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Bomber Command Museum Archived Newsletters



Bomber Command Museum of Canada
2004 Fall & Winter Newsletter


President's Comments                                                                                                          Curator/Editor's Desk


Salute To The Air Gunners
A Tallboy For The Museum
Visit To Ailes Anciennes
Fifth Annual Fly-In
Bolingbroke Cockpit To Isle Of Man
Clarence Simonsen
FM-118 Cockpit To Toronto
Joe English -Making A Movie
A Special WWII Suitcase
Volunteer Appreciation Night
Summer Visitors
Tirpitz Sunk -60 Years Ago 		                     Canada's Bomber Command Memorial
Member Profile -Fred Smith
Merlin Engine To Run
Halifax Recovery Report
Aeroplane Magazine Tour
NLS Curator Receives Prestigious Award
Jack Foster's Models
The Anson Restoration
Museum Manager's Report
Miscellaneous Photographs
Email Received
In Memoriam



About one hundred ex-air gunners, who served during WWII, were amongst an audience of about 600 people that attended our special event on August 14, 2004.
The Avro Lancaster, Bristol Blenheim, and the North American Harvard, were rolled out on the tarmac to make space for a luncheon that was served to 400 guests. The three aircraft made a great and unusual display for motorists traveling past on highway #2, many of whom stopped to view and photograph the trio.
Following the luncheon, the museum's collection of five gun turrets served as the backdrop as tributes were made to the sacrifices and contributions of the air gunners. Special mention was made of the RCAF team of Peter Engbrecht CGM and Gordon Gillanders DFM who shot down eleven enemy fighters while serving with No. 424 Squadron. These outstanding air gunners were well represented by members of their families.
Charles Bazalgette participated in the ceremonies by dedicating the museum's operational rear turret to the memory of Douglas Cameron DFM. Cameron was S/L Ian Bazalgette VC, DFC's rear gunner. The museum's Lancaster was dedicated to S/L Bazalgette in 1990.


Father Harry Schmuck, a retired priest
and former WWII air gunner,
spoke at the August 14 event
about his experiences as an air gunner during WWII.
Lancaster FM159 outside for the August 14 event along with the Harvard and Blenheim.



Former Air Gunner Doug Penny
and volunteer Charlie Cobb
unveil the restored Bristol gun turret on August 14.

The photo above shows some of the 400 people
who attended the noon luncheon
at the August 14, Air Gunners event.
Another 200 attended the afternoon ceremonies
where theh museum's newly restored
Bristol gun turret was unveiled.


Longtime NLS member Alvin Berger,
made four wooden machine guns for the turret
in the photos above and right.
Our thanks to Alvin for helping to finish this project.

Charlie Cobb shown with the restored Frazer Nash rear gun turret.
Charlie worked many hours on this project,
making numerous trips from his home in Calgary
to get this project completed before the August event.
Another Calgary volunteer, John Maze,
and our summer shop student James Sorensen, assisted.
Thanks to Charlie and his helpers.
Members of the Engbrecht and Gillanders families unveil the two pieces of nose art reproduced by artist, Clarence Simonsen.




Five gun turrets in a row L-R; F/N front, F/N Mid Upper, F/N Rear, Martin, and the Bristol Turret. (F/N = Frazer Nash)


The Society contracted master cabinet maker, John Morel, to build a replica of the Tallboy bomb which was used to sink the German battleship Tirpitz. This project was funded by John and Dorothy Birrell, parents of NLS director Dave Birrell.
John Morel proved he was not only a master woodworker. The metal tail section is an example of some of his other talents. Andy Lockhart assisted John in completing the project in time for the Tirpitz event. Both John and Andy donated extra hours in building this special museum display. We extend a grateful THANKS to them for their efforts.
Also a very special THANKS goes out to John and Dorothy Birrell for their funding of this project. The Lancaster display now has a whole new dimension, because of their generosity. John Birrell has said for years that the museum needed a mock-up of one of the large bombs to emphasize the carrying capacity of the Lancaster.


