RCAF airmen lost in 1946 crash honoured in memorial near Estevan

After postponing because of the COVID-19 pandemic, families and the community of Estevan finally commemorated the 75th anniversary of the 21 RCAF airmen who perished in a plane crash.

On Sept. 15, 1946, 20 pilots and one mechanic were on a return trip from Minot, N.D., when their C-47 transport crashed on its way to Estevan Air Base.

Marie Donne Calder had managed to identify every man in the crash back in 2020. As a result, every family was invited to the three day celebration.

Starting in Regina on Thursday with Lieutenant Governor Russ Mirstay hosting 61 members of the various families at Government House, the celebration then moved back to Estevan on Friday.

“Well this morning we went out to Lester Hinzman’s acreage to see the carved monument, which is sort of the beginning of this whole story, he was inspired to make sure the men were remembered,” organizer Lois Wilson explained.

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The wooden carving depicts all the men who were in the crash, and some family members were seeing it for the first time.

“It’s surreal, and I love the beauty of the spot, this has family connection it has meaning and I thought it was important for me to come and honour him,” Lorna Palmer, granddaughter to Clifford Coppin told CTV.

Palmer’s grandfather was one of the last four missing from Calder’s discovery when she made an appearance on tv asking family members to reach out.

Her mother was too sick to join her, so her aunt Lenore came from Calgary to stand in.

Families travelled from across Canada, and even the United States to be part of the 75th anniversary.

Dorothy Jones, who is 93, had her two children pick her up from Virginia and bring her to honour her brother, James Jessee, the sole American in the crash.

Jones had never been to Estevan before, and was just 17 when her brother died in the crash.

“Wonderful, hard, he was a great person,” she said, of being at the memorial.

“I had a lot of siblings, but he was tops. I never told him that though.”

The son of one of the pilots was also at the memorial, though he had been two when his father passed. He wished to remain anonymous, but said being at the event felt like a sense of closure, since he never knew his father, and his mother had always been to heartbroken to talk about him.

Harry Cowan, named after his uncle who died in the crash, came from Ontario with a whole contingent of family members.

“From Windsor, another son from Perry Sound, and three siblings here from all over Ontario,” he explained.

The three day event offered plane rides from the Brandon Commonwealth Air Training Plane Museum, and Cowan’s grandson took a ride.

Flights were offered by the Brandon Commonwealth Air Training Plane Museum to the family members who attended the memorial. (Brianne Foley/CTV News)

“These little memorials that are being put up around the country are really important,” said John McNary, president of the museum.

“The lesson, the history that goes with it is really important. So doing this and sharing the airplane with you and others is just the gravy.”

Folks who wanted to take a flight could buy them for $310 in the Cornell and $430 in the Harvard, all proceeds going towards the museum.

Festivities wrapped up Saturday morning with an RCAF Moose Jaw flyby and the memorial dedication at the crash site.

“I never met my uncle,” said Cowan. “But I’m proud of what he did and it’s my way to say thank you, for me and my family.”