HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1944-08-10, Page 1With Which Is Amalgamated The Gerrie Videtto and Wrexeter News,
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WINGHAM, ONTARIO, THURSDAY., _AUGUST .19th, 1944
Subscriptiona $9,00 Per Yong
On behalf of the, people of this com-
munity we extend, a hearty welcome
home to Flying Officer Frederick
John (Ace) Bateson who has been
with the R.A,F. overseas for nearly
three years,, Ace was greeted 'at the
station on Thursday by a large throng
who gave him a rousing reception as
he stepped off the train. Mayor
Fred L. Davidson headed the municip-
al committee. The Legion and Legion
Auxiliary were present also the-band.
and many others, who were most
happy to welcome Jack home.
Ace is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Staf-
ford Bateson and he enlisted in Nov
ember, 1940, shortly after completing
his high school education here. He
was stationed at Manning"Depot, T'or-
'onto; Picton; Sydney, N. S., and- Vic,
toriaville prior to attending Element:
,ary Flying Training School at Goder-
ich. On September 11th„ 1941, he re-
ceived his wings as a pilot at Camp
Borden arid later that month left for
overseas. Ace has done 800 flying
hours and most of this in the Middle
East as he went there in April, 1942,
'returning to England in May this year.
Ace looks well and of course is
'happy to be home. He will have thirty
.days leave after which he expects to be
Amsted to the instructional staff for a
1ime. Jack had many experiences in
-the service but he is a modest chap
-.and he is very reluctant to speak of
'them, He did say ,hoivever that, now
that he looks back on his time in the
_Mediterranean Forces, that it was not
-so bad. In that area the squadron liv-
ed in tents and he has been in heat
'which registers 140 degrees. The ev-
-enings sometimes are quite cool espec-
ially in the winter period when it rains
considerably. He has visited all the
...main places in the Cairo area and he
spent four weeks or over in Palestine,
• two weeks of which were in the hospi-
tal. During the convalescent period
was about and enjoyed the sights.
On his tunic are ribbons of the Af-
-rican Star, and a clasp which denotes
.service with the 8th. Army, also the
-Canadian Volunteer Service Ribbon,
and clasp which denotes overseas ser-
-vice. On his pocket is an operational
-wing given to fighter pilots after.many
hours of flyirig.
Again Ace, welcome home,
"Fractured Leg
Miss Maude Brock of Kincardine, a
-former Wingham school teacher, re-
.cently fell at the McKibbon cottage,
Kincardine Beach, and fractured a
small bone in her leg. We are pleased
isto state that she is resting comfort-
ably with the fractured leg in a cast.
BINGO! BINGO!
SATURDAY NIGHT
The Legion every Saturday night
'will hold a. Bingo in the Council
Chamber, Town Hall. The proceeds
-are for Overseas Smokes and Post-
- war work. Good prizes. By your
presence you will aid this important
phase of Legion work.
McCORMICK'S HELD •
FAMILY REUNION
41....01••••.111M•
Family 'Of Ten All Present Except
One
, '•••••••••iiIIMIM
4.The home of Mr. and Mrs. Andy,
IfcCormick was the scene of a pleas-
.ant gathering when the McCormick
badly re-union was held there. All,
but one member of the family of ten,
were present, Mrs. Otto (Effie)
Posorek of Detroit, was unable te. be
'there. Other meittbers of the family
present were: Sister M, Inhicentia
. (Genevieve), Detroit; Mrs, Roth
(Kate), Seaforth; Mrs. A, Nfeltettzle
(Mary), Guelph; Mrs. F. Young
(Bell); 13elgrave; Mrs. M. Fitzpatrick
(Leah), Wingham; Miss Sadie Mt-
Cormick, Grosse Pointe, Mich.; Mes-
srs Andy, Frank and johit MeCortniek
of Carom Township.
Other visitors for the occasion were;
Sister Geraldine Theresa, a niece .of
Detroit; Mr. and Mra. Mantle° Ether
Seaforth; Mr. and Mrs. Dart Ilallahan,
Myth; Mr. and Mrs. Walter MtXen.