Standing beside the newly unveiled Tallboy bomb replica
from L to R: John Tweddle, John Birrell, Maggie Tweddle,
Dorothy Birrell, and Dan Fox.


The Tallboy replica under the Lancaster
in the museum. It looks real!

John Morel in the museum
attaching the metal tail section to the mockup bomb.


The "bomb" in one of its construction phases.
This replica of one of the bombs carried
by Lancasters during WWII is made of wood
with a sheet aluminium tail section.

Photo of the front section
of a "REAL" Tallboy bomb taken at
The Brooklands Aviation Museum (near London), England.


While in Paris on a European holiday, Bob Evans visited the French Museum of Air and Space at Le Borget with Parisian friend, Philippe Uziel, and son Guillaume (who had spent a week with the Evansā in 2000). Philippe had arranged for Jean. Michel Danielle and Francois Bardet, who are members of the Ailes Anciennes group to be tour guides.
The museum at Le Borget is fantastic! After touring there, the two guides took the visitors across the airport to a 1920's hangar where France's only surviving Lancaster, NX664 is being meticulously restored. Here Bob sat in the pilot's seat of the perfectly restored Lanc cabin section.
The Ailes Anciennes group have also restored one Merlin engine, one propeller and other smaller items. They are presently working on the wing centre-section.
NLS is presently arranging to send some small parts to France that will help with the restoration of NX664. We congratulate The Ailes Anciennes restorers on their excellent work!


In the Ailes Anciennes museum where
the French Lancaster is being restored,
L to R.: Philippe Uziel, Francois Bardet,
Guillaume Uziel, Jean Michel Danielle,
and Bob Evans.
[ Photo by Carol Evans ]

Francois Bardet and Jean Michel Danielle
stand in front of the immaculately restored cockpit of
France's Lancaster NX664


The fifth annual NLS fly-in was held at the A J Flying Ranch airport, 7 miles north of Nanton on July 19 with some 76 aircraft attending. This was eleven more than last year, and the largest number of aircraft to attend our annual fly-in. Many of those flying in were repeat visitors to this social event sponsored by the NLS Air Museum.
The Nanton & District Lions Club served a pancake breakfast to the flyers and the large number of visitors who drove to the airstrip to see the "airplanes." The High River-Okotoks Air Cadet Squadron served hamburgers and all the trimmings at lunch time.
Aircraft varied from antique (three vintage Stearman, a Tiger Moth, a twin engine Beech Expeditor, etc.), to immaculate home-builts and modern two and four place single engine aircraft. Society volunteers supplied transportation to and from the museum.


The museum's Lancaster cockpit mock-up
was on hand at the fly-in.
The three vintage Stearman aircraft shown here in the two photos above were popular with visitors at the annual NLS Fly-in.









The two photos above show a few of the 76 aircraft that attended the July 19 fly-in.




Our Society donated a Bolingbroke cockpit section to the Manx Military and Aviation Museum on the Isle of Man. The all-volunteer group there will be restoring this to its original wartime configuration and dedicating it to the memory of the 28 Canadian airmen who perished while serving on the Isle of Man during WWII. It will also be dedicated to the late Jonathon Spinks, who had originally found it. This Bolingbroke cockpit and many other components were donated to the Nanton Lancaster Society by Jonathonās parents, after his untimely death in 1995.
The NLS is proud to be able to help the Manx museum by adding this cockpit section to their collection.



Bolingbroke cockpit (left) was sent to the aviation museum
on the Isle of Man. Manx volunteers shown here.






John Phillips stands beside his truck (above)
after loading the Bolingbroke cockpit.
The cockpit was shipped to the
Manx Military & Aviation Museum, Isle of Man.


