217 The Royal Canadian Legion www.mbnwo.legion.ca WRIGHT, William David WWII William was born in 1930 to W.J. and Leatha B.Wright in Wellwood, Manitoba. On November 21, 1950, a train carrying troops of the 2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery met another train, headed from Vancouver to Montreal in a head on collision just east of Canoe River, BC. The engines and leading cars of both trains were derailed but there were no passenger casualties on the civilian train. The leading cars of the military train were thrown down an embankment and demolished. Survivors pitched in at once to rescue their comrades, while Dr. P. J. E. Kimmett of Edson, Alberta, and a civilian nurse volunteered their services. It was not until hours later that a specially organized train carrying much needed medical supplies, two doctors and eight nurses arrived. The injured were returned to Edmonton and the uninjured to Wainwright, Alberta. Recovery of bodies was made difficult: an oil fire rendered many of them unidentifiable. The final toll of dead was 17, including four soldiers whose bodies were never recovered. The remains of the other 13 were flown to the homes of their next-of-kin by RCAF aircraft or sent by train in the case of those who lived nearby. He is commemorated at Riverside Cemetery in Neepawa.William Wright Island (53 N/13) in the Fox River was named after him in 1998. YAKOWCHUK, Victor John PEACETIME Victor was born in Mountain Road, Manitoba on May 15, 1931. In 1952, Victor signed up as medical assistant with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Over the next thirty years, he upgraded his education in Canada and in Europe and received numerous medals and decorations. By the end of his career, Victor was an instructor for medical evacuation trainers and nurses. He retired from the Forces with the rank of Warrant Officer in 1981. Victor spent one year with St. John Ambulance as an instructor before receiving his new calling to the ordained Diaconate. He served five years as Rev. Deacon of The Pas Ukrainian Catholic Church before studying to become a priest at St. Paul University in Ontario. On June 12, 1944, he was ordained to the Holy Priesthood at St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Transcona, MB. Rev. Fr.Yakowchuk received his Bi-ritual Indult from the Holy See (Pope) and was named as a civilian officiating Clergyman, Roman Catholic, at Canadian Forces Base Shilo, Manitoba on June 19, 2001 where he served the faithful of the Military Ordinariate of Canada Chancery. He was a member of The Royal Canadian Legion for 72 years. Fr. Victor suffered a severe stroke in early October 2003 and was confined to personal care for over twenty years. He died on February 17, 2024. ZERBIN, Gustaf “Gus” WWI Gus was born in Ebenezer, Saskatchewan on April 6, 1894. He married Irene Mitchell on April 22, 1932, in Gladstone, Manitoba. He enlisted in the Army in 1917. On January 12, 1918, he enlisted in the 16th Scottish Regiment and was discharged on January 25, 1919, after serving in Britain and France. He was reported missing in action then was later found as a Prisoner of War. He pulled barges up and down the canal in Belgium. Gus moved to Oak Bank in 1935 where he farmed. He was a member of The Royal Canadian Legion in Oak Bank. Gus died in St. Boniface in 1981 and lies in Green Acres Cemetery in Winnipeg.
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