Memories of WWII veteran Ralph Hamel

By Joan Janzen

Lucille Knorr of Kindersley received the surprising news that a book had just been published about her dad’s WWII bombing mission. After a time lapse of 75 years, this certainly was unexpected news. After all, Ralph Hamel had passed away in 1968.

The book is called - Luck is 33 Eggs - Memories & Photographs of an RCAF Navigator. It’s written by WWII navigator Robert J. Middleton (better known as Bob), and co-authored by his son Dan Middleton.

The title - Luck is 33 Eggs was chosen because after each of the crew’s 33 night raids and debriefing, each crew member feasted on one real egg (which were rationed) along with bacon. It was considered very lucky to return and enjoy their breakfast.

Lucille received the sad news of Robert Middleton’s recent passing on Wed., Oct. 13, 2021, at age 98. His son Dan said Robert, “broke the surly bonds of earth”, to navigate among the stars in heaven that he had trusted many years ago.

Bob Middleton lived in Scarborough, Ontario up until his passing. Lucille discovered Bob had been a member of her dad’s bombing crew, along with five other men. The remaining crew consisted of Ray Rose from Victoria, B.C. - bomb aimer, Don Rambough from Gananoque, Ont. - pilot, Jack Cornock from Toronto - rear gunner, Ken Smith from Windsor, Ont. - wireless operator, and Art Morency, from Montreal - flight engineer. Ralph Hamel was the mid-upper gunner, the only crew member from Saskatchewan, and by far the eldest member, at the age of 37 years.

A “crewing up” assembly was where the crews were formed. About 75 to 80 guys, all with different trades, gathered inside a huge hall, and the fellows were told to find crew partners. It took five minutes to choose who they wanted to spend the rest of the war with, but they would soon become like a band of brothers. This 7-man crew began doing raids together in August of 1944.

In the book, Bob expresses his surprise that Ralph, as a Saskatchewan wheat farmer from Rose Valley, with a wife and five kids managed to get into the RCAF. Although farmers would have been considered as an essential service, Ralph obviously was willing to put his life on the line for the war effort.

Ralph and his wife Evelyn’s family would eventually include nine children: Sheila Deschner, Lucille Knorr, Moira Trevalean, Dave, Ron, Royal and Alvin. Sheila Deschner, Ron, Don and Roger are now deceased. A few years after the war ended, the family moved to the Coleville - Kindersley area.

Lucille was the sibling who received a text from a cousin asking her to send her contact information, which was then forwarded to Bob Middleton. Shortly afterward, Lucille received photos of her dad’s war time efforts, and was told about the recently published book. Robert’s son, Dan, offered to send her and her family members copies.

There were more pleasant surprises in store for Lucille! She and her son Wade, who resides in Ottawa, travelled to the Trenton Air Force Museum this past July, where they met with Dan and Robert Middleton.

“It was a blessing from God to me,” Lucille said. “It reached a hand out from the past and brought my daddy alive again.” She was also pleased to see her father honoured in this way, since he had not received an honour guard at his funeral because he wasn’t a member of the Legion.

It also brought back many memories for Lucille, even though she was a young pre-schooler when her dad was in the war. “My mom seemed to sense when my dad was on a bombing raid, because she couldn’t sleep,” Lucille recalled. “I slept with her. I was only four, and I’d wake up at night and she’d be crying, but I didn’t let her know I was awake. The next morning she would hear Lorne Green’s voice on the BBC news saying his squadron had been on a raid. You had to have a licence to have a battery operated radio at that time and you saved your battery for morning broadcast so it would last.”

Lucille’s family had a constant reminder of the war nearby. “Our area was a training centre for fighter pilots,” she said. “We listened to them all day. It was entertainment for us as kids, but it must have been a sad reminder for my mom.”

Ralph and his crew completed their last mission on Feb. 27, 1945. The pilot of each crew had to complete 35 missions for the crew to finish their tour. Until December of 1944, crews were required to complete 30 missions on a tour, but this increased to 35 at that time. This crew had completed 33 missions together and their pilot had completed 35 operations. When the war ended, Lucille’s dad was home on furlough; she will never forget the joy everyone experienced that day!

Photo of Robert Middleton, Lucille Knorr and her son Wade Knorr meet at an outdoor restaurant in Trenton.