Duane Hicks
The Fort Frances Museum recently was able to give a helping hand to the Netherlands thanks to a timely coincidence.
Museum volunteer Maxine Hayes was working on the ongoing wartime exhibit, “We Remember Them,” continuing her dedicated research into district men and women who served in World War I and II, and came across Capt. James “Mel” Melvin Donnelly.
Two weeks ago, she put up a poster on the wall including Donnelly’s photo and information.
The son of Frank and Agnes Donnelly, he worked at Newman Motor Sales here prior to enlisting with the 37th Medium Battery Royal Canadian Artillery in July, 1940.
Donnelly trained at Camp Shilo and Petawawa prior to going overseas as a sergeant in 1941.
He took his officers’ training in England and was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1943. That year, he went to North Africa and Italy, where he was promoted to captain and moved to the Western Front.
Donnelly was killed in the Netherlands at the Battle of Otterloo in 1945.
Last week, out of the blue, the town was contacted by Netherlands resident Jan A. Vos, who is helping to put together a book on the Battle of Otterloo.
He asked the museum for a photo of Capt. Donnelly, who is among the 17 Canadian soldiers and six British ones who lost their lives during the Battle of Otterloo on April 15-17, 1945.
Donnelly’s name is placed on a plaque in Vos’ village.
“We are preparing now a book about this event because it’s just 70 years ago that we were liberated by the Canadians and English soldiers,” Vos wrote in an e-mail.
“We try now to find a photo of all the soldiers who died over here because we think that the photo gives ‘a face’ to the man whom gave highest they can give, their life,” he added.
The museum was able to provide the photo.
“It’s exciting,” Hayes said of the coincidence.
“We just put it up,” marvelled museum curator Sherry George, referring to Donnelly’s profile, which also mentions he had a brother, Flight Officer Murray Donnelly, who served with the RCAF overseas.
Hayes said Donnelly’s story also provides a different perspective on the sacrifices during wartime.
“He was in the Netherlands and he’s a hero over there,” she remarked.
“Most of these guys fought in famous battles somewhere and they aren’t even heroes here.”
Hayes’ research has been full of heartfelt stories and little-known facts.
Just one of many love stories included Irene Surynt, a prisoner of war who looked after soldier Walter Pryzbylski when he was sick.
They ended up marrying and coming to Canada. She was a nurse at La Verendrye Hospital here.
Perusing the exhibit, you’ll never known what you’ll find.
“I knew Trudy Guimond all my life. I never knew she worked for the Dutch underground,” said George.
“There’s so many things about people you read about and think, ‘Oh my goodness.’
“These are wonderful stories,” she enthused.
“You can pick any one and find something that you didn’t know,” echoed Hayes.
A recent addition to the exhibit is a video featuring an interview with local resident Mary vandenBrand, who shares her recollections of being a child in occupied Holland.
The public is welcome to watch it on a TV set up at the museum.
Info wanted
The exhibit marking the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI, as well as the 75th anniversary of the beginning of WWII, opened in September after nine months of planning by the museum, the Royal Canadian Legion Br. #