Commonwealth Air Training Plan boosts Brandon tourism
Wednesday, Sep. 17, 2014 “Heritage does not draw visitors to Brandon” to quote one mayoral candidate.

Excuse me sir, but you are absolutely wrong. I would invite you and anyone else to visit the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum and inspect our guest book. Our museum attracted 11,662 visitors last year from coast to coast in Canada, but also from the U.S. and worldwide. Many visit our site and then find hotel accommodations in Brandon and return the next day.

Now that the Brandon Municipal Airport has secured WestJet and terminal improvements, the addition of our one-of-a-kind memorial, not only for Canada but the world, Brandon has even more reasons for heritage tourism. Those flying on WestJet are greeted to our community with 300 feet of black granite etched with 19,256 names, an eight-foot bronze airman, 12,000 square feet of paving stone, including a 60-foot RCAF wing in full colour, all highly visible from the air as WestJet approaches Brandon. Keep in mind, if it was not for the names on the memorial wall and others like those, there would be no mayoral race but a German dictatorship.

We appreciate what the City of Brandon has done for our museum over the years. We certainly understand that due to the recent flooding, the city has not had the funds available for items like paving. I imagine that the mayor and council were no more proud than I was to have an estimated 2,000 guests driving over a poor gravel road to attend the unveiling of our RCAF Second World War Memorial.

However, with the possibilities of specific heritage funding, such as the hotel tax and perhaps a heritage reserve in the future — both would be most desirable additions to limited heritage funding — the air museum will continue to attract visitors from around the world for years to come.

ARCHIE LONDRY
Memorial chair and CATPM director

Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition September 17, 2014

Ottawa pledges $25K to RCAF memorial project
Brandon Sun ~ September 9, 2014
Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Larry Maguire listens as Archie Londry, chairman of the RCAF Second World War Memorial Committee, speaks on Monday during an announcement of the Government of Canada’s support for the memorial under construction at the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum. The memorial will be unveiled on Wednesday.

His shoulders pinned back and his head held high, Archie Londry speaks with great purpose about the Royal Canadian Air Force Second World War Memorial.

On Monday, the federal government pledged $25,000 to the memorial, which includes plaques with the names of the more than 18,000 fallen Commonwealth airmen and women.

Londry, who trained pilots during the conflict, has been working with a dedicated team of volunteers on the memorial, which will open tomorrow at the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum east of McGill Field. "It feels absolutely wonderful because it’s a great tribute and it’s a thing of beauty," Londry said.

He also knows the cost Canada paid to keep Hitler from advancing. "Many of the boys I went to school with and the ones I?flew with, including my roommate, are on that wall,"?Londry said. "One of the toughest jobs I ever did was gathering up his belongings to send home to a very young widow."

The memorial is dedicated to pilots, cooks, the women’s division and everyone who served during the war, according to Londry.

Brandon-Souris Conservative MP Larry Maguire made the announcement in front of the memorial on behalf of Veteran Affairs Minister Julian Fantino.

"As Canadians, it is our duty to honour and remember those who have served," Maguire said. "The volunteers at the Air Commonwealth Training Plan Museum should be commended for their hard work and for keeping our history alive. Memorials, such as this one, will ensure that our fallen comrades will always be remembered."

The project began in 2010.

"Our community and all Canadians now have a fitting permanent tribute, honouring all Commonwealth servicemen and women who lost their lives during the Second World War," said Stephen Hayter, executive director of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum. 
 

A tribute to the fallen
MEDIA ADVISORY
SOD TURNING FOR THE
RCAF WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL,
THE ONLY MEMORIAL OF ITS KIND IN CANADA. WHAT: Sod turning of the Memorial Project Committee of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum to create a permanent public tribute to all members of the Royal Canadian Air Force and all Canadians serving in any Commonwealth air force who lost their lives during World War II.
WHERE: BRANDON MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, COMMONWEALTH AIR TRAINING PLAN MUSEUM
WHEN: June 14th, 3:30pm
WHO: Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum Memorial Project Committee
DETAILS: In 2010, the Memorial Project Committee of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum began an ambitious project to create a permanent public tribute to all members of the Royal Canadian Air Force and all Canadians serving in any Commonwealth air force who lost their lives during World War II. The RCAF WWII Memorial, to be located on the grounds of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum at Brandon, Manitoba, will also pay tribute to Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, and Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel who lost their lives in or near Canada during this period.

