Chief Warrant Officer Dan Ray
Chief Warrant Officer Dan Ray of the Canadian Air Force
It is with great pride that I find myself, again, in the beautiful and serene setting of the Hamont Chapel to pay tribute to those Allied airmen that lost their lives on the nights of 16 June 1941 and 2 February 1943, when their aircraft were brought down in this area. Most notably, I am here to pay homage to the two Canadian aircrew; Pilot Officer Al Power from Kamloops, British Columbia and Sgt Douglas McVicar from Mount Royal, Quebec.
The more time that my wife and I spend in Europe, the more I come to realize the scope of these events that communities like yours put on to pay tribute to the war dead of many nations that stepped forward at a time of need to help restore your country’s freedom.
In Canada, unless you had a relative that connected you to the reality of war, you learned the war through numbers given in school. Over 245,000 Canadians served with the RCAF of which over 17,000 died while on service. 18% of all Allied Airmen that died during the war were Canadian. Of 100 airmen: 2 were shot down but evaded capture; 4 were injured; 12 were taken prisoner; 27 survived a tour of OPs; and 55 were killed on operations. A Bomber Command Crew member had a worse chance of surviving the war alive than an Infantry Officer in the First World War.
We have visited the sites in Flanders and the Somme were Canadians fought and died during the First World War, and now we better understand that horror. We also know, through these ceremonies, of the horrors that Canadian airmen experienced, while playing out trench-like warfare at 20,000 feet. Technology may have advanced from the First World War to the Second World War, but in the end, death is death – and each death has a name. I now know the names of Al Power and Douglas McVicar, thanks to your commendable efforts.
Thank you so much to the RAF Memorial Committee for allowing my wife Dee and I to be here today and more specifically I would, again, like to thank the people of Hamont-Achel for their years of dedication to ensure our young men are remembered by name and not numbers alone.
