What’s in a name?

Imagine wanting to bet on your favourite horse, only to learn that no betting is allowed because the horse is, well, just too good. Such was the case for the Manitoba Futurity harness race at Assiniboia Downs on Friday, September 19, 1969.

The horse? Pilot Adios, bred by Gordon Fraser, Sr. of Pilot Mound in 1966.

Gordon Fraser owned, trained, and drove horses all his life. Sadly, he (1888–1967) passed away two years before Pilot Adios raced.¹

“No Wagering”
Owned jointly by W. Newans and trainer Earl Hanson of Regina, Pilot Adios certainly was the odds-on choice, winning easily by six lengths.

The win was no fluke. Pilot Adios left the field in his dust again that year:

Pilot Adios, the three-year-old son of Champ Adios—Highkeyta which won the Manitoba Futurity Sept. 19, left little doubt in the fifth race that he deserves to race in the Preferred No. 1 when he scored a length and a half victory over a good field of pacers.

Driven by Lorne Clark, the gelding came from off the pace in the stretch drive to register a new lifetime mark of 2:06 4/5.²

Obscured by snow (and a scruffy online archive photo), Lorne Clark and Pilot Adios marked the final day of the harness racing season at Assiniboia Downs with a win in the eighth race.³

In his end-of-season story, reporter Elman Guttormson praised the horse and his driver.

Pilot Adios, the best three-year-old at the Downs, came off the pace to overtake the less-than-even money favorite Tracy Blair in the strength drive to win by a length and a half.

It was the sixth win of the season for the Champ Adios gelding and boosted his earnings to $4,903. […]

Victory in the feature race gave trainer-driver Lorne Clark his 24th win at the meet and boosted his percentage in the universal driver standing to .443. 

Lorne Clark, veteran trainer and driver

With the season’s tally of 74 races (with 24 wins, 8 place and 13 show finishes), Lorne Clark was the leading driver at the Downs in 1969, and earned a Gruen watch. Pilot Adios won half of his races that year, and was the leading money winning horse with $4,021.50. In March of 1970 Pilot Adios was claimed from Lorne Clark and E. K. Hanson for $4,800 at Blue Bonnets Raceway, Montreal. His racing history beyond that is unknown, and the gelding certainly couldn’t retire as a sire.

Dot and Gordon Fraser would have been so proud of their colt Pilot Adios.

The Adios name appeared often at Assiniboia Downs, sometimes several times in a single race!

The best bet, Brisac Champ, was another son of Champ Adios, and, yes, he won his race.⁴

Adios

“Pilot Adios” was a logical name for a horse bred by Gordon Fraser of Pilot Mound, but where did the “Adios” come from? From a famed bloodline, that’s where. Bred from sire Champ Adios (b. 1951) and dam Highkeyta (b. 1956), Pilot Adios was a grandson of the exalted Adios (b. 1940).

Adios, (1940–1965), considered by many to be one of the greatest studs in harness racing history.⁵

Adios is to standardbred horses as Northern Dancer is to thoroughbreds. A multiple world champion pacer during his four-year racing career, Adios had an impressive pedigree stretching back to the fabled Hambletonian, another legendary sire of many successful standardbreds.

 

Hambletonian (1849–1876), the “daddy of ’em all”⁶

The key horse in the pedigree—and, indeed, in the pedigree of every trotting and pacing horse today—is Hambletonian, foaled at Sugar Loaf, New York, near Goshen in 1849. 

Hambletonian started his stud career at two and at age four covered 100 mares in one season. He sired 1331 foals in all; the last six years of his life he commanded a stud fee of $500. He was a trotter with a record of 2:48-1/2, taken hitched to the old high-wheeled carts of the period.⁷

Adios was a natural pacer, as were most of his offspring. This gait is generally faster than the trot, and about 80% of standardbred racehorses are pacers. In the pace, both legs on the right side move forward together, followed by both legs on the left side. Hopples (or hobbles) are often worn to prevent breaking stride, but some “free-leg” pacers don’t need them. Trotters have a diagonal gait, moving right front and left hind legs together. 

Bred at the Two Gaits Farm in Carmel, Indiana, Adios sold as a yearling for the high price of $2,000 to T. Thomas of Cleveland. Adios was initially trained by Rupe Parker, and then Frank Ervin. 

Adios was one of the two finest pacers in his day. In 1944, four-year-old Adios beat rival King’s Counsel in two heats of 1:58-1/4 each.⁸ Breaking a two-minute mile was an important benchmark back then, and marked an elite horse. 

In Adios’ era the specifics of time were judged mostly by the number of 2:00 performers sired by a particular stallion. In this area, Adios stood all alone, not only in the number of 2:00 performers sired by him but in money earned by his progeny. 

Adios led the money earnings list by stallions for eight consecutive years.

In his era, the richest race for 3-year-old pacers was the Messenger. Adios dominated it like no other sire ever. His progeny captured five of the seven Messengers to which they were eligible and finished 1-2-3 in two of them. In the same era, the most prestigious race for 3-year-old pacers, one might say all pacers, was the Little Brown Jug. Adios sons won eight of the 11 Jugs to which they were eligible.

By the time Adios was five, Frank Ervin had difficulty getting races for his champion. Money was scarce in the wartime lull, and the horse was just too good to attract competition.

