21 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca BERNST, Ronald W. WWII Ronald was born in Nokomis, Saskatchewan in 1926 but the family moved to Port Arthur (Thunder Bay), Ontario in the early 1930s. He was the youngest of seven brothers who also served in the Navy and the Army during WWII as well as in Korea. Their father served in the Army in WWI and WWII. Ronald was 17 when he joined the Navy in 1943 and after basic training, was assigned to the Corvette, HMCS Shawinigan. He served as an able Seaman on convoy escorts from Halifax to England, Nova Scotia to Newfoundland conducting submarine patrols off the Canadian east coast. Ronald was killed on November 25, 1944 when a German U Boat torpedoed the Shawinigan off the coast of Newfoundland. There were no survivors out of the 91 crew members. Ronald was nineteen and a half years old. BINTEIN, Camiel WWI Camiel was born in Hooghlede, Belgium in 1897. He immigrated to Goodlands, Manitoba with his father Emile in April 1912 and relocated to St. Boniface in 1913 to join his mother and two younger brothers. He enlisted on March 17, 1916 with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, also known as the Little Black Devils, and served with the 78th Battalion, and possibly with the 203rd Battalion as well. Camiel was killed in action on September 2, 1918 in Belgium, a few kilometers from where he was born. He had visited with his uncle, Alfons-Rene Bekaert, the night before he was killed. BODKIN, Alvin Graham WWII Alvin was born in Harriston, Ontario on June 26, 1909 but grew up in Napinka, Manitoba. After his school years, he went to Regina and worked at the Bank of Commerce before moving to Winnipeg. He married in 1934 then joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942 and was stationed in Abbotsford, British Columbia where he suffered a fatal heart attack in 1944 due to high altitude in a training exercise. Alvin is buried in the Napinka Cemetery and Bodkin Lake in northern Manitoba was named after him. BOATFIELD, John Henry WWII John was born in Lauder, MB in 1919. He joined the Army and was killed in action during World War II.
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