FLIGHT SERGEANT DAVID SMITH URQUHART
1939 – 1945 Star, Air Crew Europe Star, Defence Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (CVSM) with Clasp and Bomber Command Bar, 1939-45 War Medal
Royal Canadian Air Force
425 (Alouette) Squadron
WW II
David Smith Urquhart was born 27 August 1921 on the family farm, north of Roland, Manitoba to Charles and Elizabeth (Bain) Urquhart. He was a big brother Charles Arthur Ian, called Ian, and a sister who died in infancy. David was raised on the farm and was described as a typical rural kid. Riding horses and shooting skunks and crows was a common activity. He was described as artistic, as demonstrated through his watercolour paintings and short poems he loved to write. He was an academic as he finished grade 11 before enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force. David was athletic, as he swam in the creek in the summer and played hockey with the Roland hockey team in the winter. He was very congenial and easy to get along with. He always had his car shone up to pick up Thelma Patterson, the girl of his dreams, for the local Saturday night dances. They were engaged to be married before he went overseas. After school he worked for a local farmer so he knew the value of a hard days’ work. David lived the way most kids did in the 20s’ and 30s’, work hard and play hard after the work is done.
David enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force on 14 July 1941 at Winnipeg, Manitoba. He trained as an Air Gunner and embarked for the U.K. 19 February 1942. He was posted to 425 (Alouette) Squadron, a bomber squadron at Dishforth Yorks, 13 April 1942 and promoted to Flight Sergeant 12 September. On 06 December 1942, his aircrew left Dishforth Yorks, in a Wellington bomber, “KW-G”, for a bombing raid on Mannheim, Germany. At 0020 hrs, 07 December, while on return to base, an S.O.S. was received as they flew over the Bay of Biscay. Nothing further was heard of “KW-G” and on 23 December 1942 the crew was presumed dead. The full crew, WO2 J. Cachia, P/O G.E. Cronk RCAF (USA), P/O R. Hayes RCAF (USA), P/O J.D.J. Rodger and F/S D.S. Urquhart, is named on the Runnymede Memorial in Surrey, England as they have no known grave.
In the summer of 2015 the Wellington III Bomber BJ675 “KW-G” was found buried in a wooded area near Langonnet, France. No bodies or parachutes were found and the plane was out of fuel. It is believe the crew abandoned the aircraft over the Bay of Biscay, parachuted into the bay and drowned. The plane, on its own, continued to fly until it ran out of fuel and crashed.
A memorial service for the crew was held in Langonnet, France 07 May 2016. The cairn features a picture of the Wellington bomber along with David and his crew mates.
David Smith Urquhart was 21 when he died in 1942 and he is commemorated on the Roland, Manitoba War Memorial and Page 121 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance in Ottawa. Urquhart Lake, in the north-west corner of Manitoba is named for him.
DRIVER CHARLES URQUHART Sr. British War Medal 1914-1918, Victory Medal 1914-1918
Lovat Scouts, Langan, Inverness-shire, Scotland 1907-1910
Canadian Army Service Corps
WW I
Charles Urquhart was born in Lochlagen, Invernesshire, Scotland 20 October 1890 to David and Christina (Smith) Urquhart. He had 4 brothers (Donald, John, Alexander and James) and 2 sisters (Colina and Christina). Before coming to Canada in 1912, he had been a member of a famous body of men, Lord Lovat’s Scouts, Imperial Yeomanry 1907 – 1910. He was a fearless rider and acted as a galloper to the officer commanding. A keen naturalist, he was well versed in bird and animal lore, was fond of sport and was known as a skillful exponent of rod and gun. His intimates knew him also as a poet of no mean ability: he had written some touching lines, mostly bearing on the hills, lochs and streams of his native Scotland that he loved so well.
Up until the time he volunteered for service he farmed at Roland, Manitoba with his brother-in-law, A.J. Epps.
He enlisted in the Canadian Army Service Corps (CASC) 13 March 1917, trained in Canada and arrived in England on S/S “Scotia” 06 February 1918 and was sent to France 23 June 1918. The main duty of the CASC in France centered on the transportation and supply of food, forage, ammunition, equipment, clothing and engineering material and stores. Corps personnel also repaired motor vehicles and each division had an ambulance repair workshop. While in France as a member of the CASC, Charles did suffer gassing while in the trenches. On 09 November 1918, just before the end of the war, he was transferred to the CASC 3rd Division Train and then to the 4th Division Train on 26 February 1919 where he served until repatriated. He was given leave in France and then posted to England from where he departed for Canada on the S/S “Olympic” 06 June 1919. Charles was discharged from Military District 10, Winnipeg, 17 June 1919.
On return from the war, in 1919, he started farming for himself south of Homewood, Manitoba where he carried on until his “illness” overtook him.
Charles married Elizabeth Bain from Newtonmore, Invernesshire, Scotland 27 May 1920. They had 2 sons, David Smith and Charles Arthur Ian (called Ian). Charles developed pleurisy right after he returned from the War and it was thought this had occurred because his lungs had been weakened from the gassing. Charles was a man of excellent physique and had never known ill health until he was admitted to the Ninette, Manitoba Sanatorium for treatment of Lung trouble. Charles Urquhart Sr. died 16 days later, 20 May 1929, he was 39. He is buried in the Fairview Cemetery at Roland, Manitoba next to the grave of his father. Charles Urquhart Sr. is listed on the Roland, Manitoba Cenotaph.