Ingersol; Mr. and Mrs. Andy ttc.
Xenzit, Ingersoli and Mr, George Fitz-
patriek of London.
REV. JOHN LUCAS
RHINO WINHAM
Has Resigned. Pastorate Here To
Enter Evangelistic Work For On-
tario and Quebec Conferences
Rev. John Lucas has resigned as
pastor of Wingham Baptist •Church,
and has accepted a call to be evangel-
ist in the Baptist Churches in the con-
ference of Ontario and Quebec. .
He announced to his congregation
on Sunday morning of his , decission
Rev John Lucas
to accept this call. His resignation
was accepted with reluctance by the
church board and the congregation
are very sorry that he is leaving, but
they are pleased that he Was so signal-
ly honoured in being called by the
Home Mission Board of the Church
for such important service.
Mr. Lucas will 'commence his • new
duties October 1st, and the family,
Mrs. Lucas and Rutil e will reside in
Toronto or vicinity. The public in
general will be very sorry that Mr.
and Mrs. Lucas will no longer be resi-
dents here. _ They have, since coming
here about two and a half years ago,
been very active in many things that
were for the welfare of the commun-
ity. Mr. Lucas was ordained here
June 25th, 1942.
On behalf of the folk of this com-
munity, we ,wish them every success
in their new home and work.
Not As Well As Usual
We regret to report that Mr. T. Y.,
Smith has not been as well as usual
this past two weeks.
Trial Here On Friday
Robert Carrick will appear in court
here on Friday to face seven charges
of forgery in connection with beer
orders.
Bowled At Teeswater
At a trebles tournament held in
Teeswater last week Wingham rinks
won 1st. and 4th, prizes. L. Webb, W.
Miller and Alex Crawford, skip, won
first prize. Gord. MacKay, .C. Mc-
Avoy and Reg DuVal, skip, were in
fourth place.
Council Met Tuesday Evening
Wingham town council held its
regular monthly meeting on Tuesday
evening. We regret that a report of
this meeting does not appear in this
issue, Due to the holiday Monday and
a break-down of our type setting
machine on Tuesday morning, we were
unable to set this copy. A full report
will appear in our next issue.
ADDRESS OVERSEAS
MAIL CORRECTLY
This Is Important So That Mail May
Be Dispatched Quickly
A reminder about • the correct ad-
dressing of letters to members of the
armed forces overseas was voiced by
Postmaster Archie Peebles. Approxi-
mately 100 letters daily are received
at the Base Post office which lack the
number and name of the unit but bear
unofficial directions such as "Some-
where in France" or "B, W. E. F." etc,
It it necessary that such incompletely
addressed letters be returned to send-
ers from the Base Post Office, where
all the snail is sorted according to unit
for dispatch, Mail to the armed forCes
overseas should, as in the patt, be ads
dressed at f011owtt
Regimental number.
Rank, surname, initials,
WI details of unit, i, e., Sqd. CO.,
battery, etc,,
Regiment or branch of serviee,
Canadian Army Overseas.
Has Been Night Constable Here. For
Four Years
•••••••••••,...
At a meeting of the police commit-
tee of the County of Huron held on
Tuesday evening, a local man, Gordon
Deyell, was appointed to the position
of county Constable, His duties will
commence September 1st and he will
be stationed at Blyth. Theree, are three
other county constables, located at
Windham, Seaforth and Exeter. The
position of county traffic officer has
been dispensed with and another con-
stable named to bring the police staff
up to strength,
Gordon has been night constable
here forfour years and has given good
service to the community.
RED CROSS RE-OPFN
TUESDAY NEXT WEEK
Workers Are Urgently Required To
Carry' On This Work
After a month of inactivity the Red
Cross rooms here will renew opera-
tions on Tuesday next, August 15th.
There is much work to be done and
with the large number of casualties in
our forces and the flying bombs caus-
ing much loss of life and destruction
in the Old Land, the need is greater
than ever before.
Plan • to assist in this important
work. The rooms are open Tuesday
and Thursday afternoon.
