Brothers in arms

Dad spent 1609 days in the RCAF, virtually all in No. 6 Repair Depot, Trenton following training in Winnipeg and St. Thomas. Living and working in close quarters, he made life-long friends with many other airframe mechanics. 

Their weapons: screwdrivers and wrenches; their machines of war: lathes and press brakes. But they did their part in a key sector of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. These men didn't see active combat, but were a band of brothers all the same.

Early photo of No. 6 Repair Depot
[Source: Karkut, E.T. (Ed.). (1990). The History of 6RD and the Aerospace Maintenance Development Unit. Trenton, ON: AMDU.]
       

   

Barracks ...
   

and more barracks

No. 6 Repair Depot: "You bend 'em, we mend 'em"

Workshops at No. 6 Repair Depot, Trenton.
Dad's RCAF experience was invaluable training for his career at MacDonald Bros. Aircraft. 
          

   

Wartime Winnipeg also had an RCAF Repair Depot (#8), due west of MacDonald Bros. Aircraft.
I wonder if Dad wished he had been posted to #8, much closer to home (and to sweetheart Hazel Stevens).

It is easy to imagine Dad working hard, but also enjoying the camaraderie of his RCAF chums, who were good substitutes for real brothers. He remained a loyal friend with a few of these buddies his entire life (or their entire lives—he outlived them).

V for Victory. Dad in his summer uniform, with a trio from St. Thomas, at the Royal York Hotel, Toronto.
   

Outside the Royal York Hotel
   

We recognize a few names, including Art Elliott, Orville Neal and Charlie "Bud" Lamb.

Charlie and Dad cheat a little by standing on the stoop, but Orville (at left) still towers over the gang.
   

It's hard for mechanics to keep their tennis whites white.
   

The Trenton boys welcome the RCAF Women's Division, 1944.
   

Dad, Orville, and Charlie in their Maid of the Mist gear, Niagara Falls

A change from mechanics' overalls 
   

Dad and Orville, back in uniform
   

Dad bought his Norton motorcycle from Orville in 1943. The $60 Orville earned from its sale went towards a lovely diamond engagement ring for his sweetheart, Cay.

Dad was best man at Orville's wedding, November 20, 1943.
    

Orville and bride Catherine "Cay" (nee Laing)
      

Orville and Cay enjoyed 68 years of marriage and had two sons, Robert and David. Orville passed away on June 28, 2010 at the Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, in his 90th year. After five wartime years with the RCAF, Orville learned the electrical trade and started Neal Electric in Oakville. Cay passed away seven years later in her 96th year. Dad corresponded with Orville and Cay until their deaths.

   

Dad with a fellow LAC from Pilot Mound, Earl Preston, at St. Thomas, Ontario
   

And with Earl, back in Winnipeg.

Dad with Wallace Ballantyne, another LAC from St. Thomas
   

Dad's wartime buddies returned to their various provinces after their service, but Dad stayed in touch with a number of them. Art Elliott was a good friend from Saskatchewan. Charlie Lamb was a fellow Winnipegger. 

Charlie Lamb, escaping No. 6 Repair Depot to earn a few bucks picking apples.
   

It's a different kind of harvest for this Pilot Mound boy.
      

Charlie Lamb and his fiancée Carolyn Andrews were attendants at the wedding of Murray Fraser and Hazel Stevens, July 9, 1949.

Time marches on, and Charlie and Carolyn are no longer with us. In his own later years, Dad sent Carolyn photos of Charlie picking apples, but received no reply.

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Man’s best friend

A lot of dog owners favour a particular breed. With Pete Fraser, it was without doubt the border collie, a helpful, smart and loyal farm dog if there ever was one. Young Murray Fraser had no brothers, so his dog truly was a friend and faithful companion.

Frasers seem always to have had a border collie, whether out on the farm in Pilot Mound, or down east. Photos suggest Dad had at least three of them over the years. They were always named Collie.

The family did have a terrier (named Spot), and wolf hounds like Old Red protected early threshing crews from coyotes, but border collies remained the standard.

Jessie (b. May 10, 1917) and Collie compete for Pete's attention and lap.
   

Pete's brother Doug deals with a rambunctious collie pup.
   

c. 1920.
Back, L-R: Annie and Pete Fraser, Annie Belle Fraser, Jessie Fraser, Dot (Mrs. Gordon) Fraser, Kate Fraser, Gordon Fraser
Front: Spot wanders past Pete and Annie's children Murray and Jessie, Gordon's daughter Myra and son Doug
 

A new pup!
   

The pup grew up and followed Dad everywhere, even when he was ice skating ...
      

... or riding Queenie, his pony
   

A dog's work is never done. With no trees in the yard, Jessie climbs the house instead, in spite of Collie's protests. 

Back, L-R: Annie, Doug, Pete and their mother Kate Fraser
Front: Murray getting chewed by Collie, Jessie with a collie cat.
Don't let Grandma see those paw prints on that coat, Murray!
   

L-R: Annie Belle, Doug, Murray, Pete, Jessie and Kate Fraser
   

Looks like Collie herded a fair crowd.
L-R: Pete Fraser, Charlotte Gorrell, Annie Fraser, Marie McKellar, Jack Holden, unknown, Jessie (Fraser) Houlden, Jack Houlden's father and sister, Sam McGill, Vera Coulage, two unknowns
      

Dad's dogs put up with him, including wearing what appears to be a baseball glove as a hat!
   

Spot wanders over to the chickens, but Collie stays put with Murray and Jessie.
   

Pete and Annie Fraser with son Murray and nephew Gordie Fraser
     

That fulcrum is a little flat, but Collie is still game to check out Murray's teeter-totter.
   

Collie loses interest but stays put.
    

Murray (centre) wasn't really so short. It's just that older sister Jessie invited her own friends to his birthday party.
      

Collie keeps up with Murray, being towed by friend Ray Henning.

Jessie and Murray meet their Aunt Jessie Lovell's collie while down east to celebrate their grandmother Kate's 90th birthday, 1939.
   

L-R: Collie with Joe Lovell, Kate Fraser, John Fraser, Jessie (Fraser) Lovell

 

c. 1942-3. Collie with Jessie (Fraser) Houlden's dog, Dottie. Dot replaced Spot.

Murray on the Pilot Mound farm with yet another Collie. He must have missed having a dog when he headed off to Winnipeg after high school.
   

Pete and Annie with — you guessed it — Collie.
     

The Reids had border collies, too. A pup comes to check out Dad, photographing his mother's original home in Ontario.
   

A collie waits for Dad's cousin Margaret Reid to "throw the ball, throw the ball!" c. 1941-42

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