Clarence Simonsen is a great supporter of our Society and many samples of his reproduced WWII nose art are on display in the museum. Most of this nose art is painted on original aircraft skin. The nose art illustrated in the photo above is being painted on a wing panel from a scrapped Lancaster.
As a renowned expert in this art form, Clarence was invited this past summer to speak on the subject of nose art, to a gathering at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington. D.C.. The audience was so enthralled with Clarence's presentation that he was allowed to speak for an additional half hour! We congratulate Clarence on being recognized by one of the world's most respected preservationist institutions.


Aviation Nose Art expert and author, Clarence Simonsen,
finishing a reproduction of WWII nose art.


In the formative years of our museum we acquired the remains of Lancaster FM-118. It had been used for target practice on the Army gunnery range at Shilo, Manitoba, for 20 years, so was hardly recognizable as a former WWII bomber.
FM118 did however serve our Society well, as the remains of the cockpit section were traded to Bernie Salter in England for wartime radio equipment, instruments, etc. The only problem with this trade was that Bernie never managed to arrange the transportation to England, so it remained in our storage yard until this summer.
Andrew Walz, of the Toronto Aero Space Museum (TASM), at Toronto, Ontario, arranged purchase of the cockpit section from Bernie. TASM is the custodian of Lancaster FM104, which was on exhibit for many years at Toronto's Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) grounds. In recent years it was moved and now resides inside.
Ź Andrew and his fellow volunteers intend to use part of the FM118 cabin floor to repair the portion of FM104 floor that was originally cut out in fitting it to the concrete plinth at the CNE grounds. NLS wishes the Toronto group all the best in their efforts to restore FM104.


Lanc FM118 cockpit on the road again!


This is Joe's account of his recent involvement in making a documentary film with his wartime air crew.
This film will be aired in four parts on the History Channel commencing in March 2005.

The adventure I relate here commenced with a letter from "Joel" at the University of Manitoba History Department. He introduced a scenario that Don Young, a freelance documentary filmmaker for CBC and History Channel, wished to carry out. Don wanted to take seven young men of today and put them through a shortened version of the extensive training that my crew and I had in the war-time BCATP - from joining up through to graduating and receiving their wings.
In his search for a Lancaster bomber aircrew that had survived WWII, Don Young contacted me and my crew. Also chosen were seven young fellows, including three grandsons of former aircrew and four other lads (one from Australia, one from Memphis, Tennessee) who had answered Don's challenge to take part in his documentary.
The plan for the crew of seven 19-20 year olds was to put them through a genuine, but speeded up (ten days) version of the early training that air crew had during WWII. At Picton, Ontario, (former RCAF base) the boys received blue uniforms and a complete kit. Here they lived and studied to pass exams in airmanship, meteorology, navigation, etc., and made flights in a Tiger Moth trainer plane. At the end of ground school the older crew were to inspect and take part in their graduation/wings parade. At this time everyone is rewarded with a trip in Canada's Hamilton Lancaster Bomber.
As in years gone by Don Young wanted to recall "going overseas" to the war area. Nineteen people departed Toronto for a dawn arrival in Manchester, England, and took a tour bus to Grimsby, Lincolnshire. We visited the former 625 Squadron base of Kelstern (near Looth), where the monument is found commemorating 625 Squadron's wartime years. There was another brief stop at Cairn, where one of the boy's grandfather's bomber had crashed, then on to Scampton (Dam Buster) station, where my crew and I moved in the spring of 1945.
Next, on to Brighton to check into the "Old Ship Hotel," old but beautifully historic. Here we met up with my former wireless air gunner, Michael Chalk, whom some had not seen in sixty years. All had a beautiful reunion in Peace Haven, with a pub crawl to Mike's favorite "Dew Drop Inn." for a brown ale and even a sing song!
The group then flew from Gatwick to Amsterdam and were bused overland to Rotterdam to visit the "Manna" food drop site. The Dutch people at the museum treated us as "old friends." From Rotterdam we crossed the Belgian border near Ghent, to pay a visit to fallen comrades at the Canadian cemetery at Adegem. My wife Claire's brother and crew are buried there. All had a beautiful afternoon at a museum/restaurant near Adegem built to honour all Canadian service men. From there our group would start their trip home and back to Canada.

