43 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca BENTEIN, Rene WWII Rene was born in St. Boniface, Manitoba, in 1918 and joined the Canadian Infantry Corps in February 1942, reporting to Portage La Prairie, the Army Basic Training base where he took an instructing course and was sent to Borden in 1943 for advanced armoured training and became an instructor and was promoted to a full Corporal. Rene sailed from Halifax in January 1945 on the Aquatania and went to Bagshot, England, to be an interpreter for the 5th Division in Holland. He served under the national Reserve Mobilization Act and was in active service with the Lord Strathcona Horse, 5th Division Corps from March 17, 1942, to March 6, 1946, and received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp. The Legion was very important to Rene and he belonged to the Belgian Veterans’ Association, Branch #107 for over 55 years, serving as President for 25 years. He passed away in 2006. BERGMAN, Henry I. WWII Henry was born in Russia in 1925. He was a tail gunner in a Lancaster Bomber with the 158th Squadron of the Air Force. He volunteered for Japan after he came back from England. Henry was married with five children and two grandchildren. He passed away accidentally in August 2001, and was a member of Morden Branch #11 of The Royal Canadian Legion for 40 years. BERNASKI, Henry M. “Hank” WWII Hank was born in Craven, Saskatchewan, in 1915. He joined the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps, 10th District Depot and served in the United Kingdom, Central Mediterranean Area and Continental Europe. He was awarded the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp, the France /Germany Star, the 1939-1945 Star, the Italy Star and the Defence Medal. Hank now resides in the personal care home in Souris, Manitoba, and has been a member of Souris Branch #60 of The Royal Canadian Legion for 62 years. BERGQUIST, Carl H. WWII Carl was born in MacGregor, Manitoba, in 1917. He enlisted in 1941 in the Royal Canadian Air Force and after finishing air training became an air navigator and transferred to the RAF and joined RAF Ferry Command and flew new planes from North Carolina to England and south west Africa and Burma. The planes were mostly Catalinas Liberators and Fortresses. Carl always flew an empty plane back with all the pilots in the bomb bay. At the end of the war, he was transferred back to the Royal Canadian Air Force and back home to an honourable discharge and civilian life. He has been a member of the MacGregor Branch of The Royal Canadian Legion for 35 years.
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