalgette on 635 Squadron.

Group Capt. Hamish Mahaddie hopes to attend as well. Mahaddie completed two tours of operations before helping AVM Don Bennett establish the Pathfinder squadrons. It was with Pathfinders that Mahaddie came to know Ian Bazalgette.

A flypast is to take place in conjunction with the ceremony. Arrangements are in the works for flypast of an F-5 along with several WWII "Warbirds." Our friends from 408 Squadron have indicated they will attend with one or two helicopters.

It is hoped that as many of our members as possible will be able to attend the ceremony and banquet on July 27. Our seating si limited and we feel it will be sold out well in advance. Order tickets now so you won't be disappointed.

Your NLS executive is very pleased with the response to the building fund which was placed on stream with the Fall 1989 newsletter. As we go to print the amount still to be raised is approximately $30,000. To date we have 22 "Lifetime" members (donated $500 or more) and 88 "square Footer" club members (donators of $100 or more).

The $150,000 estimated cost of the building shell will be made up of provincial government grants totalling $75,000 (of which $50,000 must be matched) and a further $75,000 from the NLS fund raising. About $45,000 has thus far been raised. Most of these monies have been accumulated since December 1989.

The response by local residents, members from coast to coast and from the U.S.A., Great Britain, etc., is indeed gratifying. It is also humbling to realize that our Society is about to embark on a major first step in its goal of preserving the Lanc and creating an air museum, all doe to our wide-spread membership.

Our funding success to date is also due to organizations such as Royal canadian Legions, R.C.A.F. Assoc's., Aircrew Assoc's., local and other business's, etc. Your Executive thanks everyone (from near and far) who has helped to fund the museum building.

It is hoped that the building shell can be constructed this fall and the Lancaster placed under cover. All our efforts will be to accomplish this.

If you are a new member or one who has not yet become a "Square Footer Club" or "Lifetime" member, please do consider doing this soon. You will have the satisfaction of contributing and being part of the worthwhile cause of saving one of the last of the Lancasters and other aircraft of the era for future generation. Your name will be placed on a permanent plaque in the completed museum

A native son of Nanton was welcomed home April 9, 1990, at a dinner in his honor, hosted by the Society.

Retired Wing Commander Douglas Warren, DFC, and his wife, of Comox B.C., along with her brother and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Garth Bennett of Calgary, were guests of the Nanton Lancaster Society. Mayor Mike Connors welcomed the guests to Nanton.

The dinner followed a visit by the guests to the Bomber and an inspection of the artifacts in the museum. Mr. Warren presented Society President Dan Fox with a print of an oil painting of two Spitfire Mk. 9s.

Twin boys, Douglas and Bruce, were born to Earl and Marie Warren in Nanton, in 1922. In 1929 the family moved to Wetaskiwin where they quietly changed their nicknames to Duke I and Duke II, this in preference to their baby sister's versions of "Dupe"!

In March, 1941, the twins joined the RCAF where the appellations Duke I and Dike II became set for life. They took their initial flying training at High River, Alberta, on Tiger Moths and went on to Calgary where they were to take Service Flying on Ansons. They finished training in Harvards and went overseas in January, 1942, where they were posted to the same Spitfire squadron (66 of the 132 wing of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. Duke I (Bruce) became Flight Commander of A-Flight. Duke II (Douglas) later commanded B-Flight. They both flew at the invasion of Dieppe. Duke II represented Canada at the 25th and 40th anniversaries of this tragic battle.

The twins were both awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and both remained in the service after the war. Duke I was killed in the crash of a prototype CF-100 in 1951. Duke II remained with the RCAF and in 1957 was CFI at the Canadian F86 Operational Training Unit at Chatham, N.B. From Chatham he was transferred to Oldenberg, Germany, to help reorganize a German air force. Here he became Commanding Officer of the RCAF Advisory Group of Waffenshule 10. Duke II is now retired and lives in Comox.

