Tourism Thursdays: September is Practically Here

🍂🍁September is Practically Here🍁🍂

           When September is fast approaching that normally means that the Heritage Farm show, Rodney and Wallacetown fairs are almost here.  

  The Annual Heritage Farm Show at The Backus-Page House takes place September 9th&10th. Come and see a variety of heritage skills being demonstrated, explore your rural roots and experience the living history museum first hand. Tractors, displays, poultry and cattle with be there. Its also a great time for the kids, enjoy carnival games and vendors as well this year at the farm show. The Back Pages Band is playing 12 – 4pm on Saturday, September 9. The Pierce Family Band is playing 12 – 4pm on Sunday, September 10

           

           The Rodney Fair! September 15th-17th. The Fair includes tractor pull, parade, sheep show, miniature horse and cattle show, demolition derby and tons of entertainment. Its a great time with great food , filled with amazing family fun!





        Bring the whole family out for great entertainment, agriculture, rides, tractor pull and much more! At the Wallacetown Fair, September 29th - October 1st. This years entertainment include, the tractor pull, fair ambassador competition, Mud Men, demolition derby, midway rides, Marshall Dane, horse racing, agri-magic show, baby show, cooking with John and so much more!




Thanks for reading
Sabrina Merks

World War Wednesdays: In the News: The USS Indianapolis

USS Indianapolis in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1937. US Navy Photo

     Among the many hot topics to hit the airwaves in the past few weeks was the discovery of the WWII USS Indianapolis wreck at its final resting place in the Philippine Sea. In the spirit of this remarkably tragic piece of American history, I've elected to discuss the life and legacy of its captain, Charles McVay III, in the hopes of a renewed discussion of the story's human element.

U.S. Naval Institute

      Capt. Charles McVay III was a 1920 graduate of the US Naval Academy and a career naval officer with an exemplary record, whose father had commanded the Navy's Asiatic Fleet in the early 1900s. Before taking command of the Indianapolis in November 1944, he was chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee of the combined chiefs of staff in Washington, the Allies' highest intelligence unit. According to ussindianapolis.org, "Captain McVay led the ship through the invasion of Iwo Jima, then the bombardment of Okinawa in the spring of 1945 during which Indianapolis anti-aircraft guns shot down seven enemy planes before the ship was struck by kamikaze on March 31, inflicting heavy casualties, including 13 dead, and penetrating the ship's hull. McVay returned the ship safely to Mare Island in California for repairs.

     On July 16, 1945, the Indianapolis sailed from California with a top secret cargo to Hawaii for refuelling, then to Tinian where it unloaded its cargo, the uranium and major components of the atomic bomb to be dropped on Hiroshima by the Enola Gay on August 6. The Indianapolis was then routed to Guam that the seeds for the destruction of the Pacific had long since ceased. The Japanese surface fleet no longer existed as a threat, and 1,000 miles to the north preparations were underway for the invasion of the Japanese mainland. These conditions resulted in a relaxed state of alert on the part of those who were to route the Indianapolis across the Philippine Sea."

     ussindianapolis.org includes a list of evidence as to the details of the ship's fateful final journey:

• Although naval authorities at Guam knew that on July 24, four days before the Indianapolis departed for Leyte, the destroyer escort USS Underhill had been sunk by a Japanese submarine within range of his path, McVay was not told.
• Although a code-breaking system called ULTRA had alerted naval intelligence that a Japanese submarine (the I-58 by name which ultimately sank the Indianapolis) was operating in his path, McVay was not told. (Classified as top secret until the early 1990s, this intelligence -- and the fact it was withheld from McVay before he sailed from Guam -- was not disclosed during his subsequent court-martial.)
• Although no capital ship (unequipped with antisubmarine detection devices such as the Indianapolis) had made the transit between Guam and the Philippines without a destroyer escort throughout World War II, McVay's request for such an escort was denied.
• Although the routing officer at Guam was aware of dangers in the ship's path, he said a destroyer escort for the Indianapolis was "not necessary" (and, unbelievably, testified at McVay's subsequent court-martial that the risk of submarine attack along the Indianapolis's route "was very slight").
• Although McVay was told of "submarine sightings" along his path, none had been confirmed. Such sightings were commonplace throughout the war and were generally ignored by navy commanders unless confirmed.

