In recent years, we’ve seen a renewed effort to honour the victims of the plane crash that occurred south of Estevan more than 75 years ago.
There were lots of people who knew it had happened. There were those who lived here when the tragic accident occurred on Sept. 15, 1946, killing 21 members of the Royal Canadian Air Force. But as the years pass, there are fewer people around, either because they have died or because they have moved to another community.
If you’ve lived here long enough, you’ll eventually hear something about it.
But how many people really knew what happened: the circumstances of the accident, the number of people who died or even the date of the crash?
It’s one of the most significant moments ever in our community. Not many people realize that this was, at the time, one of the worst aviation disasters in Canadian history.
The attempts to celebrate the 21 airmen started about five years ago with the Forever in the Clouds monument, carved by chainsaw sculptor Darren Jones in 2017. It really got people talking about this tragedy for the first time in many years. Last year, local author Marie Donais Calder released the book Together Forever in the Clouds, with profiles of each of the airmen.
This past weekend was an event commemorating the victims. There were activities happening throughout the area for two days. People could view sculptures such as Together Forever in the Clouds, located south of the city. They could listen to an informative speech by local military historian Craig Bird, the founder of the Southeast Military Museums.
And there was the unveiling of a cairn south of the city that pays a lasting tribute to the 21. Finally, there’s something in place to remember them. Hopefully it’s there for decades to come.
For the family members of the fallen who came here, they knew that a relative had died in a plane crash in a Saskatchewan community 76 years ago. But they may not have known much about Estevan or the crash site.
Above all else, the past weekend helped bring a measure of healing and closure for those family members. And they were able to learn a lot more about the community, and they met the family of other airmen who died.
When the plane crash happened, it brought the community together. An article in the Mercury 2016 said the crash tested the resolve of the community. It certainly did that. But the tragedy also brought us together, and brought the best out of us, in a way that few moments, good or bad, have done in our history.
The photos from 1946 showed thousands of people lined up on the processional route to bid farewell to the pilots and the crew member, even though most of the people likely never met any of them. But they recognized the tragic reality that the airmen died after the war, after so many successful missions during their service.
It’s hard to say why this tragedy gradually faded from our collective minds over the years. Perhaps it’s because none of the airmen were actually from here. They were from other communities, including some from Saskatchewan. They were here through their service to the country.
No doubt one of the reasons the accident faded is because it happened after the war instead of during the conflict. If a plane with 21 RCAF members went down south of Estevan two years earlier, it would have had a lot more attention.
Regardless, the efforts of the committee to reignite awareness of this tragic event are commendable. People have learned more about it, or they have heard about it for the first time. And not just those in the Estevan area. There are people throughout Saskatchewan and Canada who are learning more about the Plane Crash of ‘46.
It’s taken a lot of work to have these tributes and to make these events happen, and to remind the public about the sacrifices these men made for our freedoms. But the effort cannot end now. We can’t ever forget them. And the story needs to still be shared.