     Sincerely,   Joe English


Joe English and his crew "back then."





Joe English's crew in 2004 standing beside
the tail of Canadian Worplane Heritage Museum's
Lancaster VR-A, at Hamilton, Ontario.
(L to R) Joe English, Len Bawtree, Ernie Croteau,
Jack Munday, Burke Thomas, Harvey Gottfried.
(Michael Chalk is missing
- he was unable to come to Canada
- but the rest of the crew met with him in England.)


The museum is pleased to display a very special suitcase that has been donated by George Oliver of Liverpool, Nova Scotia.
George Oliver painted the "Zombie" nose art on Lancaster LL725 on April 7, 1944, after the crew had completed an air-test. Later he painted a smaller version on his suitcase.
On July 20, 1944, George completed his tour of 30 operations, 22 of which were flown in "Zombie." Eight days later LL725 was shot down on a raid to Hamburg.




This annual event which gathers together our volunteers was held October 29. It was attended by some sixty people, who volunteer as greeters, office and archives help, and shop restoration personnel.
It was a costume affair attended by such historic characters as, Eric The Red, King Arthur and Queen Gwynevere and many other out-of-this-world personalities! The Red Baron was in attendance with a Teutonic lady dressed in red. Guests spoke with Amelia Earhart and a shyster salesman selling watches out of his inside coat pockets. Some folks came as them-selves and kept people guessing!
Entertainment for the evening was arranged by volunteer Charlie Cobb. A group of eight entertainers from the Calgary Silver Stars provided first class entertainment for the evening.
A great time was had by all! A special THANKS to the SILVER STARS!




Some of the "historic" personalities who attended the October 29 Volunteer Appreciation Night.


A number of people from other museums and aviation groups, from both near and far away, visited the NLS Museum this past summer. Some were:
- Roy Flack, editor of UK Air Crew Assoc., publication, "INTERCOM," and his wife Jackie, accompanied by Bill Baxter, President of the Calgary, Alberta, Air Crew Association and wife Joan.
- Calgary artist George Pendlebury and his father (also George) stopped by July.
Don Subritzky and Kevin Jackson from Auckland, New Zealand, who were interested in possible trades of a Boly "package" for an Airspeed Oxford fuselage and other components.
Phil Furner and his dad, Harry, a former WWII air gunner, from New Zealand, stopped en-route to Hamilton, Ontario, where they were to ride in Canada's only airworthy Lancaster. They both had a go at operating the Frazer Nash rear turret in our museum.

Harry Furner (above) familiarizing himself with the rear turret 60 years later. His son Phil also operated the turret.
It seemed like "we made their day too!"











The ANZAC group in the photo at left visited our museum it July. The New Zealand and Australian group were all former aircrew who had trained in Canada.




Don Subritzky and Bob Evans in the NLS storage yard with Bolingbroke parts in the background.
We toured Don and his friend, Kevin Jackson, through the museum and then through the storage yard.
After walking through the outdoor collection, Don said, "You made my day!" Kevin took the above photo.


The late Douglas Tweddle piloted one of the Lancasters that finally sank the battleship Tirpitz November 12, 1944. His daughter Maggie from Edmonton, AB, and his son John Tweddle and his wife Jenny, from the UK, attended a special "mini" event in the museum on July 31, 2004, commemorating this event.
John and Maggie presented the museum with a very special print showing Douglas Tweddle's Lancaster WSY LM220 being "bombed-up" for the Tirpitz operation. In addition they donated a copy of their father's log book, which documents the actual sinking. These items will become part of the Tirpitz display.
In August, Maggie Tweddle brought her sister, Anne, and mother, Margaret, (visiting from England) to the museum. Curator, Bob Evans, was on hand to greet and show them around.
The Society wishes to extend a very grateful THANK YOU to the Tweddle family for again adding to the Tirpitz display and for their on-going support.

