N.B. memorial, honouring Commonwealth airmen who died in training, unveiled

A memorial to honour 70 servicemen, who died while training at RCAF Station Pennfield Ridge during the Second World War, was held Friday in Pennfield, about 70 kilometres west of Saint John.

The ceremony honoured the men who were killed duringtraining exercises while stationed at thebase. It was attended by a large crowdand included a number of dignitaries,including Gov. Gen.Mary Simon, who spoke at the event.

The ceremony was part of centenary celebrations for the Royal Canadian Air Force, which was founded in 1924.

The memorial includes three granite monoliths, inscribed with the names of the men whose lives were lost, including38 members of the Royal Canadian Air Force, 11 pilots from the United Kingdom, 12 New Zealanders, eight Australians and a member of the Royal Navy.

Harold Wright, who helped develop the memorial, said it was a humbling experience to see Simon perform the unveiling.

WATCH | The remains of a number of the airmen were never recovered:

Memorial honouring airmen unveiled in Pennfield

3 months ago

Duration 1:16

As part of celebrations of the Royal Canadian Air Force, a memorial honours the 70 airmen who died while training in New Brunswick during the Second World War.

"It was awful hard not to tear up a few times," said Wright.

"I'm just glad that these 70 individuals, who paid their supreme sacrifice, are continued to be remembered in a very meaningful way."

Commonwealth training

The base was built in 1940 as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, which opened 151 training schools across Canada.

Two other training bases were also in operation in New Brunswick:CFB Chatham, just outside Miramichi, and one in Moncton.

Cmdr.Mark Tapsell, with the New Zealand High Commission, said the sacrifice of those menand the manner in which the Commonwealth nations worked together, have lessons that are useful today.

"As we all face ongoing threats to our way of life, such as climate change and global insecurity, it is useful to reflect on what we achieved in the past to inform what we can achieve together now," said Tapsell at the event.

A review of the incident logs, which have been archived on the Pennfield Parish website, detailsome of the situations where the airmen died.

One report tells of a June 1945 incident where four men were killed when the plane they were attempting to land crashed and exploded.

Another tells the story of a July 1942 flight where a plane carrying two men went missing.

A large search operation was carried out, including searching for the plane off the coast of Grand Manan.

It was never found and the servicemen were "assumed to have perished."

The remains of a number of the airmen were never recovered, and some of the planes are still missing, either waters off the coast or in dense forest.