REMEMBRANCE DAY in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Sunday November 11, 2012

REMEMBRANCE DAY 2012 - the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month - WE WILL REMEMBER.....

    

 

      This is an aerial photo of a Curtis Helldiver flying over Fort William in the mid 1940's.  See if you can identify some of the landmarks in this picture. The ones I have circled are as follows:

BLUE - CNR Station on Vickers Street near the present day Fort William Gardens.

GREEN - Chapples Ltd department store the front of which is now inside Victoriaville.

YELLOW - The Capitol Theatre - building now empty.

ORANGE - The Royal Edward Hotel - now Royal Edward Arms low rental housing.

RED - The old City Hall building on the same site as the present day New City Hall.

LIME GREEN - The Fort William police department and city jail - now the Thunder Bay Museum.

      I have left this picture in high definition so be sure to click twice on it and scroll around to see all the buildings.  Also be sure to click on all the photos for enlargements.

These are ads out of a program from the Thunder Bay figure skating club "ICE FANTASY of 1945".  Please take time to read them especially the Canadian Car & Foundry one on the left.
The following two ads are typical Canadian war propaganda posters from the WWII era.

 The above photograph showing my father circled in red is of the Non Permanent Active Militia taken here in Fort William near the Canadian Car & Foundry site(note, Mount McKay in the background).  This photo was taken in 1940 when my father was a mere 21 years old.  The photo below lists most of the names from the photo above, so you may be able to recognize others that you know. 

 The following are four more very interesting WWII propaganda posters.

Here's a great photo of local women working very hard collection metal for the war effort for the Fort William Salvage Company.

The following two photos show what a Canada Meat Ration token looked like.  It was about the size of a quarter.

 

The following is a four page history of "The making of "In Flanders Fields".  This is a very compelling story and a must read as REMEMBRANCE DAY 2012 draws near.  Click on all the pages individually to read them......and REMEMBER!

Leading up to Remembrance Day 2012...WWII films...

Thoughts of  Remembrance Day on November 11th next week(Veteran's Day in the United States), conjures up many memories and stories of death destruction and intolerable acts that took place in all wars but specifically the Second World War era.  Many people our age had parents who suffered hard times during those years, who witnessed atrocities beyond our belief, many of which our parents can hardly even speak of to this day.
The film industry however captured some of WWII issues on the silver screen, bringing the reality of that hard life for us to witness as children then and adults now.
Many of the following films are still available today on DVD or VHS.  They were not so much propaganda, but the reality of life how it was, when many of our fathers and mothers lost their lives to preserve the freedom that we experience today.
We watched these films mostly in the 1950's and 1960's at our favourite theatres here in Fort William and Port Arthur, such as the Odeon's, the Paramount, the Royal, the Capitol and of course the Intercity Drive-In to name a few.

 I remember what an impact this 1957 film made on me when I was a mere 13 years old.  The following film is the trailer for The Bridge On The River Kwai.  Click on the arrow to view and turn up the volume.


Another great film I remember from that era(actually released in 1955) was the Dam Busters.  On May 16th and 17th of 1943 a truly major event in the history of the Royal Air Force Bomber Command took place.  This film brought another true story to the Silver Screen. 

The Following is a short film on a bit of the Dam Buster story.

 

 

The following two films, Men of the Sky and Across the Pacific were both released 70 years ago this year in 1942.  Most of the other films shown below are still available to view today at video rental stores or at your public library.
BE SURE TO CLICK ON ALL THE PICTURES TO ENLARGE THEM!

Bambi, also released in 1942, 70 years ago gave the fliers some "Nose Art" ideas.