Bingos Well Attended
The Legion bingos held each Satur-
day evening in the council chambers
are being well attended'. The proceeds
from these games is being used for
overseas smokes and post war work
among veterans of the present army.
Making Good Recovery
Mr. Joe Schnieder, who underwent
a serious operation in Victoria Hod-
pital, "London, recently, is making
satisfactory progress we have been in-
formed. Joe's friendi will be .very
happy that he is doing nicely,
BLOOD DONOR CLINIC
SET A NEW RECORD
Two Hundred and Forty Two Reg-
istered At the Clinic On Wednes-
day Of Last Week
All previous records for donations
went by the •board at the Red Cross
Blood Donor Clinic held here on Wed-
nesday last week. There were 264
donors called and 242, 141 men and
101 women responded. If the men do
not watch out there will be more wo-
men than men.
At the first such clinic held here in
November there were 64 donors, all
men. Since that time there have been
13 other clinics, this one just held is
the 14th. and the numbers attending
has been steadily increasing. The need
now is greater than ever before and
the committee in charge are requesting
more to register for this.service, At
the clinic last week there were 9 who
Were in attendance at the 1st. clinic
held 'here,
To service this great number last
week 14 beds were used. Seven doc-
tors were kept busy as were 18 nurses.
It is a real job to feed all these people
after they donate. Last week 30 loays
es of bread and 9 pounds of butter
were used.
Ten' married couples were in at-
tendance at this clinic, Mr. and Mrs,
Harry Wells; Mr. and Mrs. Andy
Lunn, Mr, and Mrs. Harry Gerrie,
Mr, and Mrs. Walter Woods,Mr, and
Mrs. Telford Cook, Mr. and rs. Dou-
glas Campbell, Mr. and Mrs. Elmer
Farrish, Mrs and Mrs. Harold Robin-
soli, Mr. and Mrs, Garner Nicholson,
Mr. and -Mrs. Owen King.
Many farmers left their harvest
fields to be present at a•great sacrifice
Of time, Their interest in this Seri/ice
is much appreciated.
Forty three donors received bronze
buttons for three donations and twenty
one silver buttons for six donations,
Many of the donors brought jam with
them and thit was greatly appreciated
Witighant had 100 donors, Blyth 20,
Belgrave 25, Blues/ale 21, Wroxeter 16,
dorrie 14, Aubttrn if, TeetWater
Brussels 5, Whitechurch 6, Mildmay 2,
(Continued on page four)
FM, FG JOHN BATESON
HOME FROM OVERSEAS
NOON Mai NOW
COUNTY CONSTABLE FLIER MISSING AS LIBERAL DEADER
MS FROLIC WILL
BE HEW LABOR DAY
OVERSEAS LETTERS
FROM LOCAL BOYS
Ace Was Extended Rousing Wel-
come On His Arrival Here
On Thursday
Flying Officer R. lM. (Mac) Habkirk
Missing Following Air Operations
Word was 'received on Tuesday by
Mrs, J, O. Habkirk, at present in
Kincardine, that her son, Flying Of-
ficer R. M. Habkirk, was missing
following air ope5ations, Mac prior
to his enlistment to March 1942, was
on the staff of tli. Canadian Bank of
Commerce here. He is a native of
Wingham and attended both public
and high school' here, After his
graduation from High School he join-
ed the bank staiChere,
He graduated ati St. Johns, Que., as
a bombadier in Isil4y 1943 and received
his commission aV. a Pilot Officer at
that time. After ftt further course at
Jarvis he proceed d overseas in July
1943. He was sti.tioned at Manning
Pool, Toronto, (Lebec City, Victoria-
ville and Fingal before going to St.