    "Thus, the Indianapolis set sail for Leyte on July 26, 1945, sent into harm's way with its captain unaware of dangers which shore-based naval personnel knew were in his path. Captain McVay's orders were to "zigzag at his discretion." Zigzagging is a naval maneuver used to avoid torpedo attack, generally considered most effective once the torpedoes have been launched. No Navy directives in force at that time or since recommended, much less ordered, zigzagging at night in poor visibility. At about 11pm on Sunday night, July 29, the Indianapolis traveling alone was about halfway across the Philippine Sea. There was heavy cloud cover with visibility severely limited. Captain McVay gave orders to cease zigzagging and retired to his cabin. Minutes later the ship was  spotted as an indistinct blur by Japanese submarine commander Mochitura Hasimoto of the I-58. It was coming directly toward him from the east. Shortly after midnight the ship was struck by two torpedoes and sank in about twelve minutes. 

     When the ship failed to arrive at Leyte on Tuesday morning, a series of blunders ensued. First, there was confusion as to which area the Indianapolis was to report when it arrived. Second, there was no directive to report the non-arrival of a combatant ship. And, third, there was no request to retransmit a garbled message which would have clarified the Indianapolis' arrival time. As a result, the surviving crew of the Indianapolis was left floating in shark-infested waters until 11am on Thursday, August 2, when Lt. Wilbur C. Gwinn, the pilot of a Ventura scout-bomber, lost the weight from his navigational antenna trailing behind the plane, a loss which was to save the lives of 316 men. While crawling back through the fuselage of his plane to repair the thrashing antenna, Gwinn happened to glance down at the sea and noticed a long oil slick. Back in the cockpit, Gwinn dropped down to investigate, spotted men floating in the sea, and radioed for help. At 3:30 that afternoon Lt. R. Adrian Marks, flying a PBY Catalina, was the first to arrive on the scene. Horrified at the sight of sharks attacking men below him, Marks landed his flying boat in the sea, and, pulling a survivor aboard, he was the first to learn of the Indianapolis disaster." ussindianapolis.org

     Capt. William J. Toti, USN (Retired) describes the legal scandal that ensued:         "The Indy controversy erupted in August 1945, just after the atomic bombs were dropped. The American public was outraged at the loss of more than 800 lives in the waning days of the war, and a Navy court of inquiry was convened to investigate. Its recommendation was that Captain McVay be court-martialed for hazarding his vessel by failure to zigzag, but Admiral Chester Nimitz disagreed and instead issued the captain a letter of reprimand. Admiral Ernest King later overturned Nimitz’s decision and recommended a court-martial, which Secretary of the Navy Forrestal later convened.

In doing so, King intervened directly with the Secretary of the Navy to move forward with the court-martial in parallel with an investigation by the Inspector General (IG). But a court-martial is a trial, not an investigatory tool. If King’s problem was simply a lack of information, why didn’t he allow the Inspector General to issue his report before ordering the court-martial? Some believe it is because King was not satisfied that the IG’s conclusions would support his decision to court-martial.

The Navy Judge Advocate General also was asked to review the referral. His response contained the curious statement that the charges included in the initial referral were “the only ones that can be supported,” as if an agenda was at work to establish a greater foundation for prosecution. Whatever the truth, this statement certainly creates the perception that the Judge Advocate General was under direction to discover more charges to refer against McVay.

     

     In the end, McVay was charged with two counts: suffering his vessel to be hazarded by failing to zigzag, and failure to order abandon ship in a timely manner. His counsel, reportedly hand-picked by King, had never argued a case in court before. The court claimed that McVay was not being charged for any deficiency that led to the sinking of his ship. They made a strong case that the “Indianapolis was hazarded before she was ever detected by I-58, and would have been hazarded if she had never been detected by I-58.” In essence, McVay could have been found guilty in a court– martial even if his ship had not been sunk. This is a meaningless legal distinction, however, since absent the sinking, there would have been no way for anyone to know that the vessel had been hazarded.

     Hence, despite the fact that McVay was convicted only on the first count—for suffering his vessel to be hazarded by not zigzagging—there is no way to escape the fact that Captain McVay was court-martialed for having his ship sunk. Put all these facts together, and it is understandable why most of the survivors believe that Admiral King was doing all he could to tilt the scales of justice against McVay. Even Admiral Nimitz later would say to one survivor that the entire affair involving the court-martial was a mistake and should never have happened."

     From a statement submitted at a September 1999 Senate hearing by Paul J. Murphy, USS Indianapolis survivor: "The charge upon which he was convicted for failing to zigzag contained a phrase 'in good visibility.' The visibility that night was NOT good as all of us know who were there that night."