Harry Warner of Warner Brothers studio, and L. K. Shapiro bought Adios after his fifth season, and the horse won two of three races during their ownership. Though trained, he was not raced at seven and eight. The partners’ racing enterprise ended in 1948, and Adios was auctioned off to Delvin Miller for $21,000. 

Delvin Miller had every reason to smile. They were partners for 17 years, and Adios made Miller a millionaire.⁹

Another auction attendee was Lawrence B. Sheppard of Hanover Shoe Farms. Seven years later he and Max Hempt bought Adios from Miller for $500,000, the highest price for a standardbred at the time. (Miller purchased a one-third interest from Hanover Shoe Farms later.) Winning races means worthy reputations and big purses for owners, but a racehorse’s career on the track is short. Often, the more lucrative sums are earned later, in the stud barns.

Delvin Miller built a breeding empire with Adios at his Meadow Lands farm near Washington, Pennsylvania. The champion’s initial stud fee of $300 grew to $12,500 as Adios offspring (aka “get”) proved their worth.

Delvin Miller on Adios, both listed as “Immortals” in the Harness Racing Museum Hall of Fame¹⁰

In 1962 Kenneth Rudeen explained why Adios is considered one of the best studs of all time:¹¹

• Led the sire list in earnings by his sons and daughters for seven consecutive years
• Accumulated 10-year earnings of $10,099,726 by his get—a figure more than twice that of his leading contenders
• Sired the absolute speed record holder for harness racing’s standard one-mile distance, Adios Butler, whose mark is 1:54 3/5 and who has just entered the stud at a fancy $3,000 service fee. [Adios Butler broke the 1:55 mile world record set by Dan Patch in 1906, a record that held for 54 years.]
• Sired the world record holder at ages 2 and 3, Bullet Hanover, whose closings are 1:56 and 1:55 3/5, respectively
• Sired 52 performers who have been timed in two minutes or less.
• Sired the highest-priced standardbred yearling, Dancer Hanover ($105,000 in 1958).
• Earned a million dollars, before taxes, for driver-trainer Delvin Glenn Miller.

By age 25 Adios clearly had problems with his feet. A worsening case of laminitis (or “founder”) meant he could not stand without pain. He was humanely put down on June 22, 1965 and was laid to rest next to his favorite apple tree in his paddock at Meadow Lands farm. A memorial stone marks his grave.

The Adios Pace, a one-mile harness race for three-year-old standardbreds, was inaugurated in 1967 at Meadows Racetrack in Pennsylvania. A bronze life-size statue of Adios was unveiled there, as well. A tribute to both horse and trainer, the race is formally called the Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids, and is the state’s largest harness race. 

Adios – 1967 – 1st Heat [4:48]

ustrotting, 2017

Famed horseman Devlin Miller passed away at age 83 in 1996. “He will forever be remembered as one of the greatest and most respected personalities the sport of harness racing has ever known.”¹²

Listen to an interview with Delvin Miller and watch footage of Adios himself:

1960 ADIOS Delvin Miller Meadow Lands Farm Pa [3:29]

Harness Racing History – The Lost Videos, 2021

Champ Adios

As sportswriter James C. Harrison’s wrote of Adios: “I know of no male of any species who has dominated his field the way Adios was in harness racing. He gets champions out of any mares, by any stallions from any bloodlines.”¹³ Champ Adios was one of those offspring.

In 1965, Quebec businessman Pierre Lévesque purchased the entire stable of well-known Manitoba breeder Leon Sauteur. This purchase included Champ Adios, a son of Adios. Sauteur’s horses became the foundation for Lévesque’s operation, Ferme Angus. With five stallions and almost 100 mares at one point, Ferme Angus became one of the largest breeding farms in Quebec.¹⁴

“When Leon Sauteur [above], prominent standard bred breeder of Sidney sold his great sire Champ Adios and 10 well-bred brood mares to Eastern interests in 1966, the standard bred industry in the west received a rude jolt, as this fine stud and 10 top mares represented the cream of mares and sires in Manitoba.” Champ Adios was considered “high-class racing stock.”¹⁵ Sauteur later brought four young mares sired by Champ Adios back to his Sidney farm. 

CHRHF - 2008 Inductee - Pierre Levesque [1:16]

Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, 2023

The pedigree of Champ Adios, a 1951 son of Adios and Marjorie Armstrong.¹⁶

A “free-for-aller” pacer in the 1960s, Champ Adios competed against the best available horses in eastern and central Canada. Between 1953 and 1974 62 unique mares were bred to Champ Adios, resulting in at least 80 recorded offspring.¹⁷ He sired notable racers like Pilot Adios, Dream Adios, Duchess Paradise, and Brisac Champ.

In 1975 at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg, Prima Irish, another son of Champ Adios, set a track record of 2:00 on September 26. The four-year-old gelding became the first horse to pace a mile in two minutes in Manitoba. His impressive year earned a sale price of $36,000 when sold to a stable in Ontario.

