In memory of Blanchard Justason,
Malcolm McNevan, Floyd Hawkins and the many other Veterans I’ve known
over the past 18 years.
I was introduced to Camp Utopia by my late father-in-law, Blanchard
Justason, who received all of his advanced training there, and to Pennfield
Ridge Air Station by the late Malcolm McNevan who served as a Bombing
Instructor. Mac McNevan, as he was commonly known, was born in the tiny central
Ontario farming community of Cameron, Ontario and had enlisted in the Air Force
to learn how to fly an airplane and eventually go overseas. The Air Force later
said “No – in your qualification examinations, you displayed a natural,
intuitional ability with mathematics. We are going to train you to be a Bombing
Instructor.” It was while stationed in Pennfield that Mac would fall in love
with my father-in-law’s cousin, eventually marry and for a period of time,
make his home here after the war ended. My father-in-law was in the process of
going for his overseas training when VE Day was declared.
Both Blanchard and Mac were very proud of their service to their country.
My father-in-law would often take his only child to Camp Utopia during the late
1950’s and early 1960’s before all the buildings were removed. He often explained
to her what the various buildings and structures were used for. It was during one
of their many visits there that they recovered a few relics she now displays in a
shadow box along with her father’s other vestiges from his military service. Mac
would eventually move to Lachine, Quebec to pursue work, but would often return to
Pennfield to visit family. During these visits he never missed an opportunity, while
driving across the ridge, to pause and gaze at the over-grown fields and decaying
tarmac strips…just to stare and stare.
Since September of 1989 I have been researching many of the older family lines from
in and around Pennfield and during this time I would often run across mentions of
the two former military bases. Although my father-in-law and Mac never
articulated the words, both would love to have seen more done to preserve the
history of these military bases and to make sure the sacrifices of those who
served would not be forgotten. It always seemed like a very daunting task to say
the least, especially in regards to the Air Station, since it fell under the
British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. This meant pilots and aircrew from
across Canada, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand were trained here. I
also knew from visits to the St. George Rural Cemetery, during my many years of
family research, that there were training causalities from the 10 airmen buried
there. I had also heard other stories as well over the years, and knew that some
of the airmen, like Mac, had married into the community. Still where was one to
begin such research?
Mac would eventually pass away in 1994 and my father-in-law in 1999 and
with their passing many of the memories they held left us as well. Mac’s
daughter Brenda Ferguson picked up where her father left off and has, over the
years, discussed many things with me in regards to her father’s military
service. She too believed that more should be done to preserve the history of
the Air Station.
In November of 2006 I started hearing and seeing news reports about how we were
approaching a "watershed moment for Canada" when the last known Canadian
Veteran from World War I would eventually pass away. I started thinking more and
more about researching the history of Camp Utopia and Pennfield Ridge Air Station
during this time. On 26 January 2007 I formally started researching the history of
both Camp Utopia and the Air Station, and quickly realized that there was so much
history unrecorded, undocumented and widely scattered. I would continue my
conversations with Brenda and soon Greg McDowell 1 was added into the fold as
well. Greg’s paternal grandparent’s grew up in the shadow of the Air
Station, and were twice expropriated from their land – once when the Air
Station was first built on the North side of the road and then for the second
time from the South side of the road further expansion of the Air Station
occurred.
Conversations with some of the older residents of Pennfield Ridge showed us just how
much history this one particular section held and the project soon took on a life of
its own.
This past August Ottawa’s standing committee on veterans affairs noted that
Canada’s 250,000 remaining Second World War and Korean War veterans are dying
at a rate of 2,000 a month. By now the average age of a Second World War veteran
is 84 and a Korean veteran is his mid-70s. Something more needed to be done, as
time was not on our side.
It was during this time I decided to form the "not-for-profit" society,
"Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society Ltd." to help further preserve
the rich military history of this area. I asked Brenda, Greg and a third person,
Susan Hill 2, if they would be interested in joining and all agreed. Susan, whose
father served as a Peacekeeper for 25 years, recently embarked on her own business
venture, "Susan Hill Photography", which is located in her home on Pennfield
Ridge. She has been assisting with scanning of the many photographs we have been
receiving, photo restoration and overall design and creation for the society’s new
website. She also admits, like the rest of us involved in this project, to be a
"firm believer that history should be preserved" and has displayed both
dedication and devotion to preserving her own family history.
The purpose of this society is to discover, procure, collect, preserve, display and
interpret material of historical value associated with the area and to work with other
organizations that have similar goals. The Beaver Harbour Community Venture
Ltd., located at 18 Quaker Lane in Beaver Harbour, has agreed to provide space
in their archives so a display of artifacts, material, etc. can be made
available to the public and further raise awareness of the sacrifices of our
servicemen and women. We are well on our way to achieving our goal and anyone
with any information on local servicemen and women from Pennfield Parish,
information on the former Air Station and Camp Utopia, photographs, artifacts or
memories to share please feel free to contact G Christian Larsen at 309 Mealey Road/
Pennfield, NB/ E5H 1T5; (506) 456-3494; e-mail [email protected].
SOURCE: The Saint Croix Courier (St. Stephen, NB) - Tuesday, December 18,
2007.
References
1 On 17 May 2009 Greg McDowell stepped down from the board of directors of PPMHS.
2 On 27 October 2009 Susan Hill was removed from the board of directors by unanimous agreement of the current directors.
SOURCE: The Royal Gazette, Volume 166 (Fredericton, NB) - January 9, 2008.
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