Johns, Que. ,
To his mother and his sister, Mrs,
Ross (Isabel) Howson of the hospital
staff here, we extend the wish that
they receive more satisfactory news
very quickly,
1st, and 4th. At Clinton
At the invitation rinks tournament
held at Clinton on Thursday last week
two local rinks did well indeed.' jack
Hanna, Art, Wilson, Ed. Nash, Donald
Rae, skip, won first prize with three
wins and a full plus. Foveth Prize
went to C. McAvoy, Gord. , Mackay
Bert Porter and W. Miller, skip, with
two wins and a plus of 16.
eiv.Two brothers overseas are hopeful of
meeting soon according to word re-
ceived by' Mr. ant' Mrs. Ben Rich, last
week, from their son, Alf. The other
sun is Don. Another. son, Ed spent a
long tour of duty overseas but recently
returned to Canada and is now stat-
ioned at London.
* * * *
Mrs. Walter Smillie of Bluevale,
received word on Friday, August 4th.,
that her nephew, Pte. Harold M. Gil-
kinson, is reported missing on July
21st., in France. He was in the medi-
cal Section of the Essex-Scottish Regi-
ment which is now serving France,
Pte. 'Gilkinson is the eldest son of Mr.
and Mrs. Melvin Gilkinson of Palmer-
ston, formerly of Ethel. He • and
Stuart Henry who' was reported
wounded last week were together in
the same regiment and are cousins.
* * * *
al...Mrs. Henry Ross received a letter,
from her son, Harold, informing her
that he is with the troops in France.
Harold has been overseas for a long
time. At one time Mrs. Ross had her
husband and two sons overseas. •One
son, Harry, was a short time ago sent
home from overseas as his category
had been lowered and was later hon-
orably discharged. The Ross connec-
tion is well represented in the forces,
as cousins of these boys from South
Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Eng-
land and Scotland, as well as Canada
are in almost every branch of the ser-
vice.
* * *
recent last& of the Toronto Army
Bullet had an item which would be of
interest to folk in this community. It,
told in its sport column of two district
boys, Jack Garton of Whitechurch,
and Lorne Gardner of Wingham, play-
ing playing with No. 1 Tank Corp
team and were rated as two stars of
the team, This team has lost only one
scheduled game so far and the last
game these boys had a perfect day at
bat with 4 hits and a walk, out of five
times at the plate, Gardner played
3rd. base without an error and Garton
performed with equal perfection at 2nd.
base, Competition is keen for a place
on these teams so the local lads have
surely done well.
• * *
Miss Myrtle Vothergill and her sis-
ter, Mrs, A. nude" have received a
letter from their mother telling them
that she has received a letter from
her ton who is a prisoner-of-war in
Hong Kong. Previously to this they
had just received A card and a short
letter. Apparently he is In good
health and is being treated
Prime Minister Mackenzie King
Honored By Party Members
In Ottawa on Monday an admiring
group of Liberals, Senators, members
of the House of Commons, cabinet
ministers and party stalwarts old and
young, celebrated the 25th anniversary
of Prime Minister Mackenzie King's
leadership of the Liberal party. The
Prime Minister Mackenzie King
celebration took the form of a dinner
with laudatory speechs by distinguish-
ed niembers of the*party and a reply
by the prime minister.
At the dinner a portrait of Mr.
King was presented to the National
Liberal Federation, a scroll contain-
ing the names of senators and mem-
bers was pres'ented to Mr. King as
was a small statuette.
SOLDIERS THANK THE
LEGION AUXILIARY
stra.t the regular meeting of the Lad-
ies Auxiliary to the Canadian Legion,
letters and cards from the following
men overseas were read thanking the
Auxiliary for boxes of chocolates.
D, A. Corrigan, F. C. Hopper, H. C.
Mitchell, G. Sinnamon, A. G, Aitche-
son, H. G. Howard, W. W. Broome,
R. Chettleburgh, R, W. Hoffman,
Chas. McKibbon, W. R. Harris, J. E.
Broome, A. B, MacLean, T. W. Platt,
W. Hedley.
A letter from Gunner Elmer Deyell
who is in the hospital in Italy was
read saying that he is recovering and
in good spirits.