The bay gelding, which has been trained by Ray Dryden of Virden since April, 1974, had seven wins, three seconds and a fifth in 11 starts this year and earnings of $14,749. He won all five starts at the Downs including the $9,215 Canadian Pace Oct. 12 with Keith Linton holding the reins.¹⁸

That track record was set over 5o years ago. The two-minute mile is not the benchmark it once was. Watch standardbred Bulldog Hanover, another Canadian descendant of Adios, set the current world record in less time than it takes to watch this 1:57 video clip:

Cambridge Standardbred horse sets a new world record for fastest mile ever 

CHCH News, 2023

What’s in a name? Plenty!

__________________________

Sources (retrieved May 13, 2026)

1. Elman Guttormson, “Pilot Adios Was All By Himself,” Winnipeg Free Press, September 20, 1969, p. 62 [excerpted]
2. Elman Guttormson, “Two Pacers Win With Their Best,” Winnipeg Free Press, October 27, 1969, p. 26 
3. Elman Guttormson, “Pacers Finish in the White,” Winnipeg Free Press, November 12, 1969, p. 65
4. Harold Loster, Tribune Graded Selections, Winnipeg Tribune, September 30, 1967, p. 28
5. “Adios (horse),” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adios_(horse) 
6. “Hambletonian,” Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, https://harnessmuseum.com/content/hambletonian
7. Marie Hill, Adios: The Big Daddy of Harness Racing. New York: Arco, 1971, p. 76
8. The current record for a pacing mile is 1:45.4, set by Bulldog Hanover on July 16, 2022 at the Meadowlands track in New Jersey. The Canadian standardbred Bulldog is a great-great-grandson of Adios. He earned over $2.78 million before retiring as a stud. His stud fee is $15,000 USD, and his bookings are filled. 
9. “SC Rewind: The Last Adios,” Standardbred Canada, May 29, 2010, https://standardbredcanada.ca/news/5-29-10/sc-rewind-last-adios.html 
10. Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, https://harnessmuseum.com 
11. Kenneth Rudeen, “The Biggest Daddy of Them All,” Sports Illustrated, May 14, 1962, p. 63
12. “SC Rewind: Remembering Delvin Miller,” Standardbred Canada, October 19, 2024, https://standardbredcanada.ca/news/10-19-24/sc-rewind-remembering-delvin-miller.html 
13. Kenneth Rudeen, “The Biggest Daddy of Them All,” Sports Illustrated, May 14, 1962, p. 63
14. “Pierre Levesque, Hall of Fame Inductee, 2008,” Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, https://www.canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com/2008/01/02/pierre-levesque-english/ 
15. “Leon Sauteur not an idle man,” Brandon Sun, December 31, 1968, p. 6
16. Champ Adios pedigree, Pedigree Online: All Breed Pedigree, https://beta.allbreedpedigree.com/champ-adios-oZ8yAKxC/pedigree. 
17. Oddly, only 6 of Champ Adios’ 80 offspring were males, and Pilot Adios does not appear as one of them in the admittedly incomplete Pedigree Online: All Breed Pedigree database. However, Pilot Adios’ lineage is noted in newspaper accounts of his races. 
18. Elman Guttormson, “Classy Prima Irish sold for $36,000,” Winnipeg Free Press, November 17, 1975, p. 55

⇧ BACK TO TOP 

Old Favourites

Among the Fraser trunk treasures is Annie Reid’s Old Favourites song and poetry book, published by The Family Herald and Weekly Star. 

 

The Montreal Star, an English-language newspaper, published The Family Herald, Canada’s National Farm Magazine, for an impressive 99 years (1869 to 1968).

The cover of Annie’s song book. Named after Kintyre, Scotland, Cantire was a small farming hamlet east of Paisley in Bruce County, Ontario. Established by the Taylor and Blue families, the settlement had no post office or church, but did have a school, a cheese factory, and a blacksmith shop. All that remains today is the school’s water pump and a commemorative sign.

On the last page of Annie’s song book, an advertisement for The Family Herald and Weekly Star listed Old Favourites as one of its many specialties. It was worth the annual subscription of $1.00.

 

Old Favourites was a collection of “old and interesting songs, ballads and poems, often with music.”

A young Annie Reid (1881–1969) at left, with her sister Kate (1878–1954). The two were the youngest of nine children born to Ontario pioneers Peter Reid (1829–1895) and Christena Taylor (1839–1925)

Annie was 17 in 1898 when the second edition of Old Favourites was printed, and the 155-page book was clearly well-used and treasured. It must have been falling apart in Annie’s hands, as its binding has been resewn with kitchen string. Occasional stains suggest favourite passages, and we can guess at others.

“The Scottish Emigrant’s Farewell” would have resonated with Annie's parents, Christena Taylor and Peter Reid, who came to Canada in the 1850s from the Kintyre Peninsula, Scotland. They married in 1860 in Paisley, Ontario (about 200 km NW of Toronto near Lake Huron).
 

The songbook included a poem that became a very popular hit when it was set to music.

 

George Washington Johnson’s poem was written early in 1864. Composer James Austin Butterfield set it to music in 1866.

