87 The Royal Canadian Legion www.mbnwo.legion.ca CONNELL, Kenneth Dean “Ken” . . . continued One night, they made a raid on Mailley le Comp (France). Their target was a concentration of German tanks. The Germans knew they were coming. Two hundred aircraft took part, fifty were lost. All the Pathfinder planes were shot down. They went in at 10,000 feet. There were lots of aircraft burning on the ground. The smoke interfered with vision to bomb. On this raid, crew who were in the rear of their aircraft experienced concussion. They were down low, their aircraft turned and went straight down. The pilot hollered to the flight engineer to help him pull it out of the dive. It took them both to do it – at about 1,100 feet. That was a very scary experience. His mind blocked it out for about forty years. It was recalled quite clearly when he attended a “101” Squadron reunion in England in 1980. Most of the crew were there. Their crew did a few trips after D-Day. They finished up about a month after D-Day. They were the fifth crew to complete the tour – 32 ops. Forty-three crews of squadron 101 went missing. After completion of their tour, Kenneth was posted to O.T.U. at Alderton and Shalstone on “Whimpys” instructing as a bombardier. His repat came through in March 1945. He landed in Halifax and got six days of leave. A week after he got back to Canada, he got married in Ottawa on March 24 to Patricia Chappel from PEI. She was working in Ottawa at the time. Kenneth was discharged in Winnipeg in June 1945. He was slated for the Far East for his second tour but the war was over before he left Canada. He and his wife farmed in Langruth until 1957 when he became employed by Manitoba Pool Elevators in Selkirk, then Bowsman as Manager and in 1972 as Manager of Pool in Minnedosa. He retired in 1983 in Minnedosa. Kenneth was a Mason. He bowled and curled and had been on the United Church Board on and off for twenty years and chairman of the Wider Parish at one time in Minnedosa. He was a life member of The Royal Canadian Legion Minnedosa Branch 138 for 48 years. Hockey with their three boys, Cadets and 4-H (leader for twelve years) were his other interests. He started the 4-H Beef Club in Langruth. He and his wife raised a family of three boys and one girl. In about 1990 or 1991, he took up woodworking as a hobby. His shop was set up in his basement. He enjoyed making such things as wagons, cutters, sleighs, and dressing horses with harnesses that he made. His wife did needlework upstairs while he worked at his hobby downstairs. For his service, Kenneth received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp, Defence Medal, 1939-1945 Star, France and Germany Sar, R.A.F. Bomber Command Medal and War Medal 1939-1945. Kenneth passed away on December 24, 1999 in Neepawa and was buried in Riverside Cemetery.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0NTk1OA==