Bowled At Hanover
Mr. R. Hobden and his guest, Mr,
J. A. Wilson of Forest, won second
prize at the Hanover annual doubles
Which were held Civic Holiday. Other
pairs from here were, Ed. Harrison
and Wally Miller; Harley Crawford
and Bert Porter; Ed. Nash and Don-
aid Rae,
Quebec'and Alberta Elections
The result of the elections in Que-
bec and Alberta as we go to press
were as follows: Quebec—Union
National 45, Liberal 37, Bloc Popu-
laire 4, C.C.F, 1, Liberals leading 1,
Union National leading in 1, deferred
1, total 90,
In Alberta the Social Credit govern-
ment were re-elected. All nine Cab-
inet ministers were re-elected arid this
party had elected 39 and are leading in
10 other ridings. There are 57 ridings,
HOLIDAY WAS A
QUIET DAY HERE
All Places Of Business Even
Restaurants Closed
Monday was Civic Holiday and
there was not much doing here. In
fact the town was very quite, Most
people either remained at home or
went out of town seeking a cool sport
or a spot of fun, The races at Gode-
rich drew a crowd from here and, the
lake shore also had a great play.
Bowlers were at Hanover and one
rink . even went to
The restaurants Wete all closdd mc-
cept Wee Lee's. The only place to
eat was at Wee Lee's at the noon
Ilene and at supper titne, as it Was
closed Most of the day.
There was considerable activity
about show time in the evening, but
otherwise it was about as quiet ; as
CO4114 be.
Plans For This Gala Evening Aro
Practically Complete
At a meeting of the Lions' Club
Frelic committee held last week, most
of the final arrangements for the
Monster Frolic in the Arena, Labor
Day evening, were completed,
A program will be presented by the
McGregor players, details of this con-
cert will be given fully later. There
will also be bingo, games and dancing,
The booth that has been so popular
will be well stocked with drinks and
hot dogs,
It will be an evening of fun and
frolic for all and the proceeds are for
worthy community activities. Meet
your friends at the Wingham Lions
Club Frolic, Labor Day evening.
EGO ON OAT STEM
NOW A BUTTFRFLY
Was Found At Jack Potter's,
Lower Wingham
Last week a stem of oats was
brought into this office from Jack
Potter's farm in Lower Wingham.
What made this different from others
}was that it has attached to it a pale
(green sac or egg on which were gold
'spots':
Over the week-end we were wonder-
ing what it wal hut our quest was over
when we went to the office, From it
has come a Monarch butterfly. This
is a common type about here. The
wings are reddish brown and the veins
are black and it has a double row of
whitish spots on the outer borders.
Bowled At Belleville
On the holiday a rink from here
composed of 0. Haselgrove, Art Wil-
son, Mel. Donahue and Alex Crawford,
skip, unsuccessfully defendetthe Cor-
bin Gold Trophy. which they won in
Belleville last year. They won one
game, lost one and tied one.
Lord's Day Alliance Representative
Rev. R. W. French, B.A., 13.D., is
at present in this community repre-
senting the Lord's Day Alliance.
Each year a representative of this
society makes a 'visit to this district
and receives much support and co-
operation.
Home From Hospital
Mr, George Carter returned home
from a London Hospital on Wednes-
day last week. George has been in
hospital on two or three occasions re-
cently, this last time for about a
month. He has been operated on two
or three times. Friends are pleased
that he is able to be home and hope
for his complete recovery soon.
DANCE AT ROYAL T
To the music of Elliott Carruthers,
on Wednesday, August 16th Ad-
mission 40 cents.
MT, GEORGE TON
WOUNDED IN ACTION
George Was A Member Of The Local
Battery
Mr, and Mrs. George Tervit receiv-
ed word on Wednesday last week in-
forming them that their son, Sgt.
George Clarence Tervit;' had been
wounded in action in France, July
26th.
On Monday further word was re-
ceived by Mr. and Mrs. Tervit from
the Director of Records stating George
had received shell fragment wounds to
his right leg, right shoulder and neck.
It is hoped by the many friends of
the family that George stakes a quick
recovery. ,
Prior to enlisthig in the active forc-
es George was a member of time 99th,
(Reserve) Battery, R. C. A. This
battery was called into service in Sept-
ember 1941, and George and many of
hit comrades went with the battery.
