by CAFM contributor | Oct 20, 2017 | Collections, Exhibits, Links, News & Events, Posts
In 1995, a woman donated a Queen Alexandra Nursing Sister’s uniform, medical equipment, medals, badges, autograph book, photographs, and a 1930s era obstetrical nursing book. The donor didn’t have much information, explaining that they were given to her family when she was a child, by a woman guest in their Black Creek home. the uniform and artifact had been used by the family’s children as costumes. The donations are now incorporated into our WWI Nursing Sister display. One of our former volunteers, Corrine, explains the process of updating the display and the discoveries made during that time ~ “The process of updating the display with a new state of the art “personnequin” with realistic features and posable hands, tweaked our curiosity about the items used to dress our nurse. With the help of Allison Hetman, Mel Birnie, Brian O’Cain, and Robert Lesage, we did some detective work and came up with some basic facts that raise yet more questions. Informally known as Nurse Violet, the original owner of the uniform and artifact was a woman named Jean McPherson, born in Orangeville, Ontario on July 5th, 1886. Jean’s records contained no information on her parents, so it proved difficult to find any relatives. Military documents indicated that she had her medical for the Canadian Medical Service on September 8th, 1916, and her unit at that time was listed as the Queen Alexandra Imperial Nursing Service (QAIMS). She sailed from Montreal on the SS Scandinavian on October 12, 1916 but no destination was listed. Entries in her diary suggest that she was in France in 1916,...
by Norm Danton | Oct 15, 2017 | Collections, News & Events, Posts
The Royal Air Force Victory Bell was created for the R.A.F. Benevolent Fund. Its purpose was to raise money to help serving and former members of the R.A.F. and families, as well as to assist in the upkeep of the R.A.F. Memorial. The RAF Benevolent Fund was founded in 1919 after WWI; it continues to be a registered charity and receives no government assistance. Conrad Parlanti was the designer of the Bell. Conrad Parlanti was born in London in 1903 to his father Ercole Parlanti, who was a prominent bronze artist. Ercole was commissioned to cast his most famous work, the casting of the RAF War Memorial, which is located on the embankment of the River Thames. The Bells were cast in 1946 from aluminum taken from German aircraft shot down over London during the London “Blitz. The Bells have images of Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. Some of the first Bells were auctioned by Chesney Allen of the WWII famous entertainers “Flanagan & Allen”. During the London “Blitz”, Flanagan & Allen, who were radio and vaudeville entertainers, would visit the air raid shelters and the underground railway stations that were used as air raid shelters to entertain the people. The auction took place at the first Battle of Britain dinner held at the Hungarian Restaurant in London, shortly after D-Day. As much as 1200 pounds was paid for the first few Bells that evening. Here at the Comox Air Force Museum, located in Comox B.C., we have had two Victory Bells donated to our vast collection of Air Force memorabilia. Note of...
by Val | Oct 5, 2017 | Aircraft, Collections, Links, News & Events, Photo Archives, Posts
Many of Al Wilson‘s cartoons relate to specific happenings from about 1958 - 1974, especially in the Comox area. We know you’re enjoying this popular series, and are happy to share this month’s edition with you! ...
by Val | Sep 28, 2017 | Collections, Exhibits, Links, Member Info, News & Events, Posts
On September 12th, our Museum celebrated its 30th Anniversary, and on that day, unveiled our new hallway display area. This major addition to our Museum took considerable time to bring to fruition. It began with a vision of what might be… it began with the Museum’s Director and Programme Manager conferring with volunteers to share ideas… it began with… a hallway filled with storage cabinets… and then with the help of a team of volunteers, bit by bit, it came together… ...
by Val | Sep 24, 2017 | Collections, Links, News & Events, Posts
This is another of our series: the Wickenby Register Newsletter. The newsletters were printed twice yearly; they include information about 12 Squadron RAF, memories of service men and women, the occasional recipe, stories of times past… But perhaps the thing that spoke to both Mel and me when we saw them was the inclusion of a poem on the back of each issue. We hope that you’ll enjoy these two: ...
by Val | Sep 6, 2017 | Collections, Links, News & Events, Posts
Many of Al Wilson‘s cartoons relate to specific happenings from about 1958 - 1974, especially in the Comox area. We know you’re enjoying this series, and are happy to share this month’s edition with you! ...
The CAFM commemorates the role and history of 19 Wing (CFB/RCAF/RAF), documenting significant achievements in West Coast Military Aviation History.
Founded in 1982 as part of the Air Force Indoctrination School, CAFM was accredited as a stand-alone Canadian Forces Museum and officially opened its doors to the public on 12 September 1987.