Canadian Lancaster Rolled out for Engine Run on VE Day
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Canadian Lancaster Rolled out for Engine Run on VE Day
Nanton museum celebrates Lancaster bomber on V-E Day
Sunday, May 8, 2011 By Richard Cuthbertson, Calgary Herald
NANTON - It was one of the most famous and successful bomber aircraft for the Allies during the Second World War, helping to secure victory.
On Sunday, the Bomber Command Museum of Canada celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Avro Lancaster’s maiden flight in January 1941.
The ceremony, held in Nanton, just south of Calgary, also commemorated Victory in Europe Day, when the Allies accepted the unconditional surrender of the Germans 66 years ago.
“The Lancaster contributed very much to winning the war over Europe,” said museum past-president Dan Fox. “It played a very significant role in defeating Nazi Germany.”
According to the museum, Lancasters were operational by 1942 and became the most successful bomber for the British and Canadian forces.
The museum is best known for restoring a Lancaster, which is on display. On Sunday, the aircraft’s two working engines were run to mark the occasion.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement that V-E Day marks victory over “a fascist regime rooted in racism and hatred that scarred the world with the Holocaust.”
“Leading up to that historic day, hundreds of thousands of Canadians left behind their families, friends and hometowns for the battlefields of Europe to defend the fundamental values that all Canadians cherish dearly — freedom, democracy, the rule of law and human rights,” Harper said.
“Hundreds of thousands of other Canadians laboured tirelessly on the home front to produce the war material needed by our soldiers in uniform as well as by our allies.
The ceremony in Nanton also included a tribute to Alberta fighter pilot Captain Wilfrid (Wop) May, who flew in the First World War and fought in the same battle that brought down German ace the Red Baron.
After the war, May became a pioneer in Canadian aviation, helping to open the north to commercial aircraft. He even tracked criminals by air and flew needed medication to remote locations,
During his flying years, he wore a gold ring as a sort of good luck charm. He gave it to a student during the Second World War and it was eventually handed over to the museum for safekeeping.
On Sunday, the museum gave the ring to May’s son, Denny.
“We had it in a drawer for a number of years and basically rediscovered it here just recently,” Fox said. “We thought it would be appropriate to give it back to the May family.”
Sunday, May 8, 2011 By Richard Cuthbertson, Calgary Herald
NANTON - It was one of the most famous and successful bomber aircraft for the Allies during the Second World War, helping to secure victory.
On Sunday, the Bomber Command Museum of Canada celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Avro Lancaster’s maiden flight in January 1941.
The ceremony, held in Nanton, just south of Calgary, also commemorated Victory in Europe Day, when the Allies accepted the unconditional surrender of the Germans 66 years ago.
“The Lancaster contributed very much to winning the war over Europe,” said museum past-president Dan Fox. “It played a very significant role in defeating Nazi Germany.”
According to the museum, Lancasters were operational by 1942 and became the most successful bomber for the British and Canadian forces.
The museum is best known for restoring a Lancaster, which is on display. On Sunday, the aircraft’s two working engines were run to mark the occasion.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement that V-E Day marks victory over “a fascist regime rooted in racism and hatred that scarred the world with the Holocaust.”
“Leading up to that historic day, hundreds of thousands of Canadians left behind their families, friends and hometowns for the battlefields of Europe to defend the fundamental values that all Canadians cherish dearly — freedom, democracy, the rule of law and human rights,” Harper said.
“Hundreds of thousands of other Canadians laboured tirelessly on the home front to produce the war material needed by our soldiers in uniform as well as by our allies.
The ceremony in Nanton also included a tribute to Alberta fighter pilot Captain Wilfrid (Wop) May, who flew in the First World War and fought in the same battle that brought down German ace the Red Baron.
After the war, May became a pioneer in Canadian aviation, helping to open the north to commercial aircraft. He even tracked criminals by air and flew needed medication to remote locations,
During his flying years, he wore a gold ring as a sort of good luck charm. He gave it to a student during the Second World War and it was eventually handed over to the museum for safekeeping.
On Sunday, the museum gave the ring to May’s son, Denny.
“We had it in a drawer for a number of years and basically rediscovered it here just recently,” Fox said. “We thought it would be appropriate to give it back to the May family.”
