Mystery picture found near site of Canadian plane crash in Wales...who is he?

[Bill Green]

Just to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Prosperous and Healthy New Year.

[Janice M]

I have heard from the brother of Joseph Paul Ernest Burke, and he and his family would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

He and his family are still amazed with everyone's efforts in finding the identity of the young man in the photo.  They have also shown an interest in getting in touch with other family members of the crew, and hope to pursue this in the new year.

Mr. Burke wanted me to thank all who have helped, and I have promised to send on any new information that is found.

Janice

[Caroline_d]

Hi

This site might be of interest to others so I thought I'd post the address.  It lists war memorials.

http://www.ukniwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.002


Regarding this particular project, I checked to see if the memorial at Carreg Goch was listed around a month ago, there was little information so I emailed asking if they would be interested to list the names of the crew and maybe a photograph etc. 

Had a reply a few days ago saying they would be interested and to send as much as possible including pictures taken by Damien of the memorial and plaque.  I'm also trying to find out when the memorial was built.  The bottom of the plaque had the name "BP Chemicals" who are based at Llandarcy, South Wales, I'm trying to find out if they have information on the date it was built etc.  It all helps to complete the listing.

Hope you all had a great Chrismas and all the best for the new year.

Regards
Caroline

[J.J.]

Wonderful news to hear that there is more information about our boys.  I haven't had a notification for ages, for some reason, so was pleased to read all these updates on crew lineup and Martha's find at the archive...better photo and more communication with family.
   Just the news that these families want to get together to commemorate the
joint memory of the lads brings a tear to my eyes, and seems a singularly nice outcome in itself....
     I'll add this update to the other thread.
             Happy new year to you all!   J.J

[Caroline_d]

Hello

It's been a while since there was an update, to this posting.  There have been some developments which have been summarised below.

Thanks to everyone for your help so far.

Regards
Caroline

Update on the crew of MF-509

 
At the end of October 2005 Caroline posted a request for help in identifying a photo retrieved by her grandfather from a Wellington bomber that crashed on Carreg Goch in November 1944. Since the time a number of developments have taken place, and this is a brief summary of those advances. First, three of the families of the six airmen who lost their lives have been contacted. They are the Burke family in New Brunswick, the Allison family in Quebec and the Hamel family, also in Quebec. All families were very moved by the work of this group in identifying and then contacting family members 61 years after the plane crash. The families were unaware that the crash site still existed and that a memorial had been erected there.

 
Bill Allison , one of the crewmembers, was one of seven children in his family, and the only boy. The sole remaining sister of Bill, Phyllis, will be traveling to Wales in May 2006 to visit the site and meet some of the people who have contributed. This trip would not have been possible without the work of many people on Rootschat and elsewhere and she would like to thank all of you. If you are interested in more information about this trip, please let us know by a posting. Phyllis has been in contact with both the Burke and Hamel families to share these latest developments.

 
Unfortunately the identity of the airman in the original photo is still not known. It is likely that it is not any of the crewmembers who were lost in the crash. We now know that prior to the crash the crew’s regular navigator Gaston Caron was replaced by Jules Villeneuve, So although it is Caron pictured in the crew photo, he was not aboard the plane and also survived the war. McGill University in Montreal will be doing a story in their magazine and hopefully this will produce additional information and leads, particularly if the story is picked up by the national newspapers.

 
Once again I express the thanks of the family of the airmen who now have a chance to have a more complete sense of what happened in November 1944, and also to see the care and compassion of those who worked on supplying the various pieces of the puzzle.

 
Wes (on behalf of many people)

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[MJP]

Wow you guys!  That is fabulous.  It's so nice that the sister is actually going to visit the site and that the families are in contact. 

Great work!  Keep us updated - I'd love to hear about the trip.

Martha

[Caroline_d]

Hello everyone

It's been a while since an update has been posted.  The team from McGill’s have done a great job and managed to contact Mr Earl Scofield, step-brother to Jules Villeneuve.  His son has kindly supplied a photograph of Jules (the identity of the lady in the photograph is not known).  He has given permission for it be posted here. 

It is now know that the man in the original crew photograph is Gaston Caron and not Jules who replaced Caron.

Plans are in place for the visit to memorial site at Carreg Goch next month, a number of local people have also been of great help and one great source (a local mountain tour guide who knows the area well) has arranged with the Brecon Beacons National Park to help with a heavy duty vehicle so that Bill's sister can get to within half a mile of the memorial.  They have been quick to respond with their help.  At present it now seems that there will be around 11 of us visiting the site on the day.

Fingers crossed for the weather to be kind.

Regards, Caroline

[Caroline_d]

Photo of Jules Villeneuve

[mitchell]

Caroline,

I've followed this story from day one and just wanted to say I think that what you guys have done is wonderful and to thank you for the update... I'm sure that the visit to the memorial site will be very emotional for everyone and I'll definately keep my fingers crossed that the weather stays good for you.

Elaine