153 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca McKAY, John Allen “Jack” WWII Jack was born in July 1923 in Pilot Mound, Manitoba. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and served in Canada, England and Germany during World War II. Just three and a half weeks after he was reported missing and before his family had heard he was a prisoner of war, Sergeant Air Gunner McKay spoke to his parents from Berlin, Germany via short wave radio. His father and grandmother heard his message and had received word of the broadcast through telegrams, phone calls and letters from people from Swift Current, Minneapolis and Lovell, Maine who had heard an announcement by Berlin Radio that he would speak. In his message, he greeted his parents, told them to keep their chin up and said that he would write as soon as he could. He also referred to his bet with his father about who had won the Stanley Cup. Jack had been reported missing after operations over Germany on April 17. He passed away in 1996. McKENZIE, George WWI George joined the Army during World War I and served with the 222nd Battalion, followed by the 1st CMRs. He fought at the Battle of Vimy. McKENZIE, Morris Allan WWII Allan was born on the family farm in Cartwright, Manitoba on November 7, 1920. He worked on the family farm with his parents until he joined the Air Force in 1942. In November 1943, he went to England where he was with 426 Bomber Squadron. He attained the rank of Pilot Officer and was flying a Lancaster bomber when he was shot down over Holland after a raid on Leipzig, Germany on February 19 and 20, 1944. The aircraft was shot down by a German night fighter and all seven crew members were killed in the crash on the Philps Estate. The crew’s remains are interned in the Woensel Cemetery in Eindhoven, Holland. Allan was awarded the Memorial Cross, the Service Medal, the Air Crew Europe Star, the Defence Medal and the 1939-45 Star. McKENZIE, James Wallace “Wally” WWII Wally was born in Plenty, Saskatchewan in 1914. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force on June 7, 1943, trained as a radar mechanic, and served on British Commonwealth Air Training bases in Ontario at Galt, Clinton, Deseronto and Mount Hope. He was also a talented musician and played in the Royal Canadian Air Force Band. After the war, Wally moved to Inglis, Manitoba where he operated a small business and he was elected to the Manitoba Legislature in 1966. He was reelected continuously until he retired in 1986. Wally was a member of Inglis Legion Branch for fifty years before he passed away in 1999. He is buried in the Asessippi Cemetery near Inglis.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0NTk1OA==