George Washington Johnson, poet and scholar.¹

The song had a sad history:

One of the most popular ballads of the 19th and early 20th centuries with over 40 versions to its credit, “When You and I Were Young, Maggie” began as a love poem written by a school master, George Johnson, who taught in Glanford Township, south of Hamilton. In 1859, George, then 21, had fallen in love with one of his students, Margaret Clark, 18. After they were engaged, Margaret became ill with tuberculosis. He wrote the poem as a pledge of undying love and later had it published in a collection of his verse, titled Maple Leaves. George married his Maggie in 1864 but she had a relapse with the disease, dying in 1865, only seven months later.²

“When You and I Were Young, Maggie” was adapted into sheet music in 1866 by composer James Austin Butterfield and published by H.M. Higgins in Chicago. Butterfield was born in England in 1837 and emigrated to the US in 1856.³

Sheet music from Hymnary.org⁴

The song could be arranged in several ways. Listen to Bing Crosby’s swinging version:

Bing and Gary Crosby: When You and I Were Young, Maggie (1951) [3:22]

A Grokipedia account details the impact of the collaboration between poet Johnson and composer Butterfield. An excerpt is copied here:

The song quickly gained popularity in the United States and spread internationally, becoming a staple in 19th-century American parlors and music halls, where it evoked themes of nostalgia and enduring love. By the late 19th century, it had achieved global recognition as a sentimental ballad standard, performed in vaudeville shows, concert saloons, and early phonograph recordings, resonating with audiences amid the era’s rapid social changes. 

The song’s cultural dissemination extended into the 20th century through diverse recordings and adaptations. Notable artists who recorded it include Bing Crosby in 1947, Perry Como in 1950, Fats Waller in a 1930s jazz rendition, Benny Goodman in a swing version from the 1940s, John McCormack in 1925, Louis Armstrong, and The Chieftains in their 1991 album An Irish Evening, incorporating it into Irish ballad traditions despite its Canadian origins and lack of Irish connections. It also appeared in films such as The Jolson Story (1946), where Larry Parks performed it, underscoring its versatility across genres from ragtime to Celtic folk. 

 The same article told of Johnson’s career:

Johnson’s professional trajectory evolved from rural schoolteaching to distinguished academia: after a brief period in journalism, including positions with the Courier in Buffalo, New York, and the Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio, where Maggie died, he resigned following her death and returned to education as principal of Binbrook Public School in 1866, later leading Central School in Hamilton (from 1875) and teaching at Upper Canada College (1891–1906). He advanced to professorships in languages at the University of Toronto—his alma mater—and in Latin at Cornell University, culminating in a PhD from Johns Hopkins University; post-retirement, he traveled extensively before dying on June 2, 1917, in Pasadena, California, at age 78, with his remains returned for burial in Hamilton Cemetery, Ontario. Beyond Maple Leaves, Johnson authored an autobiography interspersed with additional poems, published in 1893, reflecting on his life’s joys and sorrows, and he remained active in literary circles, contributing to the sentimental poetry tradition that resonated with Victorian-era audiences.⁵

Catherine (née Hay) (1849–1940) and Douglas Fraser, Sr. (1848–1915)

 

The song was definitely known in the Reid and Fraser households. While out homesteading in Saskatchewan with his sons Pete and Doug, c. 1909–1911, Douglas Fraser Sr. wrote often to his family back home in Pilot Mound. An Ontario schoolmaster like Butterfield, Douglas Sr. wrote poignant letters to his own dear wife:

I sat by the fire reading the many happy returns of that day “when you and I were young Katy.” It is a long time since we first met on one of those days. Another milestone is passed, and I hope there may be fore us a good many more to pass yet. Our journey though long has on the whole been a pleasant one. Here and there we have met with jags, but I try to forget those and I know you do too, and let our remembrances dwell on the pleasant parts of the road.

 

[…]  Now My Dear Spouse don’t let Mrs. McKellar outdo you in showing your loving attachment for your poor lone husband here on the prairie. Keep my photo well brushed too, but don’t let her see you kiss it, for that would give you clean away. Your love I know is stronger than hers but I don’t want everyone to know it. It’s quite enough that I know it and appreciate it.

 (January 2, 1910) 

Douglas’s hope for a good many more milestones was not to be. He died in 1915, only a few years after returning home after homesteading. Old Favourites includes another song that his widow would have appreciated:

 

Kate Fraser outlived Douglas Sr. by 25 years. She moved back to Ontario after Douglas passed away, and died in 1940 in Wroxeter.

A hit in several countries, others tried to claim “When You and I Were Young, Maggie” as their own, but its Canadian roots are undeniable.

Eugene Dunphy, When You and I Were Young, Maggie (ballad history) [12:13]

____________________________

Sources (retrieved April 10, 2026)

1. George Washington Johnson, poet and scholar, Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, https://www.cshf.ca/song/when-you-and-i-were-young-maggie
2. Ibid.
3. James A. Butterfield, Discography of American Historical Recordings, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/116455/Butterfield_James_A
4. “When You and I Were Young, Maggie sheet music, Hymnary.org, https://hymnary.org/hymn/SPH1930/page/195
5. “George Washington Johnson, poet,” Grokipedia, https://grokipedia.com/page/george_washington_johnson_poet

⇧ BACK TO TOP 

Stealth-y bomber in St. James

It’s February 17, 1957, a typical cold Sunday evening in Winnipeg. You’re relaxing in your cozy St. James home, awaiting the Ed Sullivan Show on CBC at 7 p.m. Tonight’s lineup includes the Harlem Globetrotters, a song-and-dance number, and opera performances. The show starts soon.