Mrs. Margaret Tweddle (seated)
and her daughters, (L-R) Anne and Maggie.
Maggie and John Tweddle present a print to NLS President Dan Fox
depicting their father's Lancaster LM220 being "bombed up" for the Tirpitz operation.




Getting Younger Every Day - reproduced nose art from Doug Tweddle's Lanc.
Dan Fox inttroduced it to those attending.


The Society is pleased to announce that it will be building "Canada's Bomber Command Memorial" during the summer of 2005. The memorial will be of national significance and will include the names of all the Canadians who lost their lives while serving with Bomber Command during World War II. A total of 10,600 names will be engraved into black granite. The memorial will be 41' long.
We are inviting individuals and organizations to assist us to ensure that our list of names is accurate. The list is available on our museum's website and can be accessed in different ways. If you have any questions regarding how to view the list, how it was compiled, or if you are able to confirm errors in the list, please contact library at bombercommandmuseum dot ca or by regular mail. We would also ask that members assist by "spreading the word" about our project to others who may wish to help ensure the accuracy of the list.
Although additional donations are still welcomed and required, we are pleased that contributions to date have ensured that the memorial will be built next summer.
The memorial will be dedicated at our 2005 special event on August 20. We invite all members to plan on attending the ceremonies.




Above is an artist's rendition of the Memorial Wall. The proposed centrepiece may be modified in the final draft.


Fred has been a faithful volunteer at the museum, acting as greeter to thousands of visitors over the years. He began his career as a volunteer greeter when the museum building opened to the public in 1991.
A retired local farmer/rancher, Fred retired from his museum duties as of October 31, at the young age of 88! The Society will miss his friendly face and country humor as will the stream of visitors to the museum.
We wish Fred well in his second retirement. Our grateful THANKS goes out to him for his outstanding dedication to the museum.




Fred Smith being presented with a parting gift at the annual Volunteers Appreciation Night.
Presenting the Society's token of appreciation is "King Arthur" (AKA - NLS President Dan Fox).


The #3 engine, which is scheduled to run for our annual August event in 2005 was removed from the airframe and is now in the shop for final assembly. While on the airframe the heads had been removed to clean out the cylinders, which were contaminated with debris accumulated during the time the Lancaster sat outside.
Also, the inhibiting oil had gelled and could not be removed without removing the heads. The removal involved a lot of volunteers who assisted in various segments. Our summer student James Sorenson, did the majority of the nut removal, of which there were "hundreds."
Gordon Neu fabricated a special tool to remove the heads without disturbing the block with its intricate sealing. The heads were removed with the combined efforts of volunteers, on the engine project, the Whitfields, Greg Morrison, Merrill Honeyman, Fred Hollowell, and myself.
The heads were disassembled and sent to Stauffer Aero for cleaning. Stauffer (Tim & Carol Morrison) later did a valve re-seating operation. 50% of their labour was donated, a much appreciated gesture.
Parts for the re-assembly have been purchased from Vintage V-12s Ltd. in California. They have also been very helpful with technical advice. The reassembly has started with the valve installation. Next will be the placing of the heads onto the blocks followed by camshaft and rocker arm assemblies. The engine will be completed by spring of 2005 at which time trial runs will take place prior to the August event running.

