On this August 6th... 1958 - Honour Roll Numbers 97, 98, 99. Three members #10880 S/Sgt. Stanley Samuel Rothwell age 49, #14740 Cst. Richard William Green age 35 and #10410 S/Cst. Joseph Edouard Cormier age 39 were killed on duty in an airplane crash, along the East Shore of Skaha Lake, BC. The Vancouver Air Section DeHavilland Beaver float plane CF-FHW piloted by Staff Sgt. Stanley Rothwell arrived in Penticton to assist in the manhunt for an American fugitive and murder suspect, who had shot Cpl. George Brown of the Summerland BC Detachment (see August 4). The pilot along with Engineer S/Cst Joseph Cormier and local detachment member Cst. Richard W. Green a spotter with local knowledge set out from Skaha Lake and spent most of the day looking for the fugitive. At approximately 13:40 pm, the low flying aircraft crashed into a hillside orchard nearly five miles north of Okanagan Falls. The cause of the crash was never determined but it was believed the plane stalled due to a sudden down-draft. All three members were killed on impact and the subsequent crash ignited a forest fire that eventually covered 80 acres of land. This tragedy was further compounded when the original witness who reported seeing the suspect in the area, admitted to police that he had made a false report of the sighting "just to see some excitement". All three men were Second World War veterans, Rothwell and Cormier had served in the RCAF and Green in the Royal Canadian Navy. S/Sgt. Stanley Rothwell a native of Arden Manitoba was survived by his wife, Helen and their son. He was buried in Valleyview Memorial Gardens in Newton BC. The remains of S/Cst. Joseph Cormier a native of Moncton NB were returned to his mother and he was interred in Notre Dame du Calvair cemetery in Charterville, NB. Cst. Richard Green was from Rencontre West; Newfoundland and was survived by his wife Shirley and their two children. He was buried in the Municipal Cemetery in Chemainus BC. This was the RCMP Air Dvision’s first ever-fatal air crash using Force owned planes since its inception in 1937. 1966 - The British Empire Medal for Gallantry and The Commissioner’s Commendation for Bravery were awarded to #22807 Constable Joseph Emile Gilles Potvin age 25, for rescuing three people from a submerged aircraft. Constable Potvin was competing in the 12th International Swim Meet at Lake St. John Quebec on this day. After swimming for three hours he had to with draw from the competition for medical reasons and was talking with his wife at the finish line near Roberval, when he was advised that a small aircraft had crashed into the lake nearby. He rushed to the scene in a boat operated by Marcel Guay of St. Felicien and observed the tail section sticking out of the water and a large gas slick had spread across the surface. Constable Potvin then dove in, and swam underwater to the wreckage. Though he could not see he managed to find the door to the cockpit and wrenched it open freeing two occupants, Gilbert Gaudreault and Marthe Trudel. He then swam inside the plane and found the lifeless body of Colombe Lamontange and pulled her free and swam her body to the boat. The unconscious victim had two broken legs and was bleeding from her mouth, so Potvin used the Shaffer method of artificial respiration and after five minutes succeeded in reviving her. 1967 - While boating on the St. Lawrence River near Charlottenburg Park Ontario non-swimmer Hector Menasce stood up in a paddleboat to take a photograph and he and his wife Lucie fell overboard. After a short struggle he slipped below the surface of and descended in 18 feet of water. 32-year-old J. Donald Sauve happened to hear the cries for help from shore and rushed to the scene and dove in the water and retrieved Menasce’s body. Long Sault detachment members #19175 Corporal Lorne D. Poulin and #24023 / O.1310 Wayne Wawryk were patrolling nearby and observed several boats gathered together 100 yards from shore. When they investigated they found the lifeless body of Menasce on the bow of a boat. Corporal Poulin then used a pocketknife to pry open the victims mouth so that Constable Wawryk could insert a plastic rescusitube and begin mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. After a couple of minutes the victim was revived and transported to hospital. As result of their efforts in saving the life of Hector Menasce the Royal Canadian Humane Society awarded a parchment certificate of bravery to Mr. Sauve and certificates of Merit to the two policemen. 1976 - At approximately 9:30 p.m. #23861 Staff Sergeant Lynn F. Kendel, #21786 Corporal John Matthews, and #29434 Constable G.R. Pritchard responded to what they thought was a routine domestic dispute in Inuvik NWT. Upon arrival they found themselves embroiled in a barricade situation with an armed man who was holding his children hostage and was repeatedly shooting at them with a rifle. The standoff lasted for several hours and all attempts to reason with the gunman failed. The event was brought to a conclusion when one of the hostages managed to open a door to the house enabling S/Sgt. Kendel and Cst. Pritchard to enter the residence unnoticed. While Cpl. Matthews kept the gunman distracted the two policemen rushed in and disarmed him. All three officers received the Commanding Officers Commendation for their courage in apprehending the gunman without anyone being harmed. 1990 - While on routine patrol in Tuktoyaktuk, NWT #37077 Constable Thomas H. Roy, witnessed an intoxicated woman attempting to slash people with a knife. When he intervened, the woman turned the knife on him. After a brief altercation he succeeded in subduing her. For his bravery and composure he was awarded the Commissioner’s Commendation for Bravery.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 15:45:15 +0000
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