Second World War

Ronald Brewer poses in uniform in 1941 (Photo by Gillian Francis)

B.C. family finds surprising connection during sailing stop at Juno Beach

Fernie’s Yuills found their family’s Second World War history while on a European sailing trip

 

Knut Moeskau wanted to join the Canadian Airforce during the Second World War. He was rejected for having acne. He went on to serve in the Canadian Technical Training Core. (Submitted/Broadmead Care)

‘Boy soldier’ recalls the hullabaloo at the end of Second World War

Saanich veteran enlisted in the Canadian Technical Training Core at age 17

 

Edie Daponte on stage with her band, Joey Smith on bass, and Damian Graham on drums at the Sid Williams Theatre in Courtenay in 2022. (Courtesy of Patrick Emery)

Greater Victoria Remembrance Day musical honours Second World War singers

Vera Lynn, Edith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich will be portrayed

 

Ground support services and ride event coordinator Larry Sheets helps Victoria Flying Club visitors exit the B-17 bomber Sunday (July 30). (Brendan Mayer/News Staff)

Second World War planes take flight at Victoria Flying Club

Visitors were able to fly in B-17 and B-25 bombers

Ground support services and ride event coordinator Larry Sheets helps Victoria Flying Club visitors exit the B-17 bomber Sunday (July 30). (Brendan Mayer/News Staff)
Zolton and Aleida on their wedding day, the exact date is unknown. (Submitted photo)

Treasure trove of war bride letters gives rare insight in grandparents’ lives

Parksville woman discovers Second World War era notes between couple who met on a minefield

Zolton and Aleida on their wedding day, the exact date is unknown. (Submitted photo)
Typhoon Legacy team member Rob Roy performs a test run on a rebuilt Rolls Royce Merlin engine, which was traded for a wartime Napier Sabre engine that will eventually bring Hawker Typhoon JP843 back to life. Photo supplied

Vancouver Island group taps rare engine to rebuild war-time fighter bomber

Comox Valley group reverse engineering a Hawker Typhoon basically from a few parts

Typhoon Legacy team member Rob Roy performs a test run on a rebuilt Rolls Royce Merlin engine, which was traded for a wartime Napier Sabre engine that will eventually bring Hawker Typhoon JP843 back to life. Photo supplied
Commando Bay was a secret training base for a special operations unit called Operation Oblivion where Chinese Canadian volunteer soldiers were selected to train to go behind enemy lines. The wharf in this picture is no longer there, nor is any evidence of the camp except a plaque. (Okanagan Historical Society/Greater Vernon Museum & Archives/Rick Wong)

Top secret WW2 training base once existed north of Naramata

Only a plaque remains for Chinese-Canadian soldiers who spent 1944 summer training there

Commando Bay was a secret training base for a special operations unit called Operation Oblivion where Chinese Canadian volunteer soldiers were selected to train to go behind enemy lines. The wharf in this picture is no longer there, nor is any evidence of the camp except a plaque. (Okanagan Historical Society/Greater Vernon Museum & Archives/Rick Wong)
Holocaust survivor Jacek Nadolny is silhouetted during a meeting of survivors with media in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. Survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau are gathering to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German death camp in the final months of World War II, amid horror that yet another war has shattered the peace in Europe. The camp was liberated by Soviet troops on Jan. 27, 1945. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)

Auschwitz anniversary marked as peace again shattered by war

1.1 million people killed at the complex before it was liberated by Soviet troops on Jan. 27, 1945

Holocaust survivor Jacek Nadolny is silhouetted during a meeting of survivors with media in Oswiecim, Poland, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. Survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau are gathering to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German death camp in the final months of World War II, amid horror that yet another war has shattered the peace in Europe. The camp was liberated by Soviet troops on Jan. 27, 1945. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)
Joe and Kathy Fetters stand next to the photograph enlarger Joe’s father Joe Fetters used while stationed at Pearl Harbour during the Second World War. Joe and Kathy donated it and copies of some photographs his father took while in Pearl Harbour. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

Pearl Harbour bombing photos donated to Interior B.C. museum

Photos found in a box in a basement now at the Museum of the Cariboo Chilcotin

Joe and Kathy Fetters stand next to the photograph enlarger Joe’s father Joe Fetters used while stationed at Pearl Harbour during the Second World War. Joe and Kathy donated it and copies of some photographs his father took while in Pearl Harbour. (Monica Lamb-Yorski photo - Williams Lake Tribune)
The Juno Beach Centre, where Canada’s role in the D-Day invasion is commemorated, is shown in Courseulles sur Mer, France, Wednesday, April 28, 2004. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Franck Prevel

Planned condo development on Juno Beach site cancelled after government deal

Construction posed a threat the integrity of Juno Beach, and Juno Beach Centre operations

The Juno Beach Centre, where Canada’s role in the D-Day invasion is commemorated, is shown in Courseulles sur Mer, France, Wednesday, April 28, 2004. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Franck Prevel
Arnold Schwarzenegger visits Auschwitz - Birkenau Nazi German death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. Film icon Schwarzenegger visited the site of the Nazi German death camp Auschwitz on Wednesday to send a message against hatred. The “Terminator” actor was given a tour of the site, viewing the barracks watchtowers and the remains of gas chambers that endure as evidence of the German extermination of Jews, Roma and others during World War II. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)