    The Ranger Engine

The Ranger engine was acquired from auctioneer, Ed Byam, of Cardston, AB, who came upon it at one of his sales. It has now been placed on a mount and will be in the museum when it opens for the 1990 tourist season.
The Society would like to thank Ed for contacting us and helping to expand the museum. The Ranger engine was used in the PT19 & PT26 (Cornell).


    The Menasco Engine

The Menasco engine was donated to NLS in the name of the late Emile Markle of Claresholm, Alberta, by his son George and family. This engine originally came out of a Tiger Moth. A commemorating plaque, in Emile's name, will be placed with the engine at a future date. The engine will be in the museum for the summer tourist season.

The Cornell is now on hand, but as of yet we don't have a place to display it and it is presently dismantled. We are in need of a propeller for this engine, so if you have one over your mantle or in the attic we'd be forever grateful to you for such a donation!

Glen Coffey of Brooks, Alberta, gave us two portable Lanc oxygen bottles, complete with carrying straps, etc. These were delivered by our new member Richard Heninger, who moved to Nanton recently.

Another Anson remains was donated to NLS by the Thompson family of Claresholm, Alberta. This aircraft was hauled to the Thompson ranch after the war and parked next to some young trees. Today it is almost an integral part of the ranch shelter belt.

However, it has many parts still intact, for instance, the antenna is still in place from the cabin pylon to the rudder post. The instrument panel is intact also. Two other Ansons with engines and one that was donated two years ago are due to be hauled soon in another "Operation Annie."

NLS still needs several items for the Lanc. Urgently needed are the four "Header" tanks for the Merlin engine coolant systems. While we are not yet at the stage of installing such items, we need to have them on hand. If you know someone who might have a header tank in his scrap yard or storage shed, let us know. It would be of great service to the Society if you help us find these tanks.

Rebuilding of the Martin 250CE- 23A gun turret, that has been underway since 1998, was completed on December 22, 1989. Some additional parts have since been obtained and installed this year, just in time for display at the Kinsmen's Nanton Trade Fair on April 20, 1990. It is now in the NLS museum, where it is one of several new 1990 exhibits.

The Martin 250CE-23A gun turret now sits on its own steel base complete with two .50 calibre machine guns (deactivated), is fully operable via its manual controls and is complete with plexiglass turret cover. This same type of turret was originally installed in the Nanton Lancaster (FM-159), when it was flown to England as the war ended. It will eventually be reinstalled in the Lanc, wen the aircraft is rebuilt to wartime configuration, in the proposed Nanton Air Museum.

The rebuilding of this artifact was accomplished with the assistance of an Alberta Museums Association grant, which was matched by the Society. These funds went towards purchase of missing parts, paint supplies, welding, metal work and machining labour. The NLS is grateful to the AMA for its help and co-operation in this regard.

Some of the members who helped under the leadership of shop foreman Lenard Hoffarth, and his "Lieutenant" John Dozeman, were Fred Hollowell, John Dozeman Jr., Milt Magee, Bob Evans, Dave Birrell, Richard Heninger and others. The return of Milt Magee, the original project head as an advisor, speeded things up greatly. The result was that a veritable "heap" of parts suddenly transformed into a complete, manually operational gun turret.

With the gun turret now complete Lenard "the little guy" and John Dozeman "the big guy" (this is how they refer to each other), and Calgary member Fred Hollowell are already planning completion of other shop projects, one of which is a runnable Jacobs radial engine made from the components of several Jacobs that have been rescued from farm scrap yards.

These NLS members and their helpers were responsible for the rebuilt Jacobs engine (static) display that has been part of the museum the past two summers. They have (almost) promised Mike Connors that this coming tourist season they are going to put the carburetor, that he cleaned up two years ago, on the static Jacobs (Really they are Mike!)

Rebuilding the 1940's towing tractor is another project to be started soon.

