LEST WE FORGET 105 DESCHAMPS, Joseph Adrien “Eddie” WWII The son of Joseph and Marie Clara Deschamps, Joseph Adrien “Eddie” Deschamps was born in Rossland, British Columbia in 1911. He had two sisters and a younger brother. The 1916 Census reports that the family had moved to Ardath. Joseph attended College Mathieu in Gravelbourg, graduating in 1929. Always interested in flying, he had his first flight in the year he graduated. In 1932, he moved to Edmonton where he worked in an office and studied flying. By 1936, he had his commercial license and worked as a bush pilot for Consolidated Mining and Smelting in Yellowknife. When World War II began, Eddie applied to join the RCAF. There was a delay in the reply, so he went to the USA where the Finnish Airforce was recruiting pilots for their 3 ½-month Winter War with Russia. Before he could enlist, an armistice was signed between Finland and Russia, so Eddie enlisted with the RCAF in Trenton, Ontario. While in the USA, there is an autographed photo of him with famous boxer Jack Dempsey: “To Eddie, Good Luck, Pal.” He was posted with RAF Squadron 242 at Martlesham Heath in Suffolk. Squadron 242 was composed almost entirely of Canadian pilots and was unofficially called the Canadian Squadron. Eddie’s Squadron 242 played a key role in the famous Battle of Britain, inflicting sixty percent of the total losses sustained by the Luftwaffe in the conflict. Eddie was flying a single-engine Hawker Hurricane on January 17, 1941 when his aircraft crashed in a snowstorm and he was killed. He is buried at Upavon Church Cemetery in Wiltshire, England. He was 31 years old. The inscription on his gravestone reads: “He bravely fought and died for his country and for peace on Earth.” DILLMAN, Ralphael “Ralph” WWII Ralph was born on June 27, 1919, in St. Walburg, Saskatchewan. He grew up in lower and central British Columbia and in 1938 at age nineteen came to North Star, Alberta to work. In the spring of 1942, he was called to do his basic army training in Grande Prairie, Alberta. In October 1942, he started serving in the Army Service Corps. He was based in Vancouver, Wainwright and Calgary for short periods of time, and was then sent to Woodstock, Ontario for further training and duties. In July 1944, he was stationed in Goose Bay, Labrador. His main duty was to drive an Army supply truck and to do whatever was necessary to support the Canadian and American troops both at home and overseas. He was discharged in 1945 and returned to North Star, Alberta where he and his wife Catherine farmed and raised their family. Ralph passed away on February 28, 2008.
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