Per Ardua Ad Astra

"Through adversity to the stars" is the motto of the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces. But Ad Astra is also a memorial program. In 1996 the National Air Force Museum of Canada in Trenton established a project as both a memorial and fund-raising initiative. The Ad Astra program features the installation of engraved stones along the walkways of its adjacent air park.

Virginia took Dad down to the Museum in 2010. 

The Museum is north of No. 8 Wing, and the location of No. 6 Repair Depot. An annual dedication ceremony is held at the museum on the last Saturday in September to recognize all of the installed stones.

Dad reminisces at the Museum's 6RD exhibit.

Wally gave the 6RD history book, lower left, to Dad as a Christmas gift.
Dad quite enjoyed it, and it taught us a lot, too.

When visiting the museum in 2010, Dad recognized the Ad Astra stones of many a fellow 6RD chum. He must have known that some day we'd see to it that a stone in his honour would be added to the park. And so it is.

Dad pays his respects at the 6RD memorial.

The Squadron 426 memorial.

There was a good-sized crowd at the dedication ceremony in Trenton on September 27, 2014. Sadly, our WWII vets are fast disappearing, but those who attended stood straight and saluted sharply. To have reached an advanced age is a victory; so many of their squadron mates were not so lucky.

Dad's stone, with others from Manitoba.

Alas, the Lancaster that typically does a fly-past as part of the Ad Astra ceremony was out of town that day. Out of country, in fact, because 2014 marked another reunion of WWII veterans, as "Vera" and "Thumper" met for the first time. These two old birds are, of course, Lancaster bombers.

Canada’s Lanc (nicknamed Vera because of its flight initials, VRA) returned home on September 28, 2014 after a seven-week trip to Britain, where it headlined several air shows with Thumper, Britain’s Lancaster (named for its nose art, not its Merlin engines). The two bombers are the only airworthy Avro Lancasters in the world.

The last time Lancasters flew together was over 50 years ago over Toronto, at RCAF Station Downsview. The RCAF flew a special formation of three of the bombers in April 1964 to mark their retirement from service.

Vera, built at Victory Aircraft in Malton, Ontario in 1945, belongs to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton. More formally known as the Mynarski Memorial Avro Lancaster Mk X bomber, it was used to train air crews and later for coastal patrols and search-and-rescue work, and was retired in 1963.

In 1977 the Lancaster was purchased by the museum for about $10,000. A team of volunteers spent 11 years restoring the bomber, and it returned to the air on September 24, 1988.

Vera’s trip to Britain was well received, and it was especially touching for crowds to see the two Lancasters flying in formation over “Just Jane,” a third Lancaster undergoing restoration. Vera and Thumper flew over Jane as it taxied below, like birds urging the last fledgling into the air.

Until it receives its certificate of airworthiness, Just Jane offers taxi rides to help raise funds. Learn more from the BBC about this Lancaster's unique story.  

Vera and Thumper teasing grounded Jane.   (Photo: Colin J. Williams)

As successful as the tour was, it was not without its "ardua." Within days of its arrival in Britain, Canada's Lancaster had an embarrassing oil leak that sent smoke billowing along its fuselage. 

Houston, we have a problem ...

The Lancaster was grounded in the U.K. after an engine was shut down mid-flight, and it landed safely at Durham Tees Airport in northern England.

In true air force spirit, though, crews worked around the clock to swap out the ailing engine with a loaned Merlin from the RAF's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight stock.

Repairs were completed at the airport before the plane flew to Coningsby, 250 kilometres away, where Vera was able to rejoin the other airworthy Lancaster Bomber.

The bill for the repairs, the borrowed engine and getting it back to the U.K. is estimated at $180,000 to $200,000. 

Organizers were undaunted, and the engine drama provided even more PR for the trip. A few hundred spectators were expected at the airfield for the Lancasters' first air show. Instead, about 20,000 showed up. Crowds were unprecedented at subsequent air shows across Britain, and sales of memorabilia and donations poured in.

The reunion of the two old warplanes was a total success, and supporters would be even more thrilled to see Just Jane eventually join them in the air. Until then, check out their reunion on YouTube:

Watch Vera and Thumper command the skies in Reunion of Giants, the official documentary of the Lancaster reunion, being released in theatres November 11, 2015. Check out the trailer on the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum site.

Chocks away, men. Chocks away!