The following is a reprint of a portion of an article in the Spring, 1989 NLS Newsletter for the benefit of our many new members who may not know about Ian Bazalgette VC DFC.

In March 1989 our Society formally agreed to dedicate our Lanc to Ian Bazalgette. Bazalgette was born at Calgary, Alberta, on October 19, 1918. His family later moved to Toronto and in 1927 emigrated to England. He received most of his education at The Downs, Wimbledon. When WWII broke out he obtained a commission in the Royal Artillery. In 1941 he transferred to the RAF and was posted to No. 115 Squadron. In 1943 he was awarded the DFC for his actions in attacking such heavily defended targets as Berlin, Essen, Duisber and Turin.

In April of 1944 he was sent to 635 Squadron where in August he was to perform the most outstanding of heroic deeds, under terrible war conditions.

Here are excerpts from the post-humous Victoria Cross award citation.

"On August 4, 1944, Sqdrn. Leader Bazalgette was master bomber of a Pathfinder squadron detailed to mark an important target at Trossy St. Maxim, Franc.... Near the target the aircraft had both starboard engines knocked out by antiaircraft guns and was on fire. The bomb-aimer was seriously wounded and then the deputy master bomber was shot down. With the success of the attack vow depending on him, Bazalgette pressed on to the target, marking it and bombing it accurately. With the aircraft nearly out of control, starboard wing on fire and only one engine operating, the bomb-aimer and the mid upper gunner both unconscious, he ordered the rest of the crew to bail out. "He remained at the controls and attempted the almost impossible task of landing the crippled, blazing aircraft, in a last effort to save the helpless bomb-aimer and air gunner."

"With superb skill and taking care to avoid a small French village nearby, he brought the aircraft down safely. Unfortunately it exploded after touching down and this gallant officer and his two comrades perished. His heroic sacrifice marked the climax of a distinguished career of operations against the enemy. He always chose the more dangerous and exacting roles and his courage and devotion to duty were beyond praise."

We are pleased to announce that Margaret Dove has accepted our offer to become Honourary President of the Nanton Lancaster Society. Mrs. Dove is the daughter of Roy Chadwick, who in a life cut short by a tragic accident, designed some 200 aircraft from WWI fighters to the futuristic Vulcan bomber, which fought in the Falkland Islands war. His greatest success was the Lancaster and a tape received from Mrs. Dove describes the day she accompanied her father to witness its first flight.

Mrs. Dove has forwarded various photographs and other information to the Society and has offered to help us in any way she can. She is also the honourary president of the Lancaster Support Club of Canadian Warplane Heritage (Hamilton) and the Lincolnshire Lancaster Society, which supports Britain's flying Lancaster.

This summer NLS will continue the tour program of 1989. The museum in the tourist information centre will be open weekends from the May long weekend until July first and every day from July first to Labor Day in September. The hours will also be the same, the museum open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., while tours of the Bomber will be from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The museum will have been changed around somewhat from 1989 and several new displays will be in place. New items to be seen are the Martin mid-upper gun turret, complete with its two .50 cal. machine guns. The Ranger engine, acquired last summer will be on display even though it still needs to be dismantled, painted, etc. Also on display will be a Menasco engine that was donated to NLS in 1989. This engine originally came out of a Tiger Moth and spent some time in a snowplane. The owner, now deceased, used to hunt coyotes with it and recorded speeds of 70+ MPH. His family donated the engine in his name.

Later in the summer the Cheetah engine, on loan from The Calgary Aero Space Museum, may grace the museum also.

Some of last year's student tour guides will again be on hand, along with four who are new tot the job. We expect them all to do just great.

Come visit the Lancaster and museum this summer for the best tours yet.

George White, Dave Birrell and myself travelled to Saskatchewan on Friday, May 11, 1990, in George's half ton truck with an enclosed trailer behind. The trailer was for hauling the wing extensions and other fragile pieces.

