2010 has been designated The Year of the Veteran in commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
Robert L'Heureux of North Battleford, himself a naval veteran of the Second World War, provided the Regional Optimist with a number of pictures from during his time in action in the North Atlantic. He also wanted to honour the numerous L'Heureux veterans from both World Wars who had fought, all of them honored at a memorial cairn in Aquadeo.
Robert L'Heureux was happy to share his pictures from on board J-159 HMCS Mahone, a minesweeper for the Royal Canadian Navy. This is the ship that he was on board during the battle of the North Atlantic.
Fortunately, he was on board that ship and not the HMCS Esquimalt, a minesweeper that was torpedoed by a German submarine U-Boat, the U-190, on April 16, 1945. Forty-four were killed.
This led to some improper information being relayed to Robert's wife Jean, who lived near Citadel Hill. According to columnist Bill Warwick who wrote in the North Battleford Telegraph on May 16, 1995, Jean was told inadvertently "the Mahone had gone down!" The Mahone was in the same vicinity as the Esquimalt at the time. Jean's immediate reaction was to faint.
According to Warwick: "It wasn't the official network that brought the proper information to Jean L'Heureux. One can imagine how that happened. HMCS Mahone was assigned to use Sydney harbour instead of Halifax. That's where Bob L'Heureux was on VE-Day."
In the meantime the Mahone was having its own troubles as it was rammed during intense fog, causing damage to that ship. Eventually, the U-190 crew surrendered on May 12, 1945, and the submarine was painted garish yellow with red stripes, towed to the spot where it sank the Esquimalt, and was used as target practice by 20 military planes and three helicopters.
L'Heureux celebrated VE-Day on May 8, 1945 with the rest of his crewmates on the HMCS. On that day, a keg of rum was brought onboard in celebration.
L'Heureux shared news articles about the Mahone and the Esquimalt, as well as pictures from his combat days. As he says now, not too many are still around to share the stories of their sacrifice during the war, and wanted people to continue to remember those who served their country in battle.
The L'Heureux veterans of First and Second World Wars:
From Arthur's family: Alphonse, Edmond, Maurice, Noel, Ulric, Rene and Theodore,
From Leonidas' family: Julien, Edward,
From Paul's family: Paul, Roger, Euphrem, and Lucien,
From George's family: Henri and Gaston,
From Joe's family: Ernest L'Heureux and Pete Lavoie,
From Marie-Louise's family: Leopold LaClare,
From RoseAnna's family: Lionel Landreville,
From Josephine's family: Francois Alain,
From Antoinette;s family: Lawrence Richard, Bernard Richard, Robert Richard
From Pierre's family: Robert
From Wilfred's family: Wilfred L'Heureux, Lloyd L'Heureux, and Meride Lavoie
From Antoine's family: Antoine and Onil.