     Like Murphy, many of Indianapolis's survivors said that McVay was not to blame for the sinking, the families of some of the men who died thought otherwise. One piece of mail read: "Merry Christmas! Our family's holiday would be a lot merrier if you hadn't killed my son." The guilt that was placed on McVay's shoulders mounted until he committed suicide in 1968, using his Navy-issued revolver. He was discovered on his front lawn with a toy sailor in one hand. He was 70 years old.

     In 1996, sixth-grade student Hunter Scott began his research on the sinking of the Indianapolis, which led to a United States Congressional investigation. In October 2000, the United States Congress passed a resolution that Captain McVay's record should state that "he is exonerated for the loss of Indianapolis", which was signed by President Bill Clinton. The resolution noted that, although several ships of the U.S. Navy were lost in combat in World War II, McVay was the only captain to be court-martialed for the sinking of this ship.

     In July 2001, the United States Secretary of the Navy ordered McVay's official Navy record cleared of all wrongdoing.

     In July 2016, new details about the sinking emerged which helped lead to the wreck's discovery this month. Read about those details here: http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/29/us/uss-indianapolis-sinking-anniversary/index.html and the discovery here: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-41041013

     Credits to ussindianapolis.org and the U.S. Naval Institute for the information in this post. 

     Thanks for reading,

Delany (@DLeitchHistory on Twitter)

Farm Meme Monday #5

Will your tractor be one of the 150 pieces of equipment on site to celebrate Canada150 and Ontario150?  Join us at the Heritage Farm Show on September 9 & 10, 2017 at Backus-Page House Museum.

Saturday Sighting - It’s Saturday!!!

Saturday Sighting - It’s Saturday!!!

What’s up Canada!  You know who it is!  It’s me again, Ben the MNR guy at Backus Page House Museum.  I’m here to give you your weekly Saturday Sightings.  Saturday is one of the best days of the week! 

If you work Monday to Friday and/or you’re a student, Saturday is just that day where you wake up in the morning and think; “I got another day off tomorrow”.  Friday’s are pretty awesome as well because it’s the start of the weekend, what day can beat?  That you get home from work or school and think; “Hey it’s the weekend”.  That was my favorite day of the week when I was in public and high school.

I bet you guys are wondering what I saw this week?  Well you guys all know that I hate snakes, if you didn’t….. I don’t like snakes.  Well I was moving some hay that we had and right when I moved one bale of hay there was a snake under the bale.  This snake was brown and had a stripe down its back and holy I was not having anything to do with it. 

A lot of gardening has been completed this week as well as a successful day of day camp on Tuesday.

That is your weekly Saturday Sightings with Ben the MNR guy.  Hope to see you soon and remember to stay cool.

Tourism Thursdays: Fair Season is Fast Approaching

🎉 Fair Season is Fast Approaching 🎉

           Lions Support Dutton Dunwhich 150 Celebration. The Lions booth will be open from 2 PM till 6Pm for those attending the numerous Family activities planned. The Lions will then open their food trailer & bar, in the concert area, in support of the major concert featuring Jason Blaine; followed by a huge fireworks display.

2:00pm – 5:00pm FREE Children’s Activities!

7:00pm Gates Open - Fireworks after SCOTTY JAMES AND JASON BLAINE CONCERT.

Tickets available at eventbrite.ca or at the gate for $35.00

        Shedden fair is also this weekend! Friday 25th- Sunday 27th all day . Friday night antique and out-of-field tractor pull. Breakfast, livestock shows, midway, demolition derby, exhibits, and children's activities!

            Interested in Surfing the Great Lakes? Join Sport In Port, Surf The Greats, and Life of Leisure Surf and Social Club on Main Beach in Port Stanley for an afternoon that will include a Surf Information Session, water’s edge Yoga, beach cleanups, and much more. Don’t miss your chance to learn about local surf from the pros and have a ton of family fun! Sunday 27th from 10-4 pm.

Thanks for reading
Sabrina Merks

World War Wednesdays: Dieppe 75th Anniversary

 A German photograph of the aftermath of the Dieppe raid, Royal Canadian Air Force

     This past Saturday marked 75 years since the Dieppe raid during the Second World War. Dieppe is a complicated event to commemorate, and I hope to do it justice, so I wanted to begin with a link to the official Government of Canada overview:
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/1942-dieppe-raid
Followed by oral testimonies of veterans who served there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otYbcd9sFrQ
     In the case of Dieppe, it is important to understand the soldiers' perspectives and truly account for their horrific experiences. This event, more than any other, demonstrates the futility of warfare and the vast distinction between those who send the orders and those who must act upon them.