It had been arranged to have Mullen Trucking of Aldersyde, Alberta, haul the Cornell fuselage, with its 11 foot center section intact.

After an overnight stay in Swift Current, we arrived early at the Oakman farm to start loading. The weather on this Saturday was cold and overcast. During the day it rained intermittently. In spite of the weather conditions, the two 13 foot wing extensions, the vertical and horizontal stabilizers, all the metal fairings, cowl pieces and many smaller parts were loaded in the trailer.

On Sunday, May 13, we met Mullen's "picker" truck, complete with semi-trailer at the farm, at 9 a.m. First to be loaded were two Jacobs engines, a Cheetah engine and a partially intact Cornell center section, which Ernie had given to the Society. The Cornell, minus engine and wings, was then rolled out of the quonset storage building and with the aid of Mullen's "picker" truck made what may have been its last "flight," up and over the end of the quonset, to be placed on the semi-trailer. Last to be loaded was the Ranger engine. Mullen's truck driver, Don Fortier, and "swamper" Jeff Waterstreet, then tied and tarped the load for the trip to Nanton on Monday morning. A special thanks to Don and Jeff for the very professional way they handled the fragile load.

Ernie Oakman very generously gave the Society several other items including a Gypsy Major engine (dismantled), another four cylinder aircooled engine (make unknown as yet), a nearly new-looking wooden propeller and miscellaneous small items.

To make a long story short, we arrived home Sunday evening and on Monday afternoon the Mullen truck arrived. With the help of several members and other interested people, everything was unloaded and stored away in short order.

The Cornell is now awaiting our new museum building where it will go on display, while its components are being rebuilt. It will make a great display along with the Lancaster and it may indeed fly again in the future.

The Nanton Lancaster Society wishes to again say THANK YOU to Mr. and Mrs. Oakman for their generosity and for adding tremendously to the air museum.

This past winter has seen the Society design and construct a travelling display, fulfilling another step in bringing the Lanc and the Society's goals to the public eye.

The display has already appeared in three of Calgary's major shopping mall, luring the passing public with an intact Lancaster instrument panel, visual displays and other WWII artifacts.

The Society received very good public reaction to these displays and gained many contacts that may be of help with future restoration.

The display will be travelling to the Edmonton Airshow in May and then to the Moose Jaw Airshow in July.

Additional displays are currently being planned for the upcoming months. Any ideas for future display locations may be sent tot he Society for consideration.

Yes! We did get that second "Lanc" home last fall. Your executive has very reluctantly allowed your editor to publish a picture of this acquisition. Some of them think the reader may start to question the sanity of those in charge!

All joking aside, the remains of FM-118 will become very valuable in the future. It is hoped the cabin section will some day be restored to become a hands-on display, which can be entered by the general public.

When FM-159 is restored , the fragility of its irreplaceable components, will probably make it unavailable for daily tours. The bomber will still be the main attraction at that time. It is anticipated that stairs and walkways past the cockpit, etc., will enable tourist to see into the interior.

Alvin Berger and Peter Macklin, two Nanton area residents, have been working on their Anson for about the same length of time NLS has been in existence. They have to date rebuilt a Jacobs engine, which they will be running in a week or two.

Alvin and Peter are also members of the Society and have helped out with both parts and labour. In fact the Society has Alvin to thank for donating the mid upper turret (now in the museum), a rear turret and nose turret, all from Lancasters.

There will be an article about this project in the fall newsletter.

The Society has recently received two grants from the Alberta Museums Association. These grants are administered by the Dept. of Culture and Multiculturalism and are supported by lottery funding.

A grant of $1000 will be utilized to establish a proper cataloguing system and inventory of the many parts and artifacts which the Society has accumulated over the past four years. This will enable the Society to determine what parts are still required to restore the Lancaster, Anson, etc. As well, proper documentation of our collection is a prerequisite to some museum operating grants which the NLS would like to access.

