101 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca JURY, Cecil Ronald WWII Cecil joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in April 1943, in Winnipeg, at the age of eighteen. At the time, he had been farming with his father in Minnedosa. He went to Manning Pool in Brandon as air crew but flunked the physical. He remustered and chose the Instruments Mechanic trade. After only two and a half days of basic training, i.e., marching, he was called off Parade Square and told to report to Orderly Room. He had been posted to #2 Manning Depot, Toronto. “We lived in a house in Toronto while we took our course at T.T.S. We were paid for our room and board, and we had to find same. Never ate so many pancakes in all my life – two bits for a stack of pancakes.” He was at T.T.S. for two months, then posted to T.T.S. at St. Thomas. Eggs and fish were what they mostly ate there. After four months, Cecil graduated as Instrument Mechanic, LAC. Then he was posted to #3 R.D. (Repair Depot), Vancouver. There were advantages and disadvantages to being stationed at #3 R. C., which was right across the road fromWestern Air Command. They were able to take in big city life but also had lots of inspections from across the road. Number three was RCAF Headquarters, Repair Depot, for all of British Columbia, and posters were made from there – amphibious aircraft, sea planes, only. “That’s the only place I’ve ever seen a Stranraer aircraft. They also had Canso flying boats.” Cecil’s first posting was to Sea Island. This was the Vancouver Airport but also an RCAF Station. Then he was sent to Pat Bay, Victoria, a sea plane, and ground base. He worked on lots of different aircrafts there: Spitfires, Mosquitoes, Dakota DC-3’s, Blenheims, and Hurricanes. His next posting was to Port Hardy on active duty, to remove instruments from aircraft for storage. This was when the European war was winding down, and the instruments were to be stored. “The Air Force forgot about me for about five months, so we had a good time fishing, even built a boat. We borrowed a compressor motor to run it. One day, the sergeant said: ‘We’d better get it back there’ so we did, eventually.” Cecil volunteered for service in the Pacific after he returned to #3 Repair Depot. He trained at Jericho Beach and other places as well. One day, while on parade square, word came through that postings to the Pacific were cancelled. Cecil was posted to Boundary Bay for a short period, and from there to Abbotsford. There he flew Liberators, which had four engines. That’s where he was on VE (Victory in Europe) Day, May 6, 1945. He and comrades were told they could still join the army if they got their discharge, so Cecil applied and his discharge came through on July 12, 1945, in Vancouver. He took a two-week leave for California, then returned to join the army, but the war ended. He received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, War Medal 1939-1945, and Canadian Centennial Medal 1967. Cecil returned to Manitoba and helped with the harvest that fall. After harvest, he went to the University of Manitoba and took the Diploma Course in agriculture. After that, he farmed during the summer for a couple of years and in the winters, he travelled, down east and across the USA. A fellow had sold him a bus ticket for $100 and he could, and did, go anywhere in the States he wanted to. The next winter, he worked in a sawmill in Williams Lake, BC until Christmas and, from NewYear’s to the end of March, on a government dredge on the Fraser River. After that he decided he’d better settle down, so he returned to Minnedosa and started farming full time. In 1949, he married Leona Hutton from Bethany, and they farmed on the former Bob Moffat farm and raised two sons. They were both involved in the United Church with Sunday School, and Cecil served on the church board. He was elected to Town Council and served on the hospital board during the planning stages of the Minnedosa Personal Care Home. He was very involved in the Legion, striving for benefits for veterans. Cecil served as local Branch Secretary for years, also as Branch President, Zone Commander, and District Secretary. He was on the Legion Gardens committee when it was built. Cecil was a life member of The Royal Canadian Legion Minnedosa Branch 138 and received his 75-year membership pin a few months before he died. Cecil and Leona loved to travel, visiting much of the USA, including Hawaii. Europe and China were treasured holidays. They loved to sightsee around Canada and enjoyed many years in Victoria, where they retired in 1980. Cecil enjoyed stamp collecting, walking, and travelling back and forth from Victoria to Minnedosa. Leona passed away on July 1, 2014, just days after their 65th wedding anniversary. Cecil passed away on December 30, 2019. Both are interred at Boyd Cemetery in Bethany, Manitoba.
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