Warm Irish welcome for
Canadian veteran
A message posted on the
Internet by the son
of a Royal Canadian
Air Force veteran of
the World War II has
led to a remarkable
series of events linking
Canada and Ireland..
The Canadian veteran,
Charles (Chuck) Singer,
was a member of the
air crew on board a
Sunderland Flying Boat
which crashed on bogland
between Ballyshannon,
Co. Donegal, and Belleek,
Co. Fermanagh, on August
12 1944.
The story of that crash
is vividly recalled
by Belleek man Joe O'Loughlin,
celebrated local historian
who possesses an encyclopedic
knowledge of the area,
has published several
books, and is the authority
on its history.
Joe was a young boy that
day in 1944 when Singer's
aircraft crashed. In
fact he went to the
scene of the crash,
and still has vivid
memories of the occasion.
The pilot and two crew
members were killed.
The nine other members
of the crew escaped
with injuries, some
of them serious.
Sgt. Chuck Singer suffered
a broken arm, but that
did not deter him from
pulling an injured comrade,
Sgt. George Colbourne,
from the wreckage of
the flying boat. Colbourne
had both his legs broken
and was pinned beneath
the broken-off tail
section.
Chuck Singer, now 79,
never forgot that day.
In August 2002, fifty-eight
years after the crash,
he made his first return
visit to the area where
it happened.
To return to the role
of the Internet which
led to his return visit,
a message had been posted
by Chuck's son Bob seeking
information on members
of 422 Canadian Squadron
who had served with
his father. Many who
saw it marvelled at
the detailed recollection
by Chuck, including
a totally understandable
reference to the "Sheild
Hospital" in Ballyshannon
where he had been taken
for treatment.
His message was seen
by one of the veterans
of Squardon 422 in Toronto,
and was transmitted
by e-mail to Breege
McCusker, a local historian
in Irvinestown, Co.
Fermanagh. Breege contacted
the aforesaid Joe O'Loughlin
in Belleek, Joe wrote
to Chuck, and the result
was that Chuck and his
son Bob visited both
Belleek and Ballyshannon
last month.
It was a memorable visit
for both. Among the
many places they visited
was the Sheil Hospital,
where Chuck was cordially
received, and got to
meet the son of Dr.
Daly, the surgeon who
had treated his broken
arm in 1944.
Chuck had joined the
RCAF at the age of 18.
He returned to Toronto
after being invalided
out of the air force,
and found employment
pushing a breadcart
on Centre Island, work
which he chose in order
to strengthen his injured
arm. It was on Centre
Island that he met his
wife Jacqueline.
After a number of years
they moved with their
young family to Florida,
where his son Bob was
born. In all the couple
had five children, Barbara,
John, and Jacqueline
born in Toronto, and
Bob and Greg born in
Florida.
Before ending his visit
to Ireland Chuck was
presented with a memento,
a fragment preserved
from the crashed Sunderland
aircraft.
The last word in this
story goes to Joe O'Loughlin
who recalls that help
to those who had been
injured in the crash
was first provided by
local men and women
who were working in
the bog on the Twenty-Six
County side of the border
dividing Donegal from
Fermanagh, on that far-off
day in 1944.
"One of them, Billy
Donagher, was on the
scene within minutes.
Billy is one of the
many witnesses who is
still with us today,"
says Joe.
Joe rightly says that
crashes were not unknown
in those years along
the "Donegal Corridor".
Reference to other wartime
crashes may be found
elsewhere on this web
site, in particular
as part of The
Vindicator Story.
The "Donegal Corridor"
was a sixteen-mile corridor
between Leitrim and
Donegal, which was granted
by the Irish government
of the day so that flying
boats from Lough Erne
could quickly reach
the Atlantic. It was
also used as a ferry
route for new aircraft
being flown across the
Atlantic from the United
States. The Irish authorities,
although strictly neutral,
were strictly neutral
on the side of the Allies.
Downed Allied airmen
were given medical treatment
when required, and escorted
back to the Six Counties
to rejoin there comrades.
Downed German airmen
were interned.
Footnote: 422 Squadron
of the RCAF operated
from its base on Lough
Erne, the same lough
from which a Catalina
Flying Boat, on air
reconnaisance, spotted
the German battleship
Bismarck in the Atlantic
as it attempted to escape
from the British Navy.
The sinking of the Bismarck
was one of the great
stories of WWW II, and
a film based on the
event is regularly seen
on television screens
to this day.
--30--
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