187 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca QUESNEL, Vernon Wesley WWII Vernon was born in Minnedosa, Manitoba in 1920. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in Winnipeg in May 1941, at the age of 21. His home was in Minnedosa, Manitoba. He trained in Patricia Bay, Vancouver Island. His next posting was to Prince Rupert for special training in power and communications. He was assigned to #9 C.M.U. where he installed communications equipment and power to west coast and Island sites: Queen Charlotte Islands, Coal Harbour, Tofino, Ucluelet, Port Hardy, Kelsey Bay, Bella Coola, etc. At Bella Coola, every Saturday night, a local native band put on a dance in their hall for all service men. There were between fourteen and twenty of them. The orchestra played as long as anyone wanted to dance. They also served lunch. Grizzly bears were common in the Bella Coola Valley, and they had numerous encounters with them. One day, while cautiously crawling along a fallen tree over a deep mountain ravine, to work on the other side, they suddenly came face to face with a grizzle bear crawling towards them from the other end of the trees. They managed to turn around and desperately inched their way back along the tree. When they looked back, they saw the bear was doing the same thing. One evening, as they were crossing an open meadow on their way back to camp, they saw a herd of wild horses galloping along with an old lame mare trailing behind. Beside her ran a grizzly and every few steps he would stand up on his hind legs and slap the mare on her rump, then run along on all fours again before repeating this procedure. He did not make any further attempt to attack her. Was it just a game he was playing? While stationed in Port Hardy one day, a call came into the C.O. from a small settlement of Quatsino, requesting the services of the RCAF Band for a special dance on Saturday night. The C.O. informed the caller that there were no Air Force band on the station. The caller insisted that they desperately needed a band, and that there must be some fellows who could come. The C.O. sent out a search and in the Mess Hall located Percy Cooley of Birtle, Manitoba who persuaded a few of his buddies to join the cause. Gordon Sinclair of Stonewall, Manitoba; John Ladyka of Alberta; and Lawrence Anderson and himself, along with Percy Cooley made up a ragtag band of piano, violin, guitar, accordion and drum. The C.O. ordered the P.T. boat to take them to Quatsino where they played until breakfast was served at 5:00am. This same Percy Cooley could play the bugle a little and was the “official” bugler on the station. One day, a parade was called for the Commander of Western Air Command who was inspecting the outposts. They were all assembled on the parade square and the C.O. called for the bugler, Percy, who was on duty in the mess kitchen. He grabbed his bugle from the kitchen wall and marched onto the parade square in his sloppy, greasy fatigues. He put the bugle up to his lips, puffed up his cheeks, and blew. No sound came forth. He tried again, with no results. He then tipped up his bugle, looked inside, and tapped it on his knee. A partly eaten apple fell out and rolled away. While stationed on Vancouver Island, a Japanese submarine was observed by their patrol, loading coal from an abandoned coal mine. (continued)
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