Coast Mountain News Thursday, November 19, 2015
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Vol. 31 | No. 22 Thursday, November 19, 2015
Serving the Bella Coola Valley and the Chilcotin
SAMS students and Skills for Life.
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Remembrance Day Ceremonies in Bella Coola enjoyed a large community turnout
Michael Wigle photo
Women veterans and “quiet heroes” honoured at Remembrance Day Ceremonies BY CAITLIN THOMPSON Remembrance Day services were held once again the Valley last week with a focus on local veterans. SAMS school honoured our surviving local veterans and their spouses Bob and June Draney, Theresa Reynolds, Floyd and Inez Mecham, Ed and Bridget Falch, and Clarence Hall at a luncheon on Tuesday, November 10. Regular services were held at the Cenotaph in Hagensborg with Dr. Alistair Anderson leading the march on the bagpipes, followed by veterans Clarence Hall and Ed Falk, the local Rangers and the RCMP. Legion President Ron Richards, providing background on the local veterans, explained that Bob
Draney and Floyd Mecham both served overseas and do not attend the services, likely not wanting to recall the horrors they experienced. Clarence Hall was an American POW in a German Concentration Camp, and Ed Falk was a very young man in the Danish Resistance – ending up in a camp as well at the age of 14, while Theresa Reynolds was involved with communications in the Royal Canadian Air Force. “We have received many good comments regarding the ceremony this year. We have been getting more people turn out every year,” said Richards. “It seems that more and more people are concerned with what is going on and are appreciative of what happened in the
past.” Outside at the Cenotaph Trenton Saugstad played “Last Post” as community members observed a minute of silence. Services continued inside the Augsburg Church facilitated by the local Pastor. Among the veterans seated near the front was 92-year old Theresa Reynolds, mother of longtime Bella Coola resident Diane Skelly. Notably the only surviving female veteran in the Valley, Reynolds was twice a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, first joining in her early 20s. “She was initially a hospital cook in the Royal Canadian Air Force in WWII,” said Skelly. “She was stationed in Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario.”
Skelly said that while her mother loved her time in the forces, she didn’t talk about it much. She joined a second time, during the Cold War, and was trained in wireless radio operations in Ontario. “She was fluent in Morse code and travelled to Whitehorse to listen in on the Russians,” said Skelly. “She absolutely loved her time in the north, and says she can still remember the sights and sounds of the northern lights.” Reynolds was the recipient of several medals and badges: the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, the War Medal, and War Service Badges. During the Second World War, the role of women in Canadian society changed
dramatically. Canada needed women to pitch in and support the war effort from their homes, to work at jobs that were traditionally held by men, and to serve in the military. Canadian women enthusiastically embraced their new roles and responsibilities and helped contribute to the success of Canada's Victory Campaign. Out of a total Canadian population of 11 million people, only about 600,000 Canadian women held permanent jobs when the war started. During the war, their numbers doubled to 1,200,000. At the peak of wartime employment in 1943-44, 439,000 women worked in the service sector, 373,000 in manufacturing and 4,000 in construction.
With their sons overseas, many farm women had to take on extra work. One Alberta mother of nine sons - all of them either in the army or away working in factories - drove the tractor, plowed the fields, put up hay, and hauled grain to elevators, along with tending her garden, raising chickens, pigs and turkeys, and canning hundreds of jars of fruits and vegetables. Women who worked with lumberjacks and loggers during the war were called “lumberjills.” Many Canadian women wanted to play an active role in the war and lobbied the government to form military organizations for women. SEE 'MAYO' ON PAGE 3
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