The RCAF WWII Memorial will be impressive in both size and scope — a black granite wall approximately 300 feet in length containing the names of over 19,000 fatalities, with a larger-than-life bronze statue representing the fallen. It will serve as lasting recognition of the ultimate sacrifice for the war effort.

The Memorial is estimated to cost in excess of one million dollars. With the support of individuals, organizations, businesses and governments, the Memorial will become a reality.

The public unveiling of the RCAF WWII Memorial is tentatively scheduled for August 2014, in conjunction with events to mark the 75th anniversary of the start of WWII.

The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum is Canada’s only museum dedicated solely to preserving the history of those who trained and fought for the British Commonwealth during WWII. The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum is proud to be one of the six Manitoba Signature Museums, a Manitoba Star Attraction and a National Historic Site.

For more information, please contact: 
Stephen Hayter
Executive Director
Commonwealth Air training Plan Museum
(204) 727-2444
airmuseum@inetlink.ca

Archie Londry
Memorial Project Chair
Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum
(204) 717-1189

Memorial remembers those who made ultimate sacrifice
by Archie Londry
Brandon Sun ~ July 9, 2014

In response to the Brandon Sun article dated Thursday, June 24, entitled “Second World War Airman’s Remains ID'd After 72 Years.”

The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum agrees with the RCAF Commander's statement of honouring the cost of war and the information regarding the death of the RCAF airman recently found, Flight Sgt. John Joseph Carey and the Second World War deaths of 19,186 predominantly RCAF personnel are honoured in the museum’s chapel and listed in our memorial book “They Shall Grow Not Old.”

Carey, John Joseph FS (AG) R53908. From Ottawa, Ontario. Killed in Action, Aug. 29, 1942, aged 22. No.103 Squadron (Noli me tangere) (Touch me not). Target —Nurnberg, Germany. Halifax aircraft BB 214 was shot down by a Me-110 night-fighter crashing south of Bonn, Germany into Laacher See lake. P/O V.M. Morrison, Sgt.s J.L. MacLachlan (RAF) and J.W. Platt (FAF) were also killed. Sgt.s H.G. Dryhurst (RAF), A.A. Roberts (RAAF) and B.F. Hughes (RNZAF) were taken Prisoners of War. 

Flight Sergeant Air Gunner Carey has no known grave, his name is inscribed on the Runnymede Memorial, Englefield Green, Egham, Surrey, England.

This information has been available to the family and general public since 1992.

To quote the last paragraph, Lt.-Gen. Yvon Blondin, Commander of the RCAF states: “We must not cease to honour the sacrifice of those who came before us, and in doing so provide a sense of closure to the families and to their brothers and sisters in arms.”

The name of Flight Sgt. Carey is also inscribed in granite on our 300-foot RCAF Second World War Memorial wall that is being built by the CATPM memorial committee and will be unveiled Sept. 10, 2014.

In 2010, the Memorial Project Committee of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum began an ambitious project to create a permanent public tribute to all members of the Royal Canadian Air Force and all Canadians serving in any Commonwealth air force who lost their lives during the Second World War. 

The RCAF Second World War Memorial, to be located on the grounds of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum in Brandon, will also pay tribute to Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel who lost their lives in or near Canada during this period.

Flight Sgt. Carey has been honoured and so are 19,185 others who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

ARCHIE LONDRY
CATPM Memorial 
Chairperson and 
Second World War veteran

The pace has picked up for the Memorial Committee has picked as Reg Atikinson has joined the team as Fundraising Chair. Leech Printing has assisted in producing a brochure, logo and letterhead. 

The commission of the statute has been awarded to Don and Shirley Begg of Studio West.  The committee was most impressed with their references and their attention to detail.  They visited the site and spent many hours with Archie Londry and John McNarry concerning to attitude of the figure. They will be producing a 12 inch maquette for our approval.  More information about Studio West Ltd. Can be found on our website.

The Committee is currently working on the consecration of the ground for the Memorial which requires engineering, surveying and architectural input.

Rapid City Memorial, who was awarded the contract for the engraving of the granite, are working with Harry Hayward to proof the names.