St. Donat Memorial

Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm,

Type

Other

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission commemorates 24 War Dead of the Second World War on the St. Donat Memorial in St. Donat Cemetery, Quebec.

The 24 War Dead commemorated on the Memorial perished on 20 October 1943 as a result of a RCAF Liberator bomber crashing on “Black Mountain” near St. Donat, Quebec; all crew members were killed. Their mass grave lay undisturbed at the site until 1985 when it was desecrated by persons unknown. Members of Canadian Forces Station Lac St. Denis reburied the remains in St. Donat Cemetery on 19 June 1985.

The Memorial was refurbished in September 2018 by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to commemorate the 75^th anniversary of those who sacrificed their lives in the aircraft crash.

The names of the members who perished are also inscribed on the RCAF Liberator III Memorial erected on top of the Montagne Noire, in Saint-Donat, in memory of the victims of the tragedy.

Inscription

[front/devant]

EN SOUVENIR
DES VINGT-QUATRE MEMBRES DE
L’AVIATION ROYALE CANADIENNE
QUI ONT PERDUE LA VIE
DANS L’ÉCRASEMENT
D’UN BOMBARDIER LIBERATOR
SUR LA MONTAGNE NOIRE
LE 20 OCTOBRE 1943.

IN MEMORY
OF THE TWENTY FOUR MEMBERS
OF THE
ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE WHO
LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE CRASH
OF A LIBERATOR BOMBER ON
MONTAGNE NOIRE
ON 20TH OCTOBER 1943.

JUSQU'AUX PLUS HAUTS SOMMETS Ô DIEU,
PAR DES VOIES DIFFICILES NOUS AVONS PRIS NOTRE ENVOL
NOUS QUI SOMMES ÉLEVÉS AU-DELA DES TÉNÈBRES
AVONS TROUVÉ LA LUMIÈRE.
CELA N'EST PAS MOURIR.

...

TO THE GREAT HEIGHTS, O LORD, THROUGH DIFFICULT PATHS,
THINKS NOT OF US AS LOST, WE WHO HAVE FLOWN
ON PAST THE TUMBLED BLACKNESS OF THE SKY
THINK ONLY OF THE GOAL - FOR WE HAVE FOUND IT
TO GO INTO THE LIGHT IS NOT TO DIE

[left side/côté gauche]

R129211 WARRANT OFFICER II J. A.BARABONOFF
R 84899 CORPORAL H. D. BEATTIE
R 173349 L. D. G. AIRCRAFTMAN C.L. DYNES
R 74645 SERGEANT F. H. ELLIOTT
R 72026 SERGEANT E. M. FINN
J 5821 FLIGHT LIEUTENANT R. F. FISHER
R 78656 CORPORAL H. K. HAMBLY
R 113408 WARRANT OFFICER 1 W. HOWLETT
R 72936 WARRANT OFFICER 1 F. E. JENKINS
R 64066 CORPORAL A. C. JOHNSTON
J 7987 FLYING OFFICER J. S. JOHNSTON
J 39103 PILOT OFFICER J. LAMONT