The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Wednesday, May 29, 1996 ROTARY PARK SUPPLEMENT Page 7 ! (p r | B 1; jj • vx ;i i! / i .. 1 1 ! ;j f! lie nji|. p jj/ f \ 1 X A a i i A Q v t H A ) C i ,-jj , ' z ! .< i ! • ; / 1 j! ;1 \ / fVw vr 1 0 1 p Aj m i ! v ' -A 1 A 1 /""j :L.,' -iax -v. if i -Ai rj *- A' j , r Ü jl i ! 1 J f V A A , : v - v ( J / ! ;j if fj 4 v V ,) d Jr jj f; J y / i f ' :j jj : i John Spencer Colville 21 June, 1920 to 18 August, 1944 by Laura J. Richards John Spencer Colville was born on June 21, 1920 in Bowmanville. He was killed in France on August 18, 1944, while flying flying a Typhoon fighter aircraft. Known as Sandy by his family and friends, this young man was someone his cousin, Bill Colville, described as "a man's man." "He like to fish and hunt with his friends," Bill said of Sandy, who was actually two years older than him. Like all the Colville brothers, brothers, Sandy "loved to be where there was action," said Carol, Bill's wife. Tom Rehder became one of Sandy's friends during their years at Bowmanville High School. During that time, Sandy was "not what you would call a classics scholar, but more into sports like football," Rehder said of his friend. Rehder says Sandy joined the air force because he was following his brothers' example. "He wanted the air force because that's where his brothers were." "In 1941,1 went to McGill University, and Sandy was still in Bowmanville," Rehder said. And as life progresses, progresses, the two friends did lose contact in some ways. "After Sandy joined up, a couple of times he dropped in and visited me at McGill," he recalled. It was during the summer of 1943 that Rehder remembers seeing Sandy before he was killed in France. "It was after my second year at McGill and I worked in Ottawa. He was in the area," he said. Sandy didn't seem to be doing much that summer besides heading down to the lake to sun himself and have fun. "He prided himself on having a good tan," Tommy said. Tommy said he did receive a couple couple of letters from Sandy in which he wrote about where he was stationed. In one of the letters, he noted that "they were in an airfield in France and living in tents. They weren't far from active lines." Tommy wondered out loud if this could have been the airfield from which Sandy was flying when he was killed. Sandy Colville is fondly remembered by Tom Rehder, who adds that Sandy "would have been in his glory as a fighter pilot." Sandy became a Flying Officer, as his two brothers before him did, and was proud of it. In fact, Josephine Colville, Sandy's mother, once told a newspaper reporter for the Toronto Daily Star, July 17, 1946, that Sandy went to war "to avenge the death of his brothers." Bill Colville, the second cousin to the Colville brothers, brothers, recently said the way in which Sandy died was not really discussed until some of the war veterans really talked about how it was out in the field. There are a couple of accounts, pulled from a number of books including "As We Were." "As I pulled up I saw, I saw Colville surrounded by flak and flew just long enough to turn, went into a steep dive, crashed into an orchard, bailed out just in time for the aircraft, (but the parachute did not open) and he landed a very short distance distance away from the aircraft." aircraft." the report from F/L D. E. Jenvey says. Sandy Colville is buried in the Bretteville-Sur-Laize Canadian Military Cemetery, France, plot 19, row A, grave 6. His cousin, Bill, said it was ironic that Sandy, the last of that branch of the Colville family, was buried not far from the Norman village village from which the original family members had come. Looking at the present, Bill also said one of the nice things about the Colville Clock Tower is its location. "To me, this is the ideal spot. They (the brothers) went to school right next door (Bowmanville High School was what is now Bowmanville Senior Public). They fished in the stream right down below, and it was their playground. They even skated there at the outdoor rink." Bill noted that, as Rotary Park, the location will once again be a place where people can laugh and enjoy themselves. themselves. OFFICIAL DEDICATION CEREMONY Ôn Sunday, June 3+1996, the Council oj the Munùùpcddy oj CUiniucft<^ÿlJii^ memleM, o^ the Coloille family, the PolaAy Club aud the (loyal Cwnadiau Jdeyien (Bncwicli #178), will o^ichdiy ^ Panic. ^Jhe CeAemouieA, the dedication the Coloille Memorial Clock Vow&i m ytémony of the Coloille tàothe/ii. TiJilUam, Alexclédèn ciydf John Coloille, all ol Bowmauuille, made thkfdk^ic^Fÿjc^ice duniny the Second Wonld Wan, while ooenAeal in the (loyal Canadian AVi tyonce j - _ji ; '/ ( X\; SbedicatioH G&iemtuuel 1:30 fi.m, PnduAe with euie/iioAumeut hy the ClaAincftou CouceJii Baud 1:45 p.m. PoycU CcbmdUui Jleyiou (BncMck #178) MgAjcIi Ifwm CeHoiofdt to. Potany Pank 3:00 fi.m. Ô'IJjicicU CeàemouieA, 3:30 fi.m. pFwocaiioù & ^ediccdlou o/ Clock ^oweA 3:45 fi.m. Plaque Vmciimy 3:00 fi.m. Ce/icmouici Clode f High Flight OH! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings: Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air. Up, up the long delirious burning blue I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or even eagle flew. And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space Put out my hand and touched the face of God. Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Royal Canadian Air Force Killed in England, December II, 1941, age 19 .O' «V RICKABY'S LIMITED BOWMANVILLE, ONT. Dedicated to all those Canadian Airmen and Airwomen who served their country during the Second World War, that we may be free. F 10 George Webster, 129(F) Squadron R.C.A.F. 27 King Street West 623-5556