In September, Louis MacDonald from Little Pond fulfilled a dream he has had for many years. He travelled to Europe to visit the graves of the two brothers he lost during the Second World War. Mr. MacDonald and his nephew, Jamie MacDonald, began their journey on Sept. 19. They travelled to London and, from there, they crossed over to Belgium. Their first destination spot was Gellich, Belgium, the small town where James MacDonald's plane went down. Mr. MacDonald recounts the story of his brother's death. "My brother's plane crashed in Gellich in the middle of town. James was in the 421 Squadron. His plane was comIng back from a bombing mission in Acton, Germany. They were attacked by German fighter planes. Right near Gellick, there's different canals. The allies tried everything to take these bridges but they failed. That's why the Germans were always so handy. Their plane crashed right near a house. Four out of five airmen were killed. My brother James was one of them. He was a pilot officer. They showed us the very spot where the plane went down.

"There was a young girl came out to where the plane was and she found this survivor, Harold Lapointe from London, Ontario. The Germans found the parachute so they found out there was a survivor, so he was made a prisoner of war. This was 1944 and the war was over the next year. After the war was over he wrote to our place telling us of him knowing James."

Mr. MacDonald is proud of his courageous brother. He was thrilled to discover that the town of Gellich had erected a monument in honour of the men killed in his brother's plane. The names of James and the other airmen will be forever remembered in Gellich, Belgium.

After visiting the site of James' death, Mr. MacDonald continued on to the cemetery where James was buried. It is called Heverlee and is a designated burial ground for soldiers and airmen. Mr. MacDonald was pleased to find his brother's resting place in such a peaceful and beautiful country setting."

Visiting the grave brought back many memories for Mr. MacDonald. Especially strong was the memory of the last time he saw James. "When James was leaving, I was in the hospital at the time and he came to see me. It was a Thursday afternoon, and he took me out to go to a show. He brought me back to the hospital, then that night he came in to see me and that was the final time I saw him. I was 14.

After leaving Heverlee, Mr. MacDonald and his nephew started for Italy where his brother Walter was buried. They travelled through France, stopping at the monument at Vimy Ridge. They studied the monument erected in memory of the Canadian soldiers who gave their lives at the devastating battle at Vimy Ridge during the First World War.

They took a tour of the various tunnels which had been dug during the war. Mr. MacDonald said, "The allies, at the time, had lost a lot of soldiers trying to take this ridge from the Germans because it overlooked all of the countryside. So the only way to do it was for them to tunnel underground behind the German lines. On April 9, 1917, the Canadian Corps stormed the Ridge. Three days later, they captured the hill. That was the turning point for the allies during the First World War.

From their exciting visit to Vimy, Mr. MacDonald and Jamie travelled on to Italy. Walter's grave was in another designated soldier cemetery called Revana. In the cemetery, there are soldiers from India on one side and Canadians on the other.

Mr. MacDonald noticed there were several other Islanders buried at this cemetery but he did not recognize any of the names. Also at Ravenna was a book which told of the invasion of Sicily and Italy and the different activities involved in the Italian Campaign. Walter was in the West Nova Scotia Regiment.

Mr. MacDonald's , trip was one of great pleasure and was a life-long fulfillment for him. As always, Remembrance Day will be very poignant for Mr. MacDonald. "Both my brother's names are on the monument at the Legion here in Souris and we will be coming in to lay a wreath in their memory on Remembrance Day."

Copyright
Waldron H. Leard