Erected by the Canadian War Museum, this memorial, the Barney Danson theatre and plaque, is dedicated to the memory of Barnett (Barney) Danson, PC, CC, and to his four closest war-time friends killed in action; Sgt Fred B. Harris-Queen's,Lt Gerald Rayner, Lt Earl R. Stoll, Lt Harlan David Keely.
The Canadian War Museum wanted to memorialize Barney Danson's leadership and tireless support for the construction of a national shrine to Canada's military history. Danson was a former defence minister under Pierre Trudeau. He chaired the advisory committee that resulted in the war museum being opened in 2005, and a theatre there is named after him.
The following is an excerpt from "Thestar.com" OTTAWA—Erected by the Canadian War Museum, this memorial, the Barney Danson theatre and plaque, is dedicated to the memory of Barnett (Barney) Danson, PC, CC, WWII soldier and former Minister of National Defence.
Barney Danson’s life was forged on the battlefields of Normandy, where he was wounded, lost his three best friends and the sight in one eye, and found himself as a person.
Danson, who died on 18 October 2011, returned from the Second World War to found a successful business and an equally successful political career that saw him become defence minister. He went on to win many awards, help build the Canadian War Museum and be named a companion of Order of Canada.
But it was his experiences at war with the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, where he rose to lieutenant from ordinary rifleman, that had the greatest impact on him.
Danson was born in Toronto in 1921 and enlisted in February 1939, right after his 18th birthday and even before the start of the war.
The buck private was eventually commissioned a lieutenant before landing in Normandy. His combat career lasted only a few weeks before he was badly wounded.
Like many veterans, Danson came home from the war determined to make changes in the world he had fought for. First, however, he had to build a business and make a life for himself and wife Isobel, the young British woman he had married while overseas in 1943.
He went to work in the family insurance business, formed his own plastics company and established a consulting firm.
In 1968, Danson won the Toronto riding of York North. He was Trudeau’s parliamentary secretary from 1970 to 1972, and minister for urban affairs in 1974. Later became one of the last defence ministers with military service in his resume.
As defence minister, one of his proudest moments was the selection of the CF-18 as the new generation of fighter-bomber, even though it wasn’t actually purchased during his tenure.
Danson was defeated in the 1979 federal election and returned to Toronto and his business after almost 11 years in the House of Commons.
Although Danson had never been active as a war veteran, he began to consider what he could do to honour the fading memory of his lost companions, whom he remembered as “the beautiful, young Canadians.”
When asked to produce a TV series on Canada’s war, entitled No Price Too High, he jumped at it.
When the Canadian War Museum stumbled into a controversy in the mid-1990s over a plan to build an addition with a special Holocaust Gallery, Danson was called in to lead an advisory committee and straighten out the mess. He raised another couple of million dollars and helped win federal approval for a whole new museum.
Danson was named an officer of the Order of Canada in 1996. In 2008 he was promoted to a companion of the order. In 2007, he was named a chevalier of France’s Legion of Honour.
In 2000, the Conference of Defence Associations gave him their Vimy Award, an honour given annually to someone who has made a great contribution to defence.
