Banners on Stouffville Main Street honour Second World War veterans

Town partners with MPP Paul Calandra to remember World War II veterans

Yorkregion.com
November 8, 2019
Simon Martin

Stouffville veterans who gave their lives during World War Two are lining Main Street in new series of banners in advance of Remembrance Day in 2019.

Markham-Stouffville Member of Provincial Parliament Paul Calandra and Stouffville Mayor Iain Lovatt unveiled the new banners outside 19 on the Park.

“Thanks to all of you for joining us to honour the memories of the courageous soldiers who fought valiantly for freedom and democracy so many years ago,” Calandra said. “It is our hope that when residents and visitors see these banners flying over our Main Street, they will pause a moment to remember the lives sacrificed and the freedoms won through the actions of these soldiers.”

Calandra also urged residents to think of the ways in which you can honour their efforts every day by fighting for what is right in our own lives and communities.

“Thanks to the Stouffville Museum, and members of the Stouffville Legion Branch 459 for their assistance and devotion to this initiative,” Lovatt said.

This is the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landings.

“It is sometimes easy for us to forget, given the amount of time that has passed, how incredible the sacrifice it was that they made,” Calandra said. “Take pictures of these banners. Share them on Facebook and social media.”

Calandra said the last time the town did this when he was an MP they were getting calls from people from other parts of the country saying that’s my grandfather.

“If we can get this going across the country and other small communities and towns doing this. I think it would be an incredible legacy for us,” he said

Lovatt said it was proud moment for the town to hang 14 banners commemorating local veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice.

“Let’s actually take time and look at each one and the uniqueness of them and what they mean and what they stand for,” he said

The initiative wouldn’t have been possible without funding from the provincial government, Lovatt said.

“May these banners serve to create more awareness of our veterans and what they do and have surrendered for us and for freedom and let them help remind people what Remembrance Day is really all about. We will remember them,” he said.

Among the veterans honoured on the banners are Alvin Lehman, Roy Walker, Bruce Allan Boyd, Peter Robson, Frederick Styles, Eric Cutler, Gordon Hoover, William Castle, Elmer Winn, John Dyck, George Davis, Martin Leland Fairles and Elgin Hisey.

Their stories varied. Boyd served with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He had been heralded a hero for is job in a raid on Kiel. He flew Wellington bombers and Lancasters and worked as a farmer before enlisting.

Lehman, from Claremont, served as private in Italy. Walker, from Markham Township, was killed in the Dieppe raid on Aug. 19, 1942. Styles, from Cedar Valley, served in the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada. He was killed near Normandy in 1944. Cutler, from Stouffville, served with Royal Canadian Air Force and was killed in 1944 in Germany.

Hoover, from Stouffville, served with Royal Winnipeg Rifles, and died on the battlefields of Normandy in 1944. Before enlisting, Hoover worked at Boadway’s Service Station.

Castle, from Stouffville, served as a cabin boy on the S.S. Bold Venture. He is said to have drowned at sea.

Davis, from Stouffville, served with the Royal Canadian Air Force and died in 1942. Davis was the Son of Rev. Douglas Davis who was minister at Stouffville United Church. Before enlisting, Davis had been working for Timothy Eaton Company.

Hisey served with the 11th armed Ontario Regiment and was killed in Italy in 1944.

Dyck served with the Queen’s Own Rifles and died in 1945.

Fairles served with Royal Canadian Air Force and died on the Burma Front in 1944. Before enlisting, Fairles had been a school teacher at Mongolia rural school.

Winn, from Stouffville, served with the Royal Canadian Air Force. His plane was shot down over Belgium in 1944.

The banners are expected to be hung on Main Street until mid-November.