Dear Louise,-
        I hardly know just how to answer your letter, for I believe next to you and our family Bill was very close to me; in fact I've always considered Bill just like a brother of my own. He and I have corresponded ever since he left to go overseas and I have carried a snap of him in my wallet that he sent me from England. You know I have called him my brother when showing his picture to my friends. No Louise, I can't quite believe that he's gone and have read your letter at least a dozen times in the last two days to try and convince myself that our brother is truly gone. I know exactly how hard it's hit you and your folks and believe me I wish it were possible to see your folks all again, just to spend a day with you. However, Louise try your utmost to take the "bull by the horns" and help your mother along, its being the worst trial she could have to face.

        As for myself, I have very little to tell you of any interest. I am back on "civy street," having been put on the Air Force Reserve after graduating. I don't expect to be called up for the Pacific for they claim they have enough aircrew without us. I am now working as a labratory technician doing experimental work on radar equipment for the Pacific campaign. I don't know why yet, but they picked on me to make a movie in Hollywood and am now waiting for the final contract to be signed. I have been doing a little work along that line here and am enclosing a newspaper snap that was on the front page of the Globe & Mail of the V-E-Day Issue to symbolize victory in Europe or something; at any rate it's all screwey but it means pretty fair money and that's what counts.

        My kid brother Hans arrived in Canada last Friday; I haven't seen him as yet for he had to go right through to Winnipeg but he's coming down here in a little while.

        I'll have to close for now, so believe me I feel it one of my greatest losses to not see dear Bill again... and give your folks my deepest regrets. Write soon.

        Sincerely,
        Wolfe
 
 

TORONTO -- For The Globe and Mail, it was the face of victory, a young man in uniform gazing upward in what was obviously a studio photograph. The newspaper didn't bother to identify him; he was simply the symbol of a war that was over.

The Globe ran the photograph on its front page on May 8, 1945. The black headline above the picture read, THIS IS VICTORY. The story alongside reported that "Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies today . . ."

The man in that photograph died last Saturday in a nursing home in North Vancouver. His name was Wolfgang Frederick Nottelman and he was 82. His son Thomas said his father had been ill for about six years, suffering the after-effects of a series of strokes. He also had Alzheimer's disease.

He was proud of the front page picture. "He had it hanging on the wall," the son said.

Although the photograph suggests that the soldier was in the army, Mr. Nottelman was, in fact, in the Royal Canadian Air Force. And although he did pilot planes during the war, he never went overseas, working instead as a test pilot at the air force base in Churchill, Man.

While he was there he tested a prototype of an antigravity suit, a precursor of the suits worn by astronauts. He was discharged at war's end with the rank of pilot officer.

The history behind the taking of the photograph is fuzzy. The back of it bears the stamp of a now defunct Toronto photography studio, suggesting that it was commissioned by The Globe. Mr. Nottelman's name does not appear anywhere.

The picture went on to have some history of its own. It was used as an illustration in Ross Munro's Gauntlet to Overlord, the story of the Canadian Army during the Second World War. Mr. Munro was a war correspondent for The Canadian Press who went on to have a distinguished career in Canadian journalism.

Mr. Nottelman was an electrical engineer, but airplanes were his passion. After working as an engineer with various companies across Canada he devoted the later years of his life to building slightly scaled-down copies of the planes that were used during the Second World War. He completed two before his first stroke, his son said.

The man who bought one of them did not take off according to procedure on the maiden flight and was killed.

Mr. Nottelman held the patents for several materials used to protect against electric shock and lectured at several universities across Canada, including the University of Toronto.

From 1955 to 1960, he was part owner of a horse-racing track in Regina. He did it, his son said, "just for fun."

He was also a former chairman of the Canadian Standards Association.

Wolfgang Nottelman was born in Germany on July 14, 1918, and came to Canada as a boy. "He immediately fell in love with Canada and called it home," the son wrote in an e-mail to The Globe.

The family first settled in Winnipeg. His father died when he was about 12, leaving him to take care of his mother and younger brother, Hans. He managed to graduate from the University of Manitoba with his degree in electrical engineering. He studied further in the United States until the war intervened and he joined the RCAF.

After the war, his engineering career took him across Canada. He worked for Ontario Hydro for a while before moving to Edmonton where he worked for Pyle-National of Canada Ltd. He ran his own businesses after moving to Vancouver.

His first wife died of cancer after 15 years of marriage. Mr. Nottelman leaves his second wife Christel and his son Thomas. Also left are his two nieces, Sharon and Jeannie, daughters of brother Hans.

It's not a happy story or happy ending. He was a very proud man, a very hard worker and a very honest guy. He tried to make the best of things and always worked hard to give me what I needed. He made a few bad choices in his life, and unfortunately it left him an overstressed old man. It's sad to write these things, but they are reality. I'm sure my mother could give you many of the happy stories that were part of his life prior to my arrival in 1970. 

He worked at many things and accomplished many interesting achievements.  I was so glad to have the Globe write that story for me, as I felt terrible that I could not do more for this once great man. It was very sad for me to see him go after all the time I had spent with him in the past few years. But I was so glad that he will no longer suffer such a terrible existence. No one should go through that type of life.

While serving with the Royal Flying core, Billy Bishop became the highest scoring Canadian Ace of WWI with 72 confirmed victories.

The Billy Bishop Museum is dedicated not only to the memory of Billy Bishop, but also to the contribution of everyone who served to protect the freedom of all Canadians.

Read the fully illustrated Billy Bishop Story

1. Effective six hours after signing. 
2. Immediate clearing of Belgium, France, Alsace-Lorraine, to be concluded within 14 days. Any troops remaining in these areas to be interned or taken as prisoners of war. 
3. Surrender 5000 cannon (chiefly heavy), 30,000 machine guns, 3000 trench mortars, 2000 planes. 
4. Evacuation of the left bank of the Rhine, Mayence, Coblence, Cologne, occupied by the enemy to a radius of 30 kms deep. 
5. On the right bank of the Rhine a neutral zone from 30 to 40 kilometers deep, evacuation within 11 days. 
6. Nothing to be removed from the territory on the left bank of the Rhine, all factories, railroads, etc. to be left intact. 
7. Surrender of 5000 locomotives, 150,000 railway coaches, 10,000 trucks. 
8. Maintenance of enemy occupation troops through Germany. 
9. In the East all troops to withdraw behind the boundaries of August 1, 1914, fixed time not given. 
10. Renunciation of the Treaties of Brest-Litovsk and Bucharest. 
11. Unconditional surrender of East Africa. 
12. Return of the property of the Belgian Bank, Russian and Rumanian gold. 
13. Return of prisoners of war without reciprocity. 
14. Surrender of 160 U-boats, 8 light cruisers, 6 Dreadnoughts; the rest of the fleet to be disarmed and controlled by the Allies in neutral or Allied harbors. 
15. Assurance of free trade through the Cattegat Sound; clearance of mine fields and occupation of all forts and batteries, through which transit could be hindered. 
16. The blockade remains in effect. All German ships to be captured. 
17. All limitations by Germany on neutral shipping to be removed.
18. Armistice lasts 30 days.