And then a 10-ton B-25 Mitchell bomber plows through your neighbourhood.

The B-25 bomber has a wingspan of 67'7" (20.6 m) and is 16'4" (4.98 m) tall. [Wikipedia]

News editors sprang into action, and newspapers printed detailed accounts the next day.

“This aerial photograph charts the path taken by the Mitchell bomber which crashed in St. James Sunday night. No. 1 is the Mair home with a portion of its roof sheared off. No. 2 is the McMunn garage, minus part of its roof. No. 3 is where the Lyons garage was demolished on Ferry road. The nose of the plane pushed into the Campbell home is pictured in No. 4. The vacant lot where the plane finally came to a stop is shown in No. 5. In No. 6 the landing directional light pole for aircraft is pictured.” [WFP photo and story below]

Needless to say, the story dominated the front pages of city newspapers.¹

The bomber’s long-distance training flight had originated in Vancouver and picked up two passengers on Vancouver Island before heading to Winnipeg. The six servicemen onboard included F/O J. S. Sargent, (pilot), Cpl. R. A. Lindberg, F/O D. Gibson (navigator), F/S R. F. Hawes, and LAC M. W. Crowson.

Coming in from the southwest with coughing engines, Sargent hoped he could just reach the Winnipeg runway. When the crash was imminent, he retracted the bomber’s landing gear to try to clear homes below. 

The two-story house at 422 College Street was too tall to miss. The bomber ripped a 12-foot strip from its roof, right above the room where Mrs. Mary Mair was standing. [WFP]

Mrs. Mair in her attic, showing where the roof was partially sheared off by the Mitchell bomber. [WFP]

Witnesses gave dramatic accounts to the Winnipeg Free Press. It was an experience Mary’s daughter Joan would never forget, saying, “If he had been two feet lower, the bomber would have crashed into three College street houses.”² 

She was brushing her teeth in the bathroom. At about one minute before 7 p.m., FO. Sargent’s plane ripped 12 feet off the roof of her house immediately above her head.

The bedroom ceiling caved in. Splinters and glass showered the room and clattered off a wall. Four inches beyond the other side of the wall, was Mrs. Mair.

“But,” says her daughter, Joan, 18, “think what could have happened. I saw him do it. I saw that plane come in. He actually dipped one wing so the other would clear the top of this house.

“Just over the top of the telephone wires and out front he went,” said Joan. “Then over us, under the wires in the back lane and finally down on the empty lot with the loudest explosion I have ever heard. It flattened a garage as it came down.” […]

“I was standing looking out the bedroom window,” Joan said. “Suddenly from over the Ellman’s house across the street, I saw these lights coming. There wasn’t a sound. His motors weren’t running. Just the lights, weird and big coming over the roof tops.

“These, said neighbours, were the landing lights.

“Then I could see it. It was a big one. It was headed right for the house. But as I said, he tipped his wings and slid right over the top of us.

“Then I heard this big explosion. I ran in the house. I shouted to mother there was a plane down. I ran out in the backyard.”³

With no engine power the plane’s fate was sealed when it descended too low and clipped properties on College Street and Ferry Road. 

The bomber wound up with its nose against the wall of Clarence Campbell’s house at 435 Ferry Road. [Allen Peden, WFP]

All six men aboard the downed plane survived with minor injuries, including one found 20 minutes after the crash under some wreckage. They were checked out in hospital and soon released. Remarkably, there was no fire, and no-one on the ground was injured. A few were shaken up, but were otherwise unhurt.

The bomber hit the ground in an empty lot atop the foundation of a house under construction. [WFP]

Questions were raised immediately, and an RCAF inquiry was promptly scheduled. St. James residents were understandably nervous. There had been two other RCAF crashes in recent weeks. A mere 13 days earlier two airmen were killed when their Expediter crashed and burned near Charleswood. In December the crash of another Mitchell bomber near Brookside cemetery, just north of the airport, took the lives of two others. Closer to home, “The crash brought back memories of a similar mishap in April, 1950, when a plane, coming in for a landing on the same Stevenson field runway, sliced into a garage at 391 College street, killing a man in the garage.”⁴

As everyone had suspected, the bomber crashed because it simply ran out of gas, and a thorough examination of the wreck by RCAF technicians confirmed it. The engines had not been under power when the aircraft hit the ground. The plane left Vancouver with full fuel tanks, but the extra run to Vancouver Island to pick up two passengers added flying time. Experts also determined that the engines were running rich, using more fuel than normal. Monitoring the Mitchell’s fuel gauges for four tanks could be tricky. The opportunity to refuel in Rivers, Manitoba was skipped. 

The view from the Mairs’ attic. A row of damaged buildings shows the bomber’s path. [WFP]

RCAF Inquiry

An RCAF inquiry was immediately scheduled days after the bomber crash. A trial, open to the public, would begin at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, February 28 at the RCAF base in Winnipeg.

The bomber pilot, Flying Officer J. S. Sargent, faced four serious charges. [Trib]

Flying Officer John Shearer Sargent’s court martial was formal and thorough. Lt. R. F. Barnes (RCN) Judge Advocate General Officer from Edmonton, led the prosecution. The pilot’s defending counsel was S/L J. F. Brennaugh, from the Judge Advocate General’s Office in Ottawa. The Judge Advocate of the Court was Lt. Col. M. J. P. Cloney, Assistant Judge Advocate General, Central Command, acting as legal advisor. Several experts were called as witnesses, as were Sargent’s crewmates, and the pilot took the stand to explain his actions.

