Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Pilot Officer Walter Bartholomew McManus - Course 22

A group of aviation enthusiasts in Northern Ireland is ensuring that the tragic commitment of a Canadian fighter pilot in the Second World War will not be forgotten. The Ulster Aviation Society is planning a dedication event in honour of Walter McManus, a young RCAF pilot originally from St. Thomas. Walter left his London, Ontario law firm to join the air force in 1941, but died barely a year later before he even had a chance to meet the enemy. Walter, 27, was killed January 7, 1942 when his No. 504 Squadron Spitfire P7823 crashed near Lurgan, County Down, Ireland. The dedication ceremony, to be held in the spring of 2015, will centre on a replica Spitfire IIa, which the aviation group is currently repainting in the markings of Walter’s fighter. The Ulster society acquired the fibreglass Spitfire in December 2013. Walter’s Spitfire was one of 17 bought during the war by donations through one of the most successful public campaigns mounted in the United Kingdom. The Belfast Telegraph Spitfire Fund originally was aimed at buying just one Spitfire, but the response grew into a landslide of public generosity. Each aircraft was christened for a community, county or region in Northern Ireland. Spitfire P7823 was named after County Down, with that name inscribed on the nose. “And that’s the name we’ve decided upon,” Burrows said. “It’s the only Spitfire from that fund which was actually based in Northern Ireland. Walter McManus came a long way from home to help us at a critical time and he gave his young life for us, like so many others. He was based at a County Down airfield, RAF Ballyhalbert, and he’s buried in a country churchyard at Ballycranbeg, only 10 minutes from there.”
(Photo: The full-sized replica Spitfire of the Ulster Aviation Society, which is currently being re-painted in the markings of the Spitfire flown by Canadian pilot Walter McManus. The aircraft is seen here near the Mountains of Mourne in County Down, where Walter was based during the Second World War.) A short remembrance ceremony was held last week at the gravesides of Walter and several other fighter pilots who died during their RAF service at Ballyhalbert. Walter was raised in St. Thomas and London and graduated from the University of Western Ontario. He received his law degree from Osgoode Hall. He had been in practice with the Arthur Lebel law firm in London, with bright prospects ahead—and not just professional but personal, in the form of Kathleen Hunt from Hamilton. They married May 24, 1941. Shortly after the wedding, Walter shipped out from Halifax, taking time only to send a quick telegram to his bride, promising to return “with all possible haste.” “Meanwhile,” he added, “keep interested and interesting and don’t worry about anything. I love you very tremendously and won’t leave you again.” He never returned, a victim of his Spitfire’s crash near the town of Lurgan. The cause was never determined. (St. Thomas-Elgin Weekly News November 2014)

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