Tag: RCAF

Following the Echoes: The Fickle Finger of Fate

Posted on 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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Following the Echoes: Hold On to Those Old Letters

Posted on by Claudia Fox Reppen in Following the Echoes
Graduation photo James “Norman” Lillico from Bombing and Gunnery School, November 10, 1941.
Photo: Courtesy of Lillico family.

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On this Canada Day, in a new (and long overdue) update, my brother and co-author, Lance Fox, and I are pleased to share that we have been able to uncover additional information related to Following the Echoes.

The time around Remembrance Day seems to be the season that keeps on giving, and on November 11 of last year, it was the great-grandson of someone featured in the book and an earlier blog post who followed an echo and found us.

In my October 2023 post “The Others,” which featured several individuals in the book whose relatives we hoped to connect with, I mentioned James “Norman” Lillico, a dear friend of Wendell “Del” Drew from their time together in the RCAF.

Continue reading “Following the Echoes: Hold On to Those Old Letters” →

Following the Echoes: Into the Abyss

Posted on 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.

Continue reading “Following the Echoes: Into the Abyss” →

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

Posted on 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 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.

Continue reading “The Job to Be Done: A Review with a Special Connection” →