The five-man court consists of G/C J. D. Sommerville, officer commanding, RCAF Station Macdonald; W/C W. B. M. Millar, Saskatoon; S/L A. L. Sinclair, RCAF Station Portage la Prairie; S/L C. E. Endersbe, of RCAF Station Portage la Prairie; F/L E. C. Gowsell, RCAF Station Saskatoon.⁵

Sargent is charged with failing to make a refueling stop on his flight from Vancouver to Winnipeg when he knew he should have made the stopover; that he failed to make appropriate emergency landing action on approach to Winnipeg when he knew or should have known the aircraft was short of fuel; that he deviated from the authorized flight path by making a flight to Vancouver Island prior to setting out for Winnipeg (he was authorized only to fly from Vancouver to Winnipeg); and that he made a false entry on his flight plan by listing two passengers on the flight when these two passengers were not aboard the aircraft.⁶

Sargent pleaded guilty to one of the charges, confessing to the court that he had deviated from the flight authorization when he flew to Vancouver Island, calling it “an error in judgement.” He also admitted that his decision not to refuel at Rivers was wrong, saying, “If I had to do it over again I would land at Rivers to refuel.”⁷

The bomber crew thought they would make it to Winnipeg’s airport, until the very end. Both engines quit before they hit the ground, and a meagre five gallons of fuel remained in the tanks.

Sargent testified on his own behalf, and was the sole defence witness. He pointed out that he had received no special long-range flying training when he started flying Mitchell bombers. When asked by Prosecuting Officer Barnes, “Do you feel that the air force is to blame for the trouble you are in?” Sargent replied, “Yes, I do.”⁸

The pilot recounted the flight in detail. The first hint of trouble, he said, was “a marked rough running and surge of power on the starboard engine accompanied by fluctuations of the starboard fuel pressure gauge.” About 15 to 20 miles (24–32 km) from Winnipeg he directed the crew to cross-feed the fuel tanks to reach both engines.

Co-pilot D. Gibson and passenger Leading Aircraftman M. W. Crowson [Trib]

The starboard engine started to cut out when total fuel measured about 60 gallons, about 25 miles (40 km) out of Winnipeg. The co-pilot, D. Gibson, called the Winnipeg tower controller and reported that they were short of fuel. He asked for landing instructions, but did not declare it an emergency—yet. Clearance from the tower was given. The bomber descended to 1500 feet (457 m) and the landing gear was lowered.

But then—the starboard engine began cutting out once again. Now intending to crash land at the airport, Sargent told his co-pilot to raise the wheels. Gibson did, and when the port engine also faulted moments later, he declared an emergency. Air traffic controller Joseph Forsland, a court witness, took the mayday call and immediately alerted emergency crews.

The bomber was now less than two miles (3.2 km) from the field. The Tribune quoted Sargent’s account:

“It appeared to me at that time my chances of making the edge of the runway were quite good.

“However shortly after the starboard engine cut out completely and after correcting a very severe yaw to starboard the port engine cut out. We were then at an altitude of 100 feet [30.5 m] and were definitely committed to a crash landing.

“I made every attempt to keep the aircraft from losing air speed but when the starboard wing tip hit the roof of a house I abandoned the controls to protect myself.”⁹

Close, but not close enough. The bomber was in line with Runway 31, barely outside the airport when it hit the ground. [Google maps]

Before the court adjourned to consider sentencing, two character witnesses spoke well of F/O Sargent. 

“I would be prepared to have FO. Sargent continue in the same capacity with his squadron,” FL. Bern Peterson, officer commanding, air interception squadron, Winnipeg, told the court.

FO. Sargent had been deputy squadron commander of the unit for the past eight months.

The second character witness, SL. A. W. Appleby, officer commanding flying wing, No. 2 air observers school, Winnipeg, also told the court he would have no hesitation in accepting FO. Sargent back to his post. SL. Appleby said he had known the accused for approximately three years.

The pilot, who was 26 at the time his bomber crashed in St. James, joined the service in May 1953. He has a permanent commission, is a qualified air pilot and has no decoration or award. There have been no previous entries on the accused’s conduct sheet, and his character is recorded as “good.”¹⁰

It took 43 minutes for the five-member court to arrive at its sentence. On April 26 news reporters announced it: a fine of $200 that was considered severe, because the black mark would always hinder an RCAF career.

A 27-year-old RCAF pilot Friday was severely reprimanded and fined $200 at his general court martial in Winnipeg.

But the immediate reaction of most laymen—that the flying officer got off lightly—was countered by military opinion that the punishment will continue to affect him throughout his air force career.

FO. John Shearer Sargent of Westwood, Ont., has been found guilty Thursday afternoon on three charges of neglectful flying procedure arising from the crash of his B-25 Mitchell bomber in St. James Feb. 17. He was found not guilty on a fourth charge. […]

The sentence is not considered light in military circles. The reprimand will be considered every time FO. Sargent is up for promotion or transfer or change in responsibility. The entry on his conduct sheet is never erased.

