January 31, 2020. Over the past few years, readers of this blog will be familiar with the story of one name on the Cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion – that of WWII pilot Elmer Bagnall MUTTART, who lost his life on October 12, 1941 when the bomber he was piloting was shot down over Wons, The Netherlands. Muttart was the only casualty, as he was able to keep the plane in the air and steady long enough for the crew of Halifax L9561 to parachute out, and to avoid the village of Wons.  On October 12, 2019, a memorial panel to honour the crew on their last flight together was unveiled in Wons.  (See On The War Memorial Trail…..The Memorial Panel In Wons Is Unveiled!)

Pieter had brought his video camera for the events of October 12, 2019 to document the events. His cousin François Breugelmans took over the filming whenever Pieter was engaged in one of the events.  Several of us took photos.

Wendy Nattress.  (Photo credit: Graeme Nattress)

All this footage was turned over to post-production editor Wendy Nattress, a volunteer who spent countless hours editing our raw material and turned it into a short documentary, which can be seen on YouTube.  Wendy told us that “It has been a real honour working on this project.  Thank you for the work you are doing and for letting me be a part of it!”

Wendy’s young son Oli did several illustrations depicting the events of the night of October 12, 1941, and volunteered his time and talent for this documentary.

Oli Nattress painting one of the illustrations used in the video.  (Photo credit: Wendy Nattress)

We would not have been able to produce the video “He Died That We Might Live … the story of Halifax L9561” without the goodwill and support of volunteers like Wendy and Oli for this project.  We hope you enjoy the video which commemorates one event during WWII that changed the lives of so many people.

For a short video of the story behind the memorial panel see:

If anyone has a story or photo to share about any of the names on the Cenotaph outside the Borden-Carleton Legion, please contact Pieter at memorialtrail@gmail.com or comment on the blog.

© Daria Valkenburg

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