English Posts – Claudia Fox Reppen

Following the Echoes: The Fickle Finger of Fate

Posted on October 4, 2026October 6, 2026 by Claudia Fox Reppen in English Posts, Following the Echoes

Photo of F/L Bertram Leonard Smith while serving with Squadron 428. Smith was born in Barking, Essex, England on June 11, 1918. He served in Bomber Command from 1940–1944. Photo: Courtesy of Michael Smith.

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In the description for Following the Echoes, I wrote that the book “reflects on the ripple effect that the pulling of literal and metaphorical triggers can have on our lives.”

This past summer, Lance and I were reminded of the extent of that ripple effect from the pulling of triggers—and I don’t mean of the metaphorical kind.

On July 30, Lance happened to notice a memorial post in an RAF Bomber Command Facebook group by a woman named Karen Quaile, who was remembering her grandfather, F/L Bertram Leonard Smith, aka “Smiddy,” a wireless operator/air gunner who disappeared on Lancaster KB759 of RCAF 428 Ghost Squadron on the night of July 28/29, 1944, on a bombing raid to Hamburg—the same night and the same raid from which Wendell “Del” Drew failed to return on Lancaster JB707.

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The Happy Depressive: A Paradoxical Life, and the Pill That Makes It Possible

Posted on May 6, 2026October 6, 2026 by Claudia Fox Reppen in English Posts

The subject of this post is a bit different from anything I’ve written about previously. It’s not a pleasant subject, and it’s rather personal, but since I’m far from alone in my affliction, I see no reason why it should be secret.

I write this as I am just emerging from an episode of depression: intense sadness and rumination, anxiety, lack of energy, and all the accompanying misery.

It’s not my first bout. I couldn’t even tell you what number it is; there have been many in my forty-eight years of life, and it would be a pretty safe bet to say it won’t be my last.

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Following the Echoes: Into the Abyss

Posted on November 17, 2025October 6, 2026 by Claudia Fox Reppen in English Posts, Following the Echoes, Uncategorized

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In the latest installment of Following the Echoes, it’s been quite a week of developments related to some of the individuals featured in my earlier post “The Others.” There will be more to follow, but this post is dedicated to the crew members of Wellington HX726, of which Wendell “Del” Drew was the sole survivor when their plane crashed at Luqa, Malta, on February 13, 1943.

Recently, my brother and co-author, Lance Fox, and I were able to connect with Cate Wagstaffe. Just like Del Drew, Cate’s British great-uncle, Warrant Officer John Michael Wagstaffe, served with 458 RAAF Squadron on Malta. And, like Del, he was involved in a crash there. Unlike Del, however, Wagstaffe did not survive: he and four of his crewmates were killed on April 19, 1944.

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Buried in Uncertainty: A Vanished Airman, a War Crime, and the Forgotten Mystery that Remains

Posted on November 2, 2025October 6, 2026 by Claudia Fox Reppen in English Posts, Following the Echoes

*Ross Bell Nairn. Photo: Canadian Virtual War Memorial*

A young Canadian airman, Ross Bell Nairn, disappeared over Germany in 1944. Evidence of a war crime was uncovered and surreptitiously removed. And then a body mysteriously appeared.

About a year ago, after reading The Job to Be Done by Clint L. Coffey, I found myself going down the proverbial rabbit hole, thanks to a tangential story mentioned in the book.

The story of Pilot Officer Ross Bell Nairn, a young airman from 405 Pathfinder Squadron, could have piqued my interest for the simple fact that he hailed from Science Hill, Ontario, a tiny farming community just outside of St. Mary’s, near my own hometown of Sarnia.

I could also attribute my interest to what I would describe as a soft spot for the stories of those who left this world without descendants and, were it not for serendipity, would have remained largely forgotten.

But there was more to this story that drew me in and wouldn’t let me go: it involves a man stumbling across evidence of a war crime deep in a German forest; the curious removal of said evidence; a certain ambiguity surrounding a tomb in France; and—especially troublesome—a grieving mother and father who went to their graves without knowing the fate of their son.

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The Job to Be Done: A Review with a Special Connection

Posted on January 28, 2025October 6, 2026 by Claudia Fox Reppen in English Posts, Following the Echoes

Author Clint L. Coffey. Photo courtesy of Clint Coffey.

Recently, my brother and co-author, Lance Fox, did an internet search related to our book, Following the Echoes, to see whether any new relevant documents had come to light.

In his search, Lance was excited to discover a blog post by Clint L. Coffey, who, as it turns out, is a fellow Canadian and a fellow FriesenPress author of the same year (2023). Also, his book, The Job to Be Done: A Son’s Journey Into the Story of a WW2 Bomber Command Aircrew, is about a Bomber Command crew of personal significance (the pilot, Flying Officer Jesse Coffey, was Clint’s father).