Excerpt from Karl Kjarsgaard's report in:   www.57rescuecanada.com

Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) is now a registered corporate identity. Charitable status has been applied for, which will allow it to issue tax receipts for donations and memberships. Please note this new name, Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada), if sending donations.
A letter was sent to the Minister of Defense for England in late October, asking for technical and logistical help from the MOD to help locate LW170. This letter was supported by letters of reference from Senators Cools and Day as well as a letter from the Bomber Command Association, representing over 6000 members.
Retired Canadian Senator Orville Phillips, a RCAF veteran and Halifax bomb-aimer, has written a letter to Senator John Warner in Washington, D.C. about the Halifax project. Senator Phillips pointed out that thousands of Americans volunteered for combat in the RCAF. This project would be a wonderful memorial to remember more than 700 U.S. airmen who were killed-in-action while serving in the RCAF. Senator Warner has indicated he will promote this after the US election. The story of those American boys in the RCAF has never been fully told. Here is a great opportunity to strengthen our bond with our neighbors south of the border.
A full presentation of the Halifax Project with all stages of planning, budget, and historical significance was made to the Ministry of Canadian Heritage in September. The only support forthcoming from the ministry was that if the museum at Nanton upgraded to a Category B designated institution, and Halifax 57 Rescue first located and recovered the Halifax at its expense, then it might be considered for a 50% grant of the recovery cost. This is a discouraging response from people who profess to understand the true value of Canadaās heritage. This means that Phase I, with its budget of $150,000 must look elsewhere for support.
On the technical side, Halifax 57 Rescue has had contact with two ship owners who have the underwater sonars needed to find and inspect Halifax LW170. To optimize these resources and get full information on the aircraft, work with the sonar and ship companies must be done during a suitable weather window. The next window will be from May to early August of 2005.
In light of the fact that the recovered Halifax will be displayed in the Nanton Air Museum, Halifax 57 Rescue is hopeful that support can be found in the province of Alberta, to get the project rolling.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
For a more detailed report see website.

About 40 tourists from the UK arrived at the museum on August 29. This group was sponsored by the prestigious, "Aeroplane Monthly" magazine. They were on a 22 day tour of Canadian aviation museums, which had started on Vancouver Island.
The Society had some light refreshments on hand and several volunteers were there to greet the visitors. This was also an opportunity to meet the magazineās editor, Michael Oakey, with whom we have had communications in the past.
Many of these visitors indicated they would like to have had more than a one-hour stop at our museum. Possibly the organizers did not realize that the Nanton Lancaster Museum had much more to offer than just the Lancaster bomber. In spite of this there were lots of positive compliments about the displays.
Hopefully if "Aeroplane Monthly" magazine were to contemplate another tour, a longer stop would be arranged.

Some of the Aeroplane magazine tour group
who stopped by on August 29 on their cross Canada tour.


The Canadian Aeronautical Preservation Association is the national organization that represents aviation museums from across the country. This year CAPA's annual conference was held at the Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa during October.
During the wind-up banquet, Nanton Lancaster Air Museum curator Bob Evans was presented with the 2004 CAPA Outstanding Achievement Award in the preservation and restoration of Canadian Aviation History and Heritage. This award recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions in aviation by volunteering of his time to help ensure that our rich Canadian aviation heritage is preserved for generations to come. I'm sure all members will join our directors in congratulating Bob on this well-deserved accolade.



Jack Foster of Calgary, Alberta, donated a large number of aircraft models to the NLS museum. His models are a collection of aircraft from the Wright Flyer, through to modern-day airliners and space rockets. The unique thing about these models is they are not kits! They are carved from polystyrene plastic with balsa wood being used for some components. Jack starts his models with drawings, which he finds in a library. He scales the drawings down to the size he wants. He can make an aircraft such as the Lancaster in 1/72 scale in about two days!




Jack Foster's models on temporary display until a better cabinet is found.


Progress continues with the restoration of old Annie. Between Harry Volk, Charles Logie, and myself we are almost ready to mount the window frames, side rails, parachute stowage bins, bomb bay access doors, machine gun access panel, and the crew entrance door. We will then see many small components added, which will give Anson 7481 a totally new-looking fuselage. Most of these parts consist of entirely original materials or in the case of wood parts, original material with new wood spliced or added as needed. By doing this latter type construction, at least some of the former Avro Anson will still exist in her final restoration.
This winter should see the restoration of the cockpit floor completed. Currently we have a solid plywood floor in place, which will be removed and replaced with a floor made to original specifications. We are working towards making the Anson look a whole lot different come the spring of 2005.