A grant of $150 will help with the preparation of display material related to our Dedication Ceremony which will be held on July 27, 1990.

Technology (SAIT). Several aircraft engineering students have since become members.

Through the efforts of second year student, Kevin Hrab, the instructors of the aircraft maintenance section have had students there rebuilding a Lanc main gear door for the Society. This was undertaken under a government grant program, for retaining unemployed persons for the aircraft repair and maintenance field.

Through these recent contacts NLS hopes to develop an ongoing relationship that could have advantages for both the Society and SAIT. With the expertise of the college and the many and varied projects NLS has coming on stream, the advantages are many.

If nothing else, contact with SAIT has generated several new members from the student body who are very interested in society goals. We extend a welcome to them all.

On November 10, 1989, this writer accompanied Highwood MLA Don Tannas to the Forget-me-not Pond picnic area west of Bragg Creek, Alberta, in Kananaskis Park. Some 300 other people also attended a ceremony to honour the victims of an August 14, 1941 crash of an Avro Anson training aircraft, on the east side of Mount McDougall.

The ceremony and the unveiling of a plaque not only honoured the victims of that crash, but also all aircrew personnel who died in training accidents during the period of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP).

The crash on Mount McDougall took the lives of instructor Flying Officer I.M. Sutherland-Brown and student LAC F.W. Greenfield. A third member of this ill-fated flight was LAC A.M. (Sandy) McGruther, who survived the crash ad was rescued by an RCAF and civilian ground force. McGruther later went on to serve in Europe in World War II.

Several relatives of the crash victims were in attendance as was the lone survivor, Sandy McGruther. Also in attendance were members of th Canadian Forces and a military band. In addition to those in charge of the event, McGruther and a brother I.M. Sutherland-Brown spoke regarding the memorial, which is the result of efforts by family and friends to have a memorial placed in the area, to commemorate their lost kin and all other casualties of the BCATP.

In June of 1990, a cairn is to be erected on the Powderface Trail, an the Canyon Creek Crossing, within sight of Mount McDougall. The plaque unveiled at Forget-me-not Pond will become part of this permanent memorial.

Members of the Canadian Aeronautic Preservation Association met in Calgary on April 27-28, 1990. A change of itinerary on Friday the 27th saw those in attendance travelling to Nanton to visit the Lancaster and small museum. They were escorted to Nanton by NLS representative to the meeting.

Representatives of several major museums were in this group. From the National Aviation Museum in Ottawa were: curator, Fred Shortt, and assistant curator, Ed Patten; from the western Aviation Museum in Winnipeg, John Davidson and Keith Olson of East Selkirk, Manitoba. Ed and Rose Zalesky were there from The Canadian Museum of Flight and Transportation in Surrey, B.C. Also in attendance was, Chris Sartaretto, formerly with The Aero Space Museum in Calgary.

The NLS museum was in a bit of a mess as we were in the process of changing displays and adding others. Our shop was also disrupted from getting the Martin turret out for the April 19 Kinsman trade fair. A visit by all to "ye editor's" acreage with its Anson "graveyard" probably was another "highlight"! Anyway, we hope this distinguished group didn't judge us too harshly. Our usual small but active membership is generally very busy with personal matters in April.

NLS supports CAPA and its objectives. There is a definite need for a group representing those individuals and organizations attempting to preserve the variety of rare, in some cases almost nonexistent, aviation heritage items.

To those CAPA members who visited us, we enjoyed the communication with all of you. You are welcome any time.

We would again like to thank all the many people who have brought us a nearly continuous flow of artifacts since that time. Below are some of these great supporters. Once more we apologize to those donators we may not have listed below. To those listed and all others please accept our sincere thanks for helping to make an air museum possible.


THANKS again to all you good people who have given other items of helped the Society in any way.

On March 14, 1990, the Nanton Lancaster Society, Calgary Chapter, held its inaugural meeting. Approximately thirty-five people attended from which an executive committee was elected to oversee the chapter's operation.

