GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Memorial for postwar RCAF crash
When Diane Primeau stepped onto the field where her uncle had died, she felt like he was no longer alone — finally.
It was the early 1970s and, to her knowledge, the first time any relative of the late William Weicker had visited the site since his death in 1946.
The area, which used to be part of a landing field at the Estevan airport during the Second World War, was by then a farmer’s field, but had been deliberately left unplowed. Bits of history remained scattered on the ground.
“We did find a piece of wreckage that I have at home, just a small piece, maybe about four inches, but it’s clearly a piece of an airplane,” recalled Primeau, who was five years old at the time of her uncle’s death.
On Sept. 15, 1946, Weicker and 20 other members of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) were on their way back from Minot, N.D., when their transport plane crashed in the northwest corner of the landing field, killing everyone on board.
The group of 20 pilots and one ground crew member had been tasked with returning airplanes that were borrowed or leased from the United States during the war.
“I’ve lived here for 40 years in Estevan and I would say 99 per cent of the people here aren’t even aware that such a tragedy occurred,” author Marie Donais Calder said in a recent interview. “We feel that they’ve basically been forgotten.”
Calder, with the help of her husband Darcy and friend Lester Hinzman, spearheaded the creation of a permanent monument, which is to be unveiled in Estevan on Sunday.
“Like every other soldier who died for us, they were serving us and there’s nothing to commemorate this horrendous accident,” she said.
Named Forever in the Clouds, the monument by Alberta sculptor Darren Jones consists of four wooden pillars with the faces of each man carved into them. On top of the posts sits an airplane, also carved out of wood. Wooden benches connect the four posts at the bottom. Initially, 15 Wing
Like every other soldier who died for us, they were serving us and there’s nothing to commemorate this horrendous accident.
Moose Jaw provided photos of 17 of the airmen. Calder dedicated more than a year to finding the last four, reaching out on social media for help. The last one was located just two weeks ago, enabling Jones to finish carving.
“I think it’s incredible that they’ve done this,” said Primeau. “(These are) people who have not lost anybody in that crash, and they’ve just gone so far above and beyond to bring it alive for the people in Estevan and for us relatives.”
For those who have never heard about the tragic crash, the memorial will serve as a learning opportunity. For families of the fallen, it is a symbol that these men and their service to the country mattered and will never be forgotten.
To Lois Wilson, it’s a chance to honour the men who weren’t family, but had a special place in the history of her own.
Tending a farm in Davidson during wartime, Wilson’s grandparents opened their home to the pilots coming and going from the local air training station.
“They would invite some of the men for a Sunday dinner because they had no families there,” said Wilson. “They got to know a number of them very well.”
One of those men was Flight Officer Max Thomas.
“There was a photograph of him in amongst many millions of photographs, and I asked my mom who it was because I didn’t recognize him as a family member,” she recalled.
One day, Thomas visited the farm with a wooden propeller in tow.
“I presume ... there were lots of repair parts and that they were just going to be taken to the dump or burned or whatever and everyone was told ‘take what you want,’ ” said Wilson.
He asked the family to store the wartime souvenir at the farm until he could come back for it.
A victim of the crash, Thomas never returned.
And that’s all she really knows about the man. Wilson’s mother, who was in university and going back and forth from the farm to school at the time, would know more, but died six years ago, taking the memories with her.
“I’m sorry I didn’t know to ask more questions,” Wilson lamented.
Passed down from generation to generation, the propeller now has a place at the Regina home of Wilson’s son. An important piece of history and a tie to her mother — to whom her son was very close — Wilson hopes it will continue to stay in the family for years to come.
Whether through a piece of wreckage, Max Thomas’s propeller, memories passed on to loved ones or Jones’s sculpture, the men who survived the war only to die tragically during peacetime live on in one way or another.
“(He was) always a kind, thoughtful man and always really caring about his mother,” said Primeau of her uncle, awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross twice during his service.
According to a 2016 article in the Estevan Mercury, the airmen were members of the No. 124 Communications Squadron from Rockcliffe, Ont., and although never officially proven, an investigation into the crash indicated a “starboard stabilizer lock may not have been removed prior to the start of the flight.”
But the monument isn’t about why they died, it’s about honouring their sacrifice, and that despite being made after the war had ended was made in the service of Canadians nonetheless.
Calder said finding the last two photos and seeing the monument completed is gratifying and thrilling.
“For me it’s like completing a circle,” she said. “We finally have these boys together again.”
A ceremony is set to take place at the Estevan Airport at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Calder is sharing her contact information in hopes of getting in touch with more family members of the 21 airmen. She can be reached at mdcalder2@gmail.com or 306-461-7727.