FLIGHT SERGEANT DAVID SMITH URQUHART
1939 – 1945 Star, Air Crew Europe Star, Defence Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (CVSM) with Clasp and Bomber Command Bar, 1939-45 War Medal
Royal Canadian Air Force
425 (Alouette) Squadron
WW II
David Smith Urquhart was born 27 August 1921 on the family farm, north of Roland, Manitoba to Charles and Elizabeth (Bain) Urquhart. He was a big brother Charles Arthur Ian, called Ian, and a sister who died in infancy. David was raised on the farm and was described as a typical rural kid. Riding horses and shooting skunks and crows was a common activity. He was described as artistic, as demonstrated through his watercolour paintings and short poems he loved to write. He was an academic as he finished grade 11 before enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force. David was athletic, as he swam in the creek in the summer and played hockey with the Roland hockey team in the winter. He was very congenial and easy to get along with. He always had his car shone up to pick up Thelma Patterson, the girl of his dreams, for the local Saturday night dances. They were engaged to be married before he went overseas. After school he worked for a local farmer so he knew the value of a hard days’ work. David lived the way most kids did in the 20s’ and 30s’, work hard and play hard after the work is done.
David enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force on 14 July 1941 at Winnipeg, Manitoba. He trained as an Air Gunner and embarked for the U.K. 19 February 1942. He was posted to 425 (Alouette) Squadron, a bomber squadron at Dishforth Yorks, 13 April 1942 and promoted to Flight Sergeant 12 September. On 06 December 1942, his aircrew left Dishforth Yorks, in a Wellington bomber, “KW-G”, for a bombing raid on Mannheim, Germany. At 0020 hrs, 07 December, while on return to base, an S.O.S. was received as they flew over the Bay of Biscay. Nothing further was heard of “KW-G” and on 23 December 1942 the crew was presumed dead. The full crew, WO2 J. Cachia, P/O G.E. Cronk RCAF (USA), P/O R. Hayes RCAF (USA), P/O J.D.J. Rodger and F/S D.S. Urquhart, is named on the Runnymede Memorial in Surrey, England as they have no known grave.
In the summer of 2015 the Wellington III Bomber BJ675 “KW-G” was found buried in a wooded area near Langonnet, France. No bodies or parachutes were found and the plane was out of fuel. It is believe the crew abandoned the aircraft over the Bay of Biscay, parachuted into the bay and drowned. The plane, on its own, continued to fly until it ran out of fuel and crashed.
A memorial service for the crew was held in Langonnet, France 07 May 2016. The cairn features a picture of the Wellington bomber along with David and his crew mates.
David Smith Urquhart was 21 when he died in 1942 and he is commemorated on the Roland, Manitoba War Memorial and Page 121 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance in Ottawa. Urquhart Lake, in the north-west corner of Manitoba is named for him.
Private Cornelius Unrau
1939-45 War Medal
Canadian Infantry Corps
WW II
Cornelius Unrau was born 14 August 1923 at Horndean, Manitoba to Jacob A. (1896-1967) and Mary (1900-1976) (Wiebe) Unrau. He attended school in Winkler, Manitoba until 1937 when he went to work as a farm labourer at various farms in southern Manitoba. He worked at the C. Kehler farm at Kane, Manitoba for 18 months prior to enlistment. Cornelius was the second of 13 children in the Unrau family, Mary 1921, Cornelius, Elizabeth 1925, Katherina 1927, Abram 1928, Sara 1929, Margaret 1931, Jacob 1932, Helen 1935, Esther 1936, William 1939, Annie 1942, and Judy 1947.
Cornelius enlisted in the Canadian Army 19 June 1944 at Winnipeg, Manitoba and commenced training at Fort Garry, Manitoba and remained there until transferred to Shilo on 17 September 1944. He was a fully trained soldier for the Canadian Infantry Corps by years end but remained in Canada and was employed at Shilo, general duties, until released 03 October 1946.
Cornelius began working for the Manitoba Department of Highways in 1950 and remained there until retiring as a Supervisor, he was 63. He married Evelyn Unger on 30 August 1953 at the EMMC (Rudnerweide Church) in Altona, Manitoba. They had 5 children, Larry 1954, Leona (Rachul) 1955, Daryl 1960, Ronald 1962, Denise (Thiessen) 1972. Cornelius was a patient, loving and hardworking man; there was always time for family get together and games around the kitchen table. He had to keep busy; when he wasn’t renovating the house he was tinkering in the garage but was always willing to lend a hand with whatever his kids were doing. He loved his music and many evenings were spent with him strumming tunes on the guitar or playing the piano/organ. He was always looking for a new instrument to play or buy.
Camping and fishing were a great past time for Cornelius. He had a cottage at Rock Lake where many hours were spent on the water, he loved to fish. He loved hockey - never missed a game especially when his grandkids were playing.
Cornelius loved to tell stories like when he was younger and he had a Harley. It was his only way to get around in the winter and as the roads were not plowed, he had a chain around the back tire; he was able to ride over snow banks and not get stuck. The first home Cornelius and Evelyn bought was in Morden on Mountain Street and then they bought a home on Nelson Street where they raised their kids. He often told stories about the community, like when Lake Minnewasta was built and the history here and the stories that went along with it.
Cornelius Unrau died 30 October 2014 and is buried at South Side Cemetery, Morden Manitoba.
Information supplied by family and Library and Archives Canada.