The Calgary Chapter's main objectives will be to generate public interest in the Society from within the city's large population, advertise upcoming events, aid with restoration projects etc.

The chapter meets at the Royal Canadian Air Force Association premises in Calgary on the second Wednesday of each month.

Our Society lost one of its founding members with the recent passing of Nanton resident Doug Stewart. Doug assisted with the establishment of the museum and its associated souvenir sales program. As well he helped our restoration shop get off the ground.

Doug was always willing to help out and enjoyed the Lancaster Society. A substantial number of donations have been made to the society in his name. These have been placed in our building fund. A plaque in Doug's memory will be placed in the museum at a future date.

It hardly seems possible, but here we are headed into the summer of 1990. Your Society has been extremely busy the past few months with everything from restoring the mid upper turret to manning displays at malls and fairs.

As usual the same faces are present when work is involved, but that is common to any group. We do, however, need more "active members" who will attend meetings and help on work crews. Don't be afraid to volunteer your services !

Personally I am looking forward to this summer with great enthusiasm. By the time you read this our Cornell will have been delivered to Nanton, our seven student tour guides will be hired and the museum will be open for business. Also our new Calgary Chapter will have had its third meeting and we will have attended our first airshow of the year with the portable display.

Our dreams of building a museum are closer to reality every day now. Donations are steadily adding up to the point where we are already talking of starting construction this fall.

The "event" of the summer will take place on July 27, when the Society hosts the Ian Bazalgette dedication ceremony and dinner. Many notable figures will be there, so order your tickets today and don't miss this opportunity to be part of an historic Society event. All profits from this event will go to the museum fund.

As you can see by this newsletter it is going to be an exciting year for the Nanton Lancaster Society. Don't miss out on the fun !

     Dan Fox

Positive things are happening! The building fund is coming along fantastically due to all you great people out there. As the newsletter goes to press, we are within $29,000 of raising the estimated $150,000 that will be needed to construct the "bare bones" building.

The wide spread support of the building fund has been very gratifying and this has given your executive extra motivation to have the building started this fall.

The Cornell (PT-26) is now in storage locally and you can read about the recovery trip to Saskatchewan elsewhere in the newsletter. We have also gained some more engines and other items in recent months. The owner of the Cornell also donated a Cheetah engine, two Jacobs, two propellers, a Gypsy Major engine (in pieces), etc.

In the newsletter you will have noted that in July a major event for your Society is to take place, the dedication of our Bomber to the memory of WWII, Victoria Cross recipient, Ian Bazalgette. There will be at least one former member of S/L Bazalgette's crew, as well as other associates, at the ceremony and banquet to be held in Nanton on July 27, 1990.

The formation of a Calgary Chapter of NLS is another indication of the Society's growth. The Calgary membership has always been a very important part of the Society and with at "at home" subsidiary chapter they can meet and organize Calgary activities. New members are also coming forward due to this. The Chapter members have been primarily responsible for the recent NLS mall displays and are in charge of the display going to 1990 airshows.

You will have already noted that the newsletter is late again. There are so many things to do and not enough bodies to do them, especially at this time of year. We are behind in other areas too and have dad to prioritize the tasks with exact deadlines, such as getting ready for the summer tourist season. It's amazing how much times is needed to get every thing in place and coordinated.

Positive things predominate, but we do have one concern. With the building fund on stream, our funds for ongoing activities like printingn newsletters, acquiring artifacts, supplies for upkeep on eth Bomber, advertising events, etc., have been declining.

Your Society still needs your continuing support for general funds. Support, in this area, by the membership is critical to the culmination of our goal of preserving the Lanc and the many other artifacts of WWII, that are now on hand. Even a small amount from every member helps greatly toward keeping up the Society's momentum.

Enough said! Have a great summer, come visit us anytime.



Bomber Command Museum of Canada