The punishment is described as a continuing one because it will continue to affect his career for many years and will tend to put him behind other officers with the same qualifications and experience.¹¹

Captain Sargent in his later years.

John (“Jack”) Shearer Sargent remained a pilot. In 1964 he accepted a job at United Airlines, and moved his young family to Chicago. He retired as an airline captain in 1990, and lived in Florida, passing away at age 91 on October 30, 2021.¹²

A Second Airfield

Alderman E. Bennett sat on the RCAF inquiry panel and also chaired the St. James–Winnipeg Airport Commission. Understandably alarmed by the aircraft accidents in the Winnipeg area, the commission quickly proposed measures to address the risk. 

The commission will ask Transport Minister George Marier to take the following measures:

• Extend the north-west runway to increase the angle of glide for aircraft approaching Stevenson Field.
• Establish a satellite field for smaller aircraft away from the built-up area.
• Require that all aircraft have radio equipment and be under radio control during take-off and landing.¹³

The Mayor of St. James, Thomas Findlay, said the federal government was seriously considering buying land south of Winnipeg for a new air field.

Private aircraft accounted for a large proportion of take-offs and landings at the field. Continual practice of these routines was a necessary part of pilot training. The job of meshing this traffic with airline and military operations was complicated by the absence of radio in many small private planes. […] 

“We’ve been concerned over the possibility of one of these small aircraft colliding with an airliner,” said Mayor Findlay. “As commercial planes get larger and faster the margin of error decreases.” […]

The satellite field project has received the support of Ald. A. E. Bennett, chairman of the airport commission. Mr. Bennett would also like to see the present airstrip extended to the northwest and further building prohibited in a “danger zone” around the airport.¹⁴

While a distant airfield would reduce the number of small and private plane crashes at Stevenson Field, the risk from military or airline incidents at the main airport remained.

In April of 1957 a full-width headline on page one of the Winnipeg Tribune announced, “$10 MILLION AIRPORT FOR CITY.” Designed to handle large airliners, a new passenger terminal (complete with large waiting rooms, a dining room, concessions, and shops) promised to be the most up-to-date in the country. A runway would be extended and a new taxi strip added. Improvements would include a power house, equipment garage, radio and radar facilities, as well as offices for airlines, air traffic control, telecommunications and weather services.¹⁵

A second airfield was established, but not until 1962, and not south of Winnipeg as originally anticipated. St. Andrews Airport opened “to alleviate increased flight training and air traffic pressures” by “allowing smaller aircraft operations to be diverted from the main international hub and supporting the growth of local aviation in the region.”¹⁶

St. Andrews Airport, 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Winnipeg.¹⁷

By 2022 the St. Andrews Airport was Canada’s eleventh busiest airport by aircraft movements. It is “primarily used for commercial operations, particularly flight training, air charters, scheduled passenger service, and air ambulances. Scheduled passenger service is primarily provided by Northway Aviation which operates routes to small communities in Northern Manitoba.”¹⁸

The Campbell House

The RCAF investigation into the crash and subsequent court martial followed in short order. Others had to deal with the aftermath and red tape for months yet. The bomber’s nose hit the Campbells’ house when it finally came to rest, pushing the home four feet (1.2 m) off its foundation.

The RCAF offered to pay restitution, and a news story two days after the crash gave the Campbell family hope that an insurance settlement would soon be processed.

A spokesman for the RCAF said Wednesday that a representative of the Underwriters’ Adjustment bureau, with an RCAF officer, Monday had contacted owners of homes and buildings damaged in the crash and advised them to assess their damages and put in their claims. The bureau meanwhile carried on its own investigation and will forward to government legal and administrative authorities their recommendations for damages to be paid the different individuals.

After the authorities compare the amounts of damage asked for with the assessors’ recommendations, attempts will be made to reach a satisfactory settlement.¹⁹

Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Campbell had occupied the house since 1939. At 435 Ferry Road, it was only 500 yards (457 m) from a runway. The couple was very glad they were not at home when the bomber hit. That evening they were watching a new TV at 1265 Alexander Avenue, the home of Clarence’s brother, Les. Saved by Ed Sullivan!

The Campbells stayed with relatives and in rentals after the crash. Their house was badly damaged and would need extensive work to make it habitable. [Allen Peden, WFP]

Every window in the home but one was splintered The walls lean at a dizzy angle. Pieces of furniture were shattered or ruined. Precious souvenirs of earlier days were smashed.

“Of course we can’t go on living here,” Mr. Campbell, a carpenter in Weston CPR Shops, told The Tribune. “After this we’d be nervous wrecks in six months listening to those planes going overhead and wondering which was coming in next.” […]

The Campbells’ plans to add new rooms to the old home can be forgotten for some time to come—along with the couple’s peace of mind in the path of incoming planes.

“Let’s face it,” Clarence Campbell said wearily Tuesday, “when that plane struck, 18 years went straight down the drain. We can’t stay here.”²⁰

Six properties—four on College Street and two on Ferry Road—were damaged in the crash. Five had minor damage and their claims were met in short order. The Campbells claimed $10,000 damages, but the Department of National Defence insurance adjusters offered less than half of that. 