     As with most anniversaries, I like to tie in a local connection, and found an interesting one with the story of Lieut.-Col. John Andrews. It is told through a series of articles in the St. Thomas Times-Journal over around 20 years and demonstrates how people on the home front were informed of the fate of their local soldiers.

St. Thomas Times-Journal, Jan. 16, 1942

PROMOTED LT.-COLONEL
     The promotion of Major John Andrews, son of Col. and Mrs. W. A. Andrews, 33 Roseberry Place, to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel about the first of December last has been learned of here. At the age of 32, he is one of the youngest men of that rank in the Canadian Army, either in Canada or overseas, there being only two younger so far as is known. Lt.-Col. Andrews is now in command of the Calgary Tank Battalion with the Canadian Corps overseas, succeeding Lt.-Col. Bradbrook, of Calgary, who recruited the battalion and took it overseas, and who has since been posted to other duties with the Middle East Command. The battalion is part of the Canadian Corps troops and is understood to have the newest of British tank equipment. Lt.-Col. Andrews has been overseas since about the middle of last year, having preceded to England as brigade major of the tank regiments which left Canada at that time. He had previously been stationed at Camp Borden as a tank expert, his special training having been with tanks and other armored fighting  machines for several years prior to outbreak of the war. He had taken senior officers' tank courses in England before the war and was thoroughly grounded in all their features and uses.

St. Thomas Times-Journal, August 1942

      Lieut.-Col. John Andrews, son of Lieut.-Col. and Mrs. W. A. Andrews, 33 Roseberry Place, who is reported missing from the Dieppe raid last Wednesday. He was in command of the Calgary Tank Battalion, and was one of the youngest men in the Canadian Army to hold the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was 33 years old, a native of St. Thomas. By a coincidence, his paternal grandfather, Foster Andrews, a pioneer resident of St. Thomas, observed his 91st birthday, Friday, the day that word came that Lt.-Col. Andrews was missing. The message was received by Mrs. Andrews of Barrie, Ontario who was on vacation in the northern part of the province with her two-year-old daughter. Mrs. Andrews is a Winnipeg young woman. She communicated with her husband's parents in this city Friday night. Although official details have not been received, Lieut.-Col. Andrews is believed to have per-" (article not continued)

St. Thomas Times-Journal, September 1942

LIST BARRIE OFFICER MISSING AFTER RAID

Fear Was on Boat Hit by Shell at Dieppe

Barrie, Sept. 16

     Lieut.-Col. John Gilby Andrews, 33, officer commanding 14th Army Tank Battalion (Calgary regiment)is reported missing in the official Dieppe casualty list. His wife, Mrs. Eleanor Catherine Andrews, Clapperton St., Barrie, has been informed the young officer was last seen leaving his tank with his crew for a launch, and that the launch was hit directly. Col. Andrews was one of the "originals" of the Canadian Armored Corps at Camp Borden, who established the Canadian Armored Fighting Vehicles school there, May 1, 1938. Mrs. Andrews and their two-year-old daughter Susan reside at Barrie; his parents and a sister, Geraldine, live in St. Thomas, and another sister, Jean, wife of Lieut. Pat McGiverin, Royal Regiment of Canada, in Toronto.

St. Thomas Times-Journal, Oct. 4, 1958

Col. Andrews to Attend Unveiling at Brookwood

     When Queen Elizabeth on Oct. 25 unveils the Brookwood Memorial in England, which commemorates 3,500 men and women of Commonwealth land forces who died at sea, on raids and in other missions and actions during World War II, and who have no known graves, among the many Canadians watching will be Lt.-Col. Warren A. Andrews, St. Thomas Civic Defense co-ordinator. The Brookwood Memorial, standing in the Brookwood cemetery near Woking, Surrey, contains the names of 148 Canadians- among them the name of Lt.-Col. John Gilby Andrews, the son of Col. and Mrs. Andrews was a 33 year-old officer commanding the 14th Armored Battalion (Calgary Tanks), when he was killed at Dieppe. An "original" of the Canadian Armored Corps at Camp Borden, he helped establish the Canadian Armored Fighting Vehicles School there in 1938. Col. Andrews will sail from Montreal to England on Oct. 14. Arriving Oct. 20, he will visit his granddaughter, Miss Susan Wallace, who lives in Southport. Together, they will attend the unveiling ceremony of the Brookwood Memorial.

