Nearly 73 years after his untimely death in a plane crash at North Battleford air base, a memorial was held for Royal Australian Air Force flyer Maxwell Cassidy April 25 by North Battleford Royal Canadian Legion Branch 70.
It was through an Ontarian friend of Maxwell's grand nephew, Stephen Cassidy, that members of North Battleford's Legion first learned of Maxwell's story. The ceremony was then organized by Branch 70 to coincide with Anzac Day, Australia and New Zealand's day of remembrance that honours their servicemen and women, and included a tradition "gunpowder toast" of coffee and rum.
The Cassidy family's reconnection with North Battleford started back in 2014, when Janet Mears, a grand niece of Maxwell, found a letter of condolence belonging to her grandmother, Kathleen Cassidy, written by June Light of Battleford.
With this letter as her starting point, Mears posted on a North Battleford Facebook group inquiring about June Light. The post was seen by Elinor Florence, June's daughter.
"She was delighted to hear from me and even more flabbergasted when I told her that the former June Light (now June Florence) is now 89 years old and still living in her own house, near me in Invermere, British Columbia," Florence wrote in a post titled "Memories of Maxwell Cassidy" on her blog specializing in wartime stories. It was here Elinor Florence shared pieces of Maxwell's life.
He came to Canada via the coast, travelling by train to Edmonton before finally being stationed in North Battleford for flight training – far away from his home in Launceston, Tasmania. He'd written to his older sister, Kathleen, about the new, strange places he'd been, – "Sure are wonderful sights. The weather at present is typically Tasmanian but in the winter the temperature gets down to about 40 or 50 degrees below. Everything is covered is snow. All the houses, trams, buses, trains and cars are heated," – the people he met – "Nearly all the ground staff on this station are French. Canada has two languages – French and English. Some of them are hard to understand. There are a few RAF chaps here too. We have RAF, RAAF, RCAF and RNZAF all working together," – and the difference between the Canadian and American accent – "They speak rather like the Americans. However, they have a much softer accent. They almost sing everything they say. I like to listen to the Canadian girls talk. They are rather pleasant to listen to,"
His evident affability made him particularly appealing to the locals, as Light wrote in her letter to Cassidy's family after his death, "he had a great number of friends here and was so well liked by all who know him. I was so amazed the first time I was out with him to find he knew more people at the dance than I did, and I’ve lived here all my life."
The young couple – he was 19 and she was 20 – knew each other only three weeks before Cassidy's plane went down December 4, 1944, a fact Light commented on in her letter to the Cassidys, but their connection, and the loss of it, was deeply felt.
"Max and I knew each other only a very short time, but in that time we got to know each other so well that it seems queer to realize that I only knew him for three weeks. I met him in the War Services Club in North Battleford where I was serving as a hostess, and from then until the time of his death we saw each other as often as possible.
The news of his death was a terrible shock to me as he had left me the night before so happily and so full of life."
Rob Florence, son of June, attended the ceremony honouring Maxwell Cassidy in North Battleford City Cemetery, where he was laid to rest 73 years earlier. His funeral was attended by June Florence and her mother and brothers. In the letter of condolence, she wrote to his Maxwell's mother, "It may comfort you a little to know what a great many flowers he had and what a lovely funeral service there was."
Louise Oster, North Battleford Legion branch secretary, said she was "honoured to be able to do this for someone, to forge our countries together and to bring a bond to remember." The ceremony was recorded and photographed by a Legion member and will be sent to Cassidy's relatives.