The amount offered could not possibly replace their former home and wrecked furniture, much less pay for temporary accommodations elsewhere. In the spring, still waiting an acceptable insurance payout, the couple moved into their garage.

A St. James couple whose home was damaged in the Feb. 17 crash of an RCAF plane got permission Tuesday from city council to live in a garage until their house is repaired.

Mayor T. B. Findlay, however, told Mr. and Mrs. Campbell that if HIS family had been left homeless by the crash, he would have lived in the Royal Alexandra hotel, and charged the bill to the federal government.

The Campbells’ home at 435 Ferry road was damaged when a Mitchell bomber crashed into it while attempting to land at Stevenson field. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell were compelled to move out and have been living with relatives.

Tuesday, however, they applied to council for permission to use a garage as a temporary home. Council agreed, providing the couple doesn’t live in the garage for more than six months.

Council extended another helping hand to the Campbells. Expressing the home that a satisfactory settlement could be reached, it instructed its solicitor to write the government department concerned and press for action.

Mayor Findlay said that the couple should be repaid for any inconvenience and expense they have faced because of the crash. An alderman suggested writing to the constituency’s candidates in the June 10 federal election.²¹

“Neighbours donated much equipment to the Campbells, but they must carry their water from a block away, and light the garage with a kerosene lamp until they get electricity. Heat is supplied by a Quebec heater.” [WFP]

The Campbells settled in to their garage, and made the best of it. On May 7 they advised the St. James Council that they had received net compensation of $6,970. An additional $1,001 went to furniture storage and legal fees. 

“We can’t stay here.” Of all the buildings the bomber hit, the tiny Campbell home had the most damage. [Allen Peden, WFP]

The balance of $6,970 was not enough to meet the St. James town planning commission’s regulation that a home had to be at least 750 square feet. Councillors were sympathetic but said the cheque should not have been accepted if the amount was insufficient. Mr. Campbell asked for permission to rebuild the house at its smaller, existing size. The request was referred to the Planning Commission for consideration. Their decision is unknown, but a 2018 Google map photo of 435 Ferry Road shows a small bungalow that replaced the original 1939 house.

435 Ferry Road in October 2018 [Google maps]

The B-25 Mitchell Bomber 

The North American Mitchell II was the most-produced American medium bomber. Introduced in 1941, nearly 10,000, in several variants, were built, and served in every WWII theatre. It was considered an easy airplane to fly, suitable for pilot training programs as a safe and forgiving aircraft to fly. The warplane was very sturdy and could withstand tremendous punishment. The RCAF used the bomber for training during the war, and continued to use their 162 Mitchells post-war in other roles, including high-altitude aerial photography and transport until the early 1960s.²²

The North American B-25 Mitchell owned by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.

The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario will pair its B-25 with its Lancaster bomber (one of only two airworthy Lancs in the world) in Remembrance Day flights. A 20-minute flight in the Mitchell is available for $900, for those with museum annual memberships of $125.  

If you book a flight, try not to plow through St. James.

City News, “B-25 Bomber to join Lancaster for Remembrance Day flight” 2025 [2:59]

____________________________

Sources (retrieved March 13, 2026)

1. “ ‘Miracle’ As Bomber Smashes In Empty Lot,” Winnipeg Free Press, February 18, 1957, p. 1, 5 (re-typed for clarity)
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. “Bomber Pilot Faces Court,” Winnipeg Tribune, April 24, 1957, p. 13
6. Ibid.
7. “Pilot Confesses He Made Error,” Winnipeg Tribune, April 25, 1957, p. 1
8. “Pilot Blames RCAF For Bomber’s Crash,” Winnipeg Free Press, April 25, 1957 p. 3
9. “Pilot Confesses He Made Error,” Winnipeg Tribune, April 25, 1957, p. 11
10. “Severe Reprimand $200 Fine For Pilot: ‘Not Light Sentence’,” Winnipeg Free Press, April 26, 1957 p. 4
11. “Severe Reprimand $200 Fine For Pilot: ‘Not Light Sentence’,” Winnipeg Free Press, April 26, 1957 p. 1
12. John Sargent Obituary, The Venice Gondolier Sun, https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/venice/name/john-sargent-obituary?id=31316005 
13. “3-Step Action Sought,” Winnipeg Tribune, February 18, 1957, p. 1
14. “Satellite Field Planned to Ease Aircraft Traffic,” Winnipeg Tribune, February 2, 1957, p. 1
15. “$10 Million Airport For City,” Winnipeg Tribune, April 18, 1957, p. 1
16. “Winnipeg/St. Andrews Airport,” Grokipedia, https://grokipedia.com/page/winnipegst_andrews_airport>  
17. St. Andrews Airport photo, https://www.standrewsairport.ca/gallery/nggallery/page/1 
18. “Winnipeg/St. Andrews Airport,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg/St._Andrews_Airport 
19. “No Gas? Probe To Tell,” Winnipeg Free Press, February 20, 1957, p. 4
20. Jack Hutton, “Why They Weren’t Home When B-29 [sic] Came Calling,” Winnipeg Tribune, February 19, 1957, p. 13
21. “They’ll Live In Garage Till House Is Repaired,” Winnipeg Free Press, April 17, p. 3
22. “North American B-25 Mitchell,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_B-25_Mitchell

⇧ BACK TO TOP