After training at Petawawa, Camp
Borden, Shilo, and Terrace, 13. C., the
battery proceeded overseas in August
last year.
George is 26 Years of age and he re-
ceived his education at Holmes' school
in Turnbetry and Wingham High
School. Prior to his enlistment he was
with his father in the dairy business
here.
of town on highway No. 4, Fte, Keitb„,
McLaughlin, son of Mr. and Mrs. N. T.
McLaughlin, who resided just south
he mentions in his letter is his brother,
The following letter is from Artbut
Franc; July 16th,
Dear. Folks:
The mail is starting to come hot-
ter and I hope it continues. I don't
know much about Keith's outfit,
whether they are here in France or
not but hope he lets you know,
Well things have really been hot and
heavy here but the Canuelcs put on
several good shows with no more cas-
ualties than could be expected. We'
are back from the front lines a little
ways just now but the big guns can
be heard quite easily and they are
pounding steadily.
We have great ack ack defence and
enemy aircraft hasn't much of a
chance. Some were over a day or two
ago and got shot up pretty badly. T
saw them bring one down over here.
He flew, over our camp on fire and.
then they shot his tail off, The pilot
jumped and the plane crashed and,
burned, We have great air support.
and good artillery. We hatie Caen
now but had quite a battle for that, I
have not seen much action yet. I am
a bren machine gunner and have a
bren gun with her name "Daisy Mae"
carved right in it. They are a very
reliable weapon and can sure sling
lead. The boys here are all in good
spirits and confident. I don't think
they are over-confident as they have
seen a lot of action and know what
they are up against.
Most of the French people treat us
very well y.nd are for the Canucks. The
other day' we had fresh eggs also but-
ter and cream. We were right in a big
wheat field awhile ago and what a
crop of wheat. As soon as it •turns
ripe we will be 'having good porridge.
There are wonderful crops here, the
wheat fields without a weed or\patchy
part in them. Some of it of eeourse
has been trampled and people lia!'ek to
evacuate but they are coming back.
We had a church service this morn-
ing and I went out and located some
old chums this afternoon. The weath-
er is dry and sunny.
I got several parcels and smokes so
am O.K. for awhile. We are always
busy keeping weapons and vehicles
cleaned and in shape.
Love to all,
Art.
* * * *
This letter is from Lloyd Casemoree
who is with the Perth Regiment in
Italy. This letter was received by Mr.
and Mrs. Alex Rintoul.
Italy, July 17th.
Dear Friends:
Well it is three years since I left
Canada, and there must be a lot of
changes around Wingham since then.
I am in my fifth year in the army, time
seems to roll around fast. Well things
here in Italy are a big change from,
Canada and England. The winter was.
tough down here, we were holding them,
line all winter, we lived slept and
worked in mud and snow, and then we
changed position. and pushed on to
Rome. I had my close calls in that
push.
Likely you read in the paper where
a Canadian major won the V. C. I was
only a few hundred yards from where
he won it on that day. It certainly
was a tough job, but everybody does•
their jobs,
Jack Brooks was the only Wingham
boy to get hurt bitt he is alright again.
,I have just come back from a five day,
leave in Rome which was very good.
There are some wonderful buildings.
with ancient history markings soma
before B. C. St. Peters church which
is part of Vatican is a wonderful
church with everything done in gold,
this church is worth millions of dol.
tars, I saw the Pope and he prayed
for our safe return home. 'The Vat-
ican is guarded by Swiss soldiers,
Rome has no sign of being damaged,
from bombing, a credit to our air-force
for only bombing military targets on
the outskirts of the city.
The people of Willie are well dress-
ed and clean, just as good as in any
city in Canada, but the food is not to
plentiful. There are lots of fruits and
nuts In this country. I eat oranges by
the dozen ,everyday. There are figs,
peaches, lemons, olives, etc.
1 can speak a little Italian, just
enough to. get by on, because t do not
Want to Stay here 'any longer than
have to.
(Continued on page three)