By Thomas Smith

Every year, we stray further from the day World War Two ended.

This year will mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War

In Canada, the remaining WW2 veterans are over the age of 95 on average.

Soon, there will be no WW2 veterans left at all.

It is our duty as Canadians to remember those who fight to sacrifice everything to protect Canada as we know it today.

For local residents Barry Hart and Pat Casey, they are sharing their promise of remembrance to the next generation.

Longtime friends, Hart and Casey learned that they both had relatives who were Lancaster bomber tail gunners. Hart’s father, Bill Hart fought with the Royal Air Force. Casey’s grandfather Earle fought with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

The rumor during WW2 was that the average lifespan for a bomber crew member was around 24 to 48 hours.

Hart flew with the RAF on an Avro Lancaster Mk III. Hart’s friend, Gerald Ralph flipped a coin with him to decide which gun each man would be mounted on. With the casualty rate of the rear gunner being the highest, Ralph chose the seat which was more likely for him to survive.

The Lancaster Mk III was a night bomber. Crew members would calculate distances using equipment like sextants and guide the plane by light from the ground.

While Hart was returning from a raid on Chemnitz and flying over Bellingdon, two miles northwest of Chesham, a hung up target indicator exploded within the bomb bay. This explosion instantly killed three crew members and caused the plan to crash.

Using his parachute and exiting the plane in an instant, Hart was the only crew member to survive the incident. Three Royal Air Force and Three Australian Air Force members perished in the crash.

For Barry Hart and his wife Heather’s wedding anniversary, the couple planned for a family reunion and visit to his father’s crash site. When visiting the site, Hart put up a plaque commemorating his father. Another plaque was also placed near the grave of Ralph.

While in England, Hart also visited Bletchley Park and the National Museum of Computing. There, he saw how the enigma machines were created.

Pat Casey’s grandfather, Earle Casey, was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Casey fought in WW2 as a flight sergeant after enlisting at the age of 17 with his mother’s approval.

Like Hunt, Casey was cramped and the most vulnerable crew member positioned at the back of the bomber.

Casey’s first 11 missions went without a hitch.

While flying over Heligoland in the North Sea, Casey’s plane was shot down. Surviving in a dinghy with a broken shoulder, leg, and tip of his spine, the crew shared ration and emergency kits over 12 days, reading verses from a bible Casey’s mother had given him.

With powdered rations, the crew eventually had to resort to using their own urine to survive.

Spotted by a German in a row boat, the crew were too exhausted to run away. Casey became a POW for a brief time before the war ended.

During the ordeal, Casey’s mother received a telegram notifying her that her son was missing. The telegram remains in the possession of the family to this day.

With both physical and mental scars, fighting in WW2 changed Casey for the rest of his life.

That is why both Hart and Casey decided to present “Pat Casey and Barry Hart: A Tale of Two Tail Gunners” this Remembrance Day.

Hart says that when he was a kid, he would have the day off of school on Remembrance Day. While he would be playing hockey, his mother would call him in at 11 a.m. for a moment of silence.

“The government changed the rules in Ontario that kids must go to school on Remembrance Day and have a suitable Remembrance Day service,” said Hart.

Around 70 to 80 million deaths were because of WW2 with only 25 million of those being military service personnel.

“If the allies had lost, I think it would be a far different world today than what it is,” said Hart.

After talking to Tammy Rae of Those Other Movies, she agreed to collaborate with Hart and Casey to play the film The Great Escaper to go alongside their presentation.

The film and presentation occurred on Monday, Nov. 10 at the Haliburton Legion.

On Tuesday, Hart and Casey performed their presentation twice to high school students at Haliburton Highlands Secondary School.

Hart hopes that their presentation will inspire an interest in history and pass on remembrance to our youngest generations.

Currently, there is a push for more representation of veterans related to Haliburton County. If you know of someone that should be represented, Hart asks you to contact your local council member.