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Page 10 ROTARY PARK SUPPLEMENT Wednesday, May 29,1996 This Colville family portrait was taken after two of the family's sons had recently enlisted in the air force. The group includes: Bill Colville, Connie King (in front of her uncle, holding her mother's hand), Marg (Colville) King, Colville, Cass (Catherine) Colville, along with her father, Alexander, and other brothers, Sandy and Alex Colville. It is thought that the photo graph was taken in the family's back yard. memoAiei,.. < lbe opening oj the PotaAy, Pack, and the dedication oj the Colville Clock ^loweA, hnincÿ loch many memoniei couceAuieuj, the Colville jjamihf,. BejjOAe the Second Wosild WgA, oua ]pmLUei lived in Bowmanville on CoAlidJe Avenue, *1he Colville'l lived acAoU the dtceet fyiom ui, the loifA weAe oldeA thon me, tut 9 do AememieA what (food athletei and (peat competitor, they, weAe in dpontd,inch ad, ladetoll and Jjootlall, 9 nememteA (joiucj, to the Cneam of SaAletf, Ponte which at that time hod a nunuiucj, tnaxdz and watching the Sgt. Art Hooper, R.C.A.F. Instrument Technician 11 Br. Squadron Colville and otheAi in 9 deAved in 11 Bn. SqpadAon which in dantmouth and oveA the Atlantic, tyneelonn Colville deAved in the dome dxptodnon. Glut, the Poifcd Canadian Jlecjion, Bowmanville Branch 178, and pantieulantif, Council who daw a vidion and kept iti wond and pAoduced tha teantijful pooh which will he a tAemendoui adAet to oua community, *1ke clock toweA U a wondeAjul memoAiol to the Colville BnotheAi and will le a neminden to all, oj the dacAijicel made ly, do many, dunincj, the Second I/UoaM Wan. ~ Ant JloopeA Hooper's Jewellers 39 King St. W. 623-5747 Bowmanville (( V Three Silver Crosses Remind Mother of Sons Lost in War The loss of three sons to a single war was a heartbreak for Bowmanville's Colville family. Josephine Colville and her husband, Alexander, lost their sons, Alexander (Alex) Colborne, William (Bill) Freeborne and John (Sandy) Spencer in 1942 and 1944. Mothers who lose their children to war, are honoured by their governments with the gift of silver crosses. As far as anyone knows, Jo Colville was the only mother in Canada to receive three silver crosses. She was honored in Ottawa in 1966 when she laid the wreath on behalf of Canada's Silver Cross Mothers at the National War Memorial. At that time, she also met Governor General George Vanier. Grand-daughter Connie Hooey said the crosses were treasured by her grandmother, Jo, so much she had them put on a bar-pin. The crosses were so precious that, when she lost the bar one day during a walk in Toronto, she was dismayed, Connie recalled. "She was scared that they were gone forever," but decided to see if someone had found them. Connie explained that her grandmother went to a Toronto newspaper newspaper and talked with a reporter. A small story was run regarding her loss. The crosses were so precious that, when she lost the bar one day during a walk in Toronto, she was dismayed, Connie recalled. The story ends on a happy note, because someone had found the silver crosses in the snow and turned them over to her. In an article from the Toronto Daily Star, Wednesday, July 17, 1946, Josephine is quoted as having said that Sandy, her third son to have been killed in the war, had joined up "to avenge the death of his brothers." The Silver Cross mother told the reporter: "in his last letter to a friend back home, Sandy said, 'Every time I press the gun button, I think of my brothers, Alex and Bill. I just sit in the cockpit and grin like a maniac and watch the vermin squirm. My second cannon burst is for Mom.'" The newspaper article from 1946 mentions that Josephine also served in other ways, not just by raising sons who were willing and able to defend their country. "I used to have a group of students from the elementary elementary flying training school at Oshawa over to our house every weekend," she said. "I had them from all over the world. They were great company for me." It was noted in the article, that among her treasured possessions, at the time, was a book entitled: The R.C.A.F. Overseas. It had been presented to her by Air Marshal Robert Leckie, Chief of Staff, R.C.A.F., Ottawa, June 1946. Pilots of the City of Ottawa "Beaver" squadron, along with senior wing and airfield officers, are shown with one of their Typhoon fighter-bombers on an advanced RCAF airfield in Normandy. Sitting on the spinner cap of the propeller is F/O Sandy Colville.