CANORA — “I thought it was time to bring my uncle Emery home.”
On June 1, Shelley-Price Jones was scheduled to be a guest at the Canora Legion Dugout lunch following the Decoration Day service at the Canora Cemetery. Unfortunately, air quality concerns caused the cancellation of the service.
But the Legion went ahead and hosted an informal gathering at the Dugout, where Price-Jones presented President Cathy Trach, representing the Canora Legion, with a number of mementos and valued items from the time when her uncle, Pilot Officer Emery Orville “Flash” Fennell of Canora, served his country.
“Because Emery is one of our hometown children and because his name is on our Honour Roll and that every Remembrance Day, we do call out his name, we, the Canora Legion, decided to honour Shelley’s request in bringing him home,” said Trach.
Fennell died in 1940, while flying a Second World War mission in the conflict with the Nazis.
Donated items include a scrapbook donated by Fennell’s sister, Myrtle Victoria Fennell. This scrapbook not only has news clippings about E.O. Fennell, but also his brother, William Loren Fennell, and other members of the Canora community.
Price-Jones donated one of Fennell’s trunks to the Canora Legion. She presented another Fennell trunk to her cousin, Garth Hammerstrom, whom she met for the first time on June 1. Hammerstrom has lived in both Preeceville and Canora, and was visibly moved by the gift.
Another presentation by Price-Jones to the Canora Legion was a framed photo of Pilot Officer Fennell and Fennell Lake. It was a practice of the Canadian government during the Second World War to name lakes after soldiers who did not make it home. Fennell Lake is located north of La Loche, in northwestern Saskatchewan.
One of the newspaper clippings in the donated scrapbook is the story of Fennell’s death.
The story states that Fennell was “reported to be missing by the British Ministry following the big air raid on the German isle of Sylt on March 19, 1940.”
In her research, Price-Jones discovered that, following the discovery of her uncle’s body, the Germans gave him “a funeral service with full military honours, black helmeted and booted German soldiers lining the route and a grave with ornate cross bearing EO FENNELL, and even a young girl placing flowers on the freshly closed grave. They had buried Emery in a place of honour in the town cemetery of Westerland, near Hornum, Sylt. His remains have since been moved by the War Grave Commission to Kiel, Germany.”
Also donated to the Canora Legion was information on other veterans from Canora and area.
The donated items mentioned will be made available for viewing by the Canora Legion at a later date.
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