But this was not all that connected us to Clint. It was while searching for any new mentions of names or topics related to Following the Echoes—specifically Lancaster JB707, in which Wendell “Del” Drew and his crew, piloted by Flying Officer Elwood Townsend, perished in 1944—that Lance found Clint’s post.

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Following the Echoes: The Others

Posted on October 30, 2023October 6, 2026 by Claudia Fox Reppen in English Posts, Following the Echoes

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On behalf of my brother Lance Fox and myself, I begin this post with a big thanks to everyone so far who has purchased a copy of our book, Following the Echoes: The Quest to Uncover a True Wartime Story of Love, Loss, and Legacy. We have received a number of messages from readers who were touched by the story, and who appreciated our research and attention to detail. Your messages of praise and gratitude mean a lot to us. Thank you!

I would also like to thank The RAF Pathfinders Archive for publishing an article about Flying Officer Wendell Pierce Drew and our book as a follow-up to their earlier articles about Sgt. Derek Carrott and Wing Commander Charles Gray. All three men were part of the Townsend crew aboard Lancaster JB707, which went down over the North Sea on the night of July 28/29, 1944. Our book is the first to give an in-depth analysis of the final movements and moments of this crew, the only crew from Group 8 to not return on a night of heavy casualties for Group 6 of RAF Bomber Command.

With the publishing of Following the Echoes, and with Remembrance Day/Armistice Day just around the corner, we would like to issue a call for help in searching as we hope to continue “following the echoes.”

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Echo From the Dunes: RCAF P/O Colin John Blyth

Posted on July 17, 2022January 20, 2025 by Claudia Fox Reppen in English Posts

After the passing of our British-born grandmother, Gladys Fox (née Hope), in June 2021, my brother Lance and I became intrigued by the story of her wartime RCAF fiancé, F/O Wendell “Del” Pierce Drew of RCAF (RAF) 405 Pathfinders Squadron, who went missing with his entire Lancaster III JB707 crew somewhere over the North Sea on 29 July 1944.

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Del’s Legacy: A Canada Day Commemoration

Posted on July 1, 2021March 21, 2024 by Claudia Fox Reppen in English Posts

*RCAF Flying Officer Wendell “Del” Pierce Drew*

I thought that Canada Day would be a fitting day to share this personal story in commemoration of those whom many have called the Greatest Generation. One of the very last of this generation, my paternal grandmother, Gladys Fox (née Hope), passed away recently at the age of ninety-six. (You can read more about her life here.)

Gladys was born in London, England, and grew up in Notting Hill in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in an era when this now posh area was still a humble working-class neighbourhood. The family lived in a flat above the Portland Road Dairy that they owned, and her childhood was a happy and stable one. Everything changed, however, with the events of World War II. As a teenager, she bunked in government shelters and underground stations during the nightly bombing raids of the London Blitz. The death and devastation she witnessed each following morning were a traumatic experience that remained with her for life.

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In Memoriam: Gladys Fox (née Hope)

Posted on June 30, 2021June 30, 2021 by Claudia Fox Reppen in English Posts

FOX, Gladys Gertrude (née HOPE)

(1925–2021)

After a long, healthy life, Gladys Fox passed away on 25 June 2021 at the age of 96. She was predeceased by husband Charles in 2010 and is survived by sons Paul (Queta) and Bruce; daughter Janice (Rick); grandchildren Claudia (Åsmund), Brandon (Umeka), Byron (Suzanne), Steven (Jessica), Lance (Diana), Troy; great-grandchildren Iyhyanna, Quinn, Jillian, Maya, Andrés, and Theo; sister Joyce and nephews Gary and Glenn in England; and niece Jill (Ted) and nephew Doug.

Born in London, England, on 15 June 1925, Gladys grew up at 98 Portland Road in Notting Hill in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in an era when this now posh area was still a humble working-class neighbourhood. She enjoyed a happy, stable childhood with her parents Neville and Elsie and younger sister Joyce in a flat above the family-owned Portland Road Dairy. One of her fondest memories of that time was of walking down the street to her uncle Eric’s variety store where he would treat her to two scoops of ice cream.

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The Headless Heart: A Canadian Multiculturalist Faces the Realities of Immigration in Norway

Posted on September 24, 2019November 7, 2025 by Claudia Fox Reppen in English Posts, Uncategorized

NORSK VERSJON KAN LESES HER.

By Claudia Fox Reppen

In February 2010, I first walked through the doors of a place that every Norwegian has heard of, but few have entered: the mottak – short for asylmottak, or “asylum reception centre.” Spread throughout the country, these often run-down, dirty and smelly old buildings decades past their prime serve as the temporary — meaning anywhere from a few months to a few years, and for a handful of extremely unfortunate souls, decades — home to Norway’s asylum seekers.

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