Rob Pedersen and Charles Logie
checking fuselage formers for proper fit.


Here it is newsletter time once again. It seems like it was only two months ago instead of at least six. I have been so busy that time has just "flown" by. I continue to be extremely busy keeping up with the day-to-day operation of the museum and doing a lot toward the planning of our many events. This year we had five!
The attendance at all our events this year was larger than in any other year. I attribute the increase in attendance in part to our very well done website which generates a great deal of interest in our museum and also the semi-annual newsletter.
We had a very successful summer at the museum with visitor numbers up from last year. The new and much improved gift shop area created a very substantial increase in sales of the expanded line of merchandise now on hand.
As usual we had visitors from all over the world, which makes our museum such an interesting place to work and volunteer. Our summer staff in July and August are all young high school students and they find their experience at the museum very enlightening and educational, as do our dedicated volunteers during the rest of the year.



The Commemorative Air Forces's B-17,
Sentimental Journey, flying over the museum in July.
Flown by Jack Van Norman, ex-RCMP officer,
who had flown the NLS Beech 18 when it was in service.

Greg Morrison operates the tractor
on loan from Farmway Machinery, High River Alberta,
to move FM159 outside on August 13.
The Society extends a grateful thanks
to Farmway Machinery for the use of this tractor.



Shop volunteer John Maze shown here
making a mold for forming Plexiglas.
Shop volunteers have molded several pieces
over the summer and will be doing more soon
- some for other museums.

NLSAM Curator, Bob Evans, and Steve Poole,
curator of the Manx Military and Aviation Museum,
visit with Margaret Dove,
the daughter of Lancaster designer Roy Chadwick,
in her home on the Isle of Man.
Margaret is the Honourary President of both museums.



Volunteer Gordon Neu stands beside
the Jacobs engine he has restored to Running Condition.
It will be installed on the Avro Anson Mk. II
sometime in 2005.
Gordon is a heavy duty mechanic by trade.
Our grateful thanks to Gordon!

The Jacobs engine displa in the photo above
was completed over the past year,
by NLS member Doug Holt, Coaldale, Alberta.
While this engine is not "runnable,"
it makes an excellent addition to the lineup
of engines to be see in the museum.
A grateful thanks to Doug!



The family of the late S/L Ken Brown,
have donated a large number of prints to the NLS museum.
These are prints from an original painting
by aviation artist John Rutherford.
All the prints are signed by the artist and S/L Ken Brown.
A limited number are signed by S/L Ken Brown,
L/Gen. Reg Lane and three DFC recipients.

BCATP desk donated by Calgary resident, Don Lywood.
No documents exist to indicate its history.
Previous owners were informed that the desk was originally used
on a BCATP base in Ontario.
Plans are to use it as part of the base radio display.



Volunteer Malcolm Stick has painted the roundels and letters on the 5/8 scale "Spitfire."


Letters and e-mail addressed to the Society have in some cases been edited.
We try to make sure the intent of the message is left intact.

Norm McRae,
Cold Lake, Alberta.
Great Site, great cause! Keep it up, and good luck with the Halifax. How about an online kit-shop on your website?

Clayton Korth,
Drayton Valley, Alberta.
Awesome Museum. Wish I could have stayed longer to see the museum more thoroughly. Went with Air cadets in 2003.

Mark Charnley,
Corwall, 166 Squadron RAF Kirmington.
I am happy to help researchers, ex-aircrew or their relatives with queries. Thanks to your great site I have been in touch with people from all over the world.

Andrew Hare,
Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire.
Great site. I don't research myself but my late father Chris Hare did. He researched 106 squadron WWII. If anyone needs information on this squadron, please contact me as I have quite a lot of my father's research. He would have been pleased to help.
Editors Note:
we will forward inquiries to both Mark Charnley and Andrew Hare.