St. Thomas Times-Journal May 6, 1961

New Hangar at Meaford Range Named for Col. Jack Andrews

     Military personnel of the Meaford Armored Fighting Vehicle Range will be hosts in a dedication ceremony on Sunday, May 14, to commemorate the name of Lt.-Col. J. G. Andrews, who commanded the Calgary Regiment at Dieppe and who died in that action. The name, "Andrews Hangar" is being given to a new tank hangar which was built at the Range. This occasion affords the Royal Canadian Armored Corps an opportunity to record its appreciation for the services rendered by one of its original officers. Lt.-Col. Andrews was born in 1902 in St. Thomas, the son of Lt.-Col. W. A. Andrews and Mrs. Andrews, Roseberry Place, and attended school at St. Thomas Collegiate Institute. After graduation, he was employed in a local bank and soon became interested in the Militia and was appointed as a provisional lieutenant in the Elgin Regiment in 1928. This was his father's regiment. In 1930 he decided to make the Army his career and was attached to the Royal Canadian Regiment in August of that year. After completing a course at Royal Military College, Kingston, he was posted to the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

IN AT THE START

     In 1936, a Canadian Tank School was established at London, Ont. This school was commanded by Major F. F. Worthington, MC and bar (afterwards Major-General F. F. Worthington, CB, MC, MM, CD). Lt. Andrews was selected for posting to this school as an instructor. In 1938 the school moved to Camp Borden and was redesignated the Canadian Armored Fighting Vehicle School. Lt. Andrews was promoted to captain at this time and transferred to the AFV School, still as a member of the PPCLI. During the next year he held posts at National Defense Headquarters and the Directorate of Military Training in Ottawa and later was brigade-major at headquarters, Army Tank Brigade. In June 1941 he went overseas in that capacity, and thus ended his five years as a technical officer and instructor in the use of tanks. Major Andrews has been in on the birth of what is now the Royal Canadian Armored Corps. On December 3, 1941, Major Andrews was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and appointed to command the 14th Army Tank Battalion (Calgary Regiment). This was the first unit of the Canadian Armored Corps to go into action. The Dieppe Story is well known and the loss of Lt. Col. Andrews was one of the many tragedies of the day. Lt.-Col. Andrews was married in 1937 in Winnipeg to Eleanor Catherine Allan. They had one daughter, Susan, born in Barrie, who will unveil the memorial plaque on the "Andrews Hangar." His wife has since remarried, and is now Mrs. Ben Wallace, of Toronto. 

ATTENDING FROM HERE

     The ceremony next Sunday will be attended by Col. Andrews's father and mother, who will accompany their daughter, Mrs. T. Patrick McGiverin and Mr. McGiverin; Lt.-Col. F. H. Medcalf, honorary lieutenant-colonel of the Elgin Regiment, and Mrs. Medcalf; Lt.-Col. J. W. McNeil; and Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Agnew.

     The Doc Alexander Blog describes the circumstances of Lt.-Col. Andrews's death:

"Andrews, Lt.-Col. John Gilby- The 33-year-old commanding officer of the CATR was Killed in Action on Aug. 19, 1942 during the Dieppe Raid. Andrews, who was commanding 'Regiment,' a Churchill MkII, attempted to land his tank on White Beach. But unknown to him, it appears that the waterproof cover had ripped as Regiment left Tank Landing Craft No. 8. The tank sank into roughly six feet of water and the engine flooded and died. Doc Alexander reports in his Dieppe journal that a few of the men climbed out of Regiment and were picked up by a small L-boat. Doc Alexander wrote: 'Some of the men escaped from the turret and I saw them picked up by a small L-Boat which immediately put out to sea, but only traveled a short distance when it received a direct hit from one of the shore batteries and burst into flames. I saw the men again jump into the water, but we do not know whether they were again picked up or not." Andrews was initially reported missing following the Dieppe Raid, but it was later confirmed that he had indeed been killed."

     Finally, check out this collection of artifacts from Dieppe, including Lt.-Col. Andrews's Memorial Cross: https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2017/08/18/shackles-pebbles-and-posters-the-raid-on-dieppe-in-10.html

     Thanks for reaching the end of this little Dieppe conglomeration; I hope that it enriched your reflections on that tremendous event.

     Thanks for reading,

Delany (@DLeitchHistory on Twitter) 

Farm Meme Monday #4

Bring your cowculator to the Heritage Farm Show, September 9 & 10, 2017 at Backus-Page House Museum to see if we hit our goal of 150 pieces of equipment on site to celebrate Canada150 and Ontario150.