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WCll’ on The minds 0 by Cindy Davidson 'lhc llcru .l‘mu‘s sin I" on \\’ALKER'1'0V»T1\C Persian out- of the [llHS Lllhkllsslulls ‘ dull War l\' 1.1m" students a Friday ntonmig 'llte slttdr‘t i real lesson in Mill) “story they will recall .nzz ml again for the wsl of their ll cs. But right mm, more real than the lesson, ts Lht‘ fear in many of these students. Mary Lee Duggan's Grade 4â€"5 class at Brunt Central School has been discussing the war for rt few minutes at the beginning of each day, as have other senior classes at the school. The students have expressed fear about what is happening in the Middle East. but they have also shown great knowledge and interest in the world evan They know the names of the cities and countries involved. they know who Saddam Hussein and George Bush are, and they know tlte implications of missiles and the casualties that can mull. “These students are the begin- ning of people irt the school that have an understanding or what is happening and maybe why it‘s happening." they T.V. At 8:10 pm. on April 13. 1945. Elden (Baldy) Miller, along with the rest of the R.C.A.F. crew. headed out in their Lancaster bomber on a mission to bomb a German submarine base. All went well tmtil after the bombs had been dropped and then all hell let loose when they were suddenly hit with anti-airman fire that wounded the Skipper and pierced the gas tanks. The crew thought they might make it homE. but within half an hour the motors coughed and cutout one after the outer. With one enginest operating they were still hoping to make base. but it was not to be. Just after midnight they were forced to ditch when the last engine out out It was pitch black with a medium sea running, but by the expertise of the pilot and the grade of God the plane bellied in ancl_d.tdn’t break up. They estimated their \ position to be about 25 miles off the coast .of Denmark. ‘2 Baldy, who was Wireless Air Gunner. \. eat out the 5.0.5. mlls and then screwed 15 ekey down so the call would continue ‘ hi the plane sank. In the ditching the . was thrown through the inch thick ‘ reen. still strapped in his seat. He y battered, but he was conscious. w meanwhile. proceeded to crawl escape hatch, and in the darkness way to the wing where the stored. Baldy found himself ld water and had In swim all hard the huge plane to the side was slored. The first prior- “ Brant class talks about Gulf crisisr were very much aware oi the l-llt‘Sl Nuts. and were anger to talk about what rllert lruq's bombing of Israel would have on > _\ were particularly going to come tn and save the interested in what would happen day " if it tumutl into a Holy War. 'l'hcy wondered if the United States would keep fighting if it became u Holy War and if other countries would then join Iraq. Duggan did her best to answer the students' questions and ad- dress their coneems. but stressed that It. was a complicated issue and that she didn’t have all the answers. Being a teacher also puts her in a delicate situation when discussing an ongoing war, She encouraged the students to ask their parents questions and to keeping watching the events as were television. She said she thinks a t deal of the interest shown y the students is because of the war. Tlt. “Never before have we been (nova Cartwright). REFLECTIONS Survival of sec movre said. young terrified." happening on history memories. ity was to get the injured men into the dinghy. The Enginmr was barely con» scious when he was helped on board the Susie Q. Then the Pilot, seat and all. was pulled in. All this was happening in the darkness of midnight. The next morning the men assessed their situation. of the crew of seven, six were on board. One of the crew. Upper Gunner F/S Vardy from Bancroft. had not been able to escaapzérand was drowned. Three of the men d were injured and the first priority was to do all they could for them. The Skipper had flak in his leg, the Air bomber's face was badly bashed and the rear gunner had a broleen leg and a broken shoulder. The crew knew they would have to be rescued soon, as there was a skimpy supply of water and mini- mum rations on board. Now the ordeal started. For the first couple of days the weather wasn't too bad. The men were crowded and uncom- fortable. but they had some rations and help would come soon. They sometimes could hear planes. but they never saw one. On the third day the weather turned cold and nasty. Some shelter was pro- vided by the dinghy cover. but it gave little protection when the high seas washed aboard. Baldy had the only watch and it finally stopped from the salt water. but they finally got it going again. He still has the watch. and it still goes. This story will continue next week. i students ttblt‘ in we live mvrrngo and pictures til it war as it pcntng. Thu students rially have a tllllCrCtll perspective on it now that they have seen reports. Tltry all comment lltlll it's not like 0. and that Rambo She said she mes to alleviate their fears. but also realtzes she can’t guarantee anything. Last IS. when the deadline for Iraq to leave Kuwait peacefully arrived, she said the students were particularly afraid. A subsequent bomb threat at Walker-ton District Secondary School didn't help matters she Tuwday. Jan. "Whoever did that realize the fear it put into these students They were The Persian Gulf War will no doubt be the subject of many when these Lv . HISTORY LESSONâ€"Mary Lee Duggan's Grade 4-5 class at Bram Central School have been dlsousslng the Perslan GuthWar and bunglng In newspaper cllpplnos about It. (Davldson photo) lessons students reach high school, but their greatest source likely won't be their books. it will be their . hupr isn'l didn‘t r by the Cordwalner (Lloyd Cartwright) liEFLEC'rIONS Survival at see: Part two This is part two of the ordeal of six men who were forced to ditch their Lancaster Bomber in the ocean after they were hit on a bombing mission near the end of the Second World War. Baldy Miller of Walkenon was one of the crew. For almost twelve days the men were adrift in the small dinghy. on the cold waters of the North Atlantic in mid April. They were all soaked through and never got dried out because of the continual slapping aboard of sea water. After a few days the men noticedtthe raft was losing pressure. It was only "with the greatest of difficw that the weakened men were able 7- open the pressure valve so air could be pumped in with a hand bellows. This had to he clone almost daily after the first few days. ’ The limited rations were soon gone. as was the water. The men could still hear planes from firm: to time. but because of the foggy conditions they never did see one. By the eighth day the men were desperate for water. Then some rain came and they were able to catch some in the dinghy cover that was acting as their only shelter. Night and day they grew steadily weaker as they waited and waited for help. By day eleven some of them were getting delirious. as they were again out of water. Then they started to see shore birds. The next morning they found that they were in very shallow water and they could see lands. It turned out that they had drifted into the estuary of the Elbe River at low tide. They decided to try and walk to the land, but found none of them could walk when they got out of the dinghy. . About then a small German fishing aall boat came by. He couldn‘t tow the heavy raft. so he signalled that he would send help. Meanwhile the fine came it and they were swept back out to sea. few hours later a German Red Cross boat came to their aid. After eleven days and fifteen hours the men were taken ashore as prisoners. to a German hospitaL Now comes the unbelievable! The war was ending and the men were transferred to a huge hangar at an airfield that was being used as a holding hospital. It housed about five thousand stretcher cases. The MO. in charge was a Dr. Brian. During his rounds one morning he stopped beside Baldy Miller's stretcher and asked who he was and where he was from. Baldy said. "You will never have heard of the place." "It‘s a small town called Walkerton in Ontario". To Baldy’s monument Dr. Brian asked him if he knew Mildred Appel. "Well". the Dr. said, "She's my wife." Then he said. "I suppose you would like to get out of here". At this time Baldy artd the Engin- eer were the only members of the crew at this location. In twenty minutes the men were on their way. One more thing! One of the men had a New Testament with him on the dinghy and part of the effort to stay alive con- srsted of a vesper service that the men took tums conductin each evening. The men all felt this h pod with their sur- vival. P.S. Mildred appcl was a Walkerton girl whose father owned a shop here. Next week; Jake Schurter's acctdent.‘ 0:: an.“ ~â€"~â€"â€"