Mike Howieson,
Perth West, Australia.
Great to browse through your website. I've heard many stories over the years about the Empire Air Training Scheme and the hundreds of young men from these parts who were trained in Canada before serving in WWII. Best of luck to you!

Lawrence Stapley,
Nanton, Alberta.
Passed away February 2004. Longtime member.

Willam (Bill) Watt,
Nanton, Alberta.
Passed on as of April 17, 2004. Long time volunteer and supporter of NLS.

Gwyneth Poersch,
Nanton, Alberta.
Passed away May 15, 2004. Lifetime member of NLS and volunteer.

Rose Sharples,
Nanton, Alberta.
Passed away in the Spring of 2004. Lifetime member and generous supporter.

Myron Williams,
Calgary, Alberta.
Died in May 2004. Former aircrew and NLS supporter.

Claire English,
Nanton, Alberta.
Wife of Joe English, passed away June 14, 2004. Lifetime member and longtime supporter of the NLS museum.

Bea C. Ross,
Black Diamond, Alberta.
Died August 10, 2004. Lifetime member.

Edward and Joyce Mackey,
Scarborough, Ontario.
Both passed away in 2004. Supporters of the NLS Museum and its preservation efforts.

The Nanton Lancaster Society extends deepest sympathy
to the families and friends of these former members and supporters.
May God Bless.


As we head into another winter season, our museum volunteers and staff can take a sigh of relief and pat themselves on the back for a job well-done. Our spring and summer events were the best attended ever. Our July fly-in saw the largest attendance yet, with 76 aircraft attending. We are still receiving compliments for our August 14, Air-Gunners event.

Although it would be nice to take the "winter off," we have too many important projects on the go to slow down for long. Excitement is building over the possibility of seeing an engine on the Lanc "run-up" next summer. With a lot of hard work and a little luck, that should happen.

Our Society is gratified by the response to the appeal for money to build the Bomber Command Memorial Wall. Numerous individuals, Canadian Legions, Air Force Associations, and others have contributed enough funds that we are definitely going ahead with this unique and fitting memorial for all those Canadians who died while serving with Bomber Command. We extend an invitation to everyone to attend the unveiling in the summer of 2005.

Most of the feedback we receive by mail, e-mail, written comments or verbally is very supportive of our efforts to honour those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. We will continue to strive to do a better job of making sure that no one forgets how important that sacrifice was.

     Sincerely
      Dan Fox

I won't elaborate on the events of the past summer, other than to say that we who are on ground zero were very pleased with the way things went. As for the future, you have already read about the Memorial Wall and the running of one of the Lancaster's Merlin engines at our annual event on August 20, 2005.

In May, my wife Carol and I holidayed in Europe, England and the Isle of Man. Thanks to the wonderful hospitality of Steve Poole, curator of the Manx Military & Aviation Museum, and his wife Kathy, our visit to the Isle of Man was a holiday highlight. Steve toured us around the Isle of Mann, and their aviation museum. He also arranged for a visit over coffee with the Society's Honorary President Margaret Dove in her home. We felt very honored being the first local members to meet this delightful lady. We thoroughly enjoyed hearing her tell first hand, of the outstanding accomplishments of her father Roy Chadwick.

This trip was also an opportunity to visit Le Bourget aviation museum and Ailes Anciennes near Paris, the RAF Museum, Hendon (London), and the Brooklands Museum (Weybridge near London). At the latter museum, Curator Julian Temple, and volunteer Maurice Jones were very helpful in my search for information on construction of the Tallboy bomb. I was able to bring photos and measurements home that assisted John Morel with the construction of the Tallboy mock-up.

We hope you mark August 20, 2005 on your calendar. It will be a "must attend" function, when the Memorial Wall is dedicated and a Merlin engine runs again on Lancaster FM159!

     Sincerely
      Bob Evans



Bomber Command Museum of Canada