Poland demands $1.3 trillion in war damages from Germany

Warsaw says reparations would close painful chapters, Germany says were closed decades ago

Arnold Schwarzenegger visits Auschwitz - Birkenau Nazi German death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. Film icon Schwarzenegger visited the site of the Nazi German death camp Auschwitz on Wednesday to send a message against hatred. The “Terminator” actor was given a tour of the site, viewing the barracks watchtowers and the remains of gas chambers that endure as evidence of the German extermination of Jews, Roma and others during World War II. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)
B.C. filmmaker Eric Brunt is working to preserve as many Second World War veterans’ stories on film as possible. (Credit: Phil Hossack)
B.C. filmmaker Eric Brunt is working to preserve as many Second World War veterans’ stories on film as possible. (Credit: Phil Hossack)
Members of the Royal Canadian Medical Corps evacuate Allied soldiers from the beach after the Dieppe, France, raid during the Second World War. THE CANADIAN PRESS

Canadian veterans in France to mark 80th anniversary of disastrous Dieppe Raid

80 years ago today, more than 5,000 Canadian soldiers were sent onto the beaches

Members of the Royal Canadian Medical Corps evacuate Allied soldiers from the beach after the Dieppe, France, raid during the Second World War. THE CANADIAN PRESS
A model of a Spitfire plane Pierce George Brewster flew in the Second World War was unveiled at Vancouver Island Military Museum Aug. 18. (Karl Yu/News Bulletin)

Island Second World War Spitfire vet’s service saluted in military museum exhibit

Vancouver Island Military Museum expands Spitfire display

A model of a Spitfire plane Pierce George Brewster flew in the Second World War was unveiled at Vancouver Island Military Museum Aug. 18. (Karl Yu/News Bulletin)
Personnel landing craft draw away from a motor torpedo boat to start their run-in to the beaches during the raid on Dieppe, France, on August 19, 1942. THE CANADIAN PRESS/National Archives of Canada, PA-113247

80 years after Dieppe, postcards share stories of soldiers who died in deadly raid

Known as Operation Jubilee, the Aug. 19, 1942 raid was Canada’s first major combat with the Nazis

Personnel landing craft draw away from a motor torpedo boat to start their run-in to the beaches during the raid on Dieppe, France, on August 19, 1942. THE CANADIAN PRESS/National Archives of Canada, PA-113247
In this Wednesday, June 22, 2022, image provided by Caladan Oceanic, the three-tube torpedo launcher that was part of the USS Samuel B. Roberts can be seen underwater off the Philippines in the Western Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Navy destroyer that engaged a superior Japanese fleet in the largest sea battle of World War II in the Philippines has become the deepest wreck to be discovered, according to explorers. (Caladan Oceanic via AP)

Explorers find WWII Navy ship, deepest wreck discovered

‘Sammy B’ broken into 2 pieces on a slope at a depth of 6,985 metres

In this Wednesday, June 22, 2022, image provided by Caladan Oceanic, the three-tube torpedo launcher that was part of the USS Samuel B. Roberts can be seen underwater off the Philippines in the Western Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Navy destroyer that engaged a superior Japanese fleet in the largest sea battle of World War II in the Philippines has become the deepest wreck to be discovered, according to explorers. (Caladan Oceanic via AP)
RCMP Corp. Amadeo Vecchio (left) returns World War documents and medals to Michael Wintermute. The items belonged to his father and grandfather. (Photo Brittany Webster)

World War discharge certificate and medals come home to owner

Items were stolen from a home in fall 2021 but the theft was not reported to police

RCMP Corp. Amadeo Vecchio (left) returns World War documents and medals to Michael Wintermute. The items belonged to his father and grandfather. (Photo Brittany Webster)
A panel is pictured from “But I Live,” a graphic narrative of Israeli Holocaust survivor Emmie Arbel’s experiences during the Second World War. (Courtesy of Barbara Yelin)

Graphic novels featuring survivors of Holocaust published by UVic prof

Series gives voice to those silenced by Holocaust in youth-friendly format

A panel is pictured from “But I Live,” a graphic narrative of Israeli Holocaust survivor Emmie Arbel’s experiences during the Second World War. (Courtesy of Barbara Yelin)
Stocky Edwards' funeral was at Christ the King Catholic Church in Courtenay on May 20. Photo by MIke Chouinard

World War II flying ace Stocky Edwards laid to rest in Courtenay

“He was a hero when we needed heroes.”

Stocky Edwards' funeral was at Christ the King Catholic Church in Courtenay on May 20. Photo by MIke Chouinard
James (Stocky) Edwards is pictured in February 2022 with 19 Wing Commander Lt.-Col. Rhonda Stevens and Greg Sawchuck, senior B.C. director for Ducks Unlimited Canada. Photo by Erin Haluschak.

Comox war hero dies at age 100

James (Stocky) Edwards was a gentleman, and an icon

James (Stocky) Edwards is pictured in February 2022 with 19 Wing Commander Lt.-Col. Rhonda Stevens and Greg Sawchuck, senior B.C. director for Ducks Unlimited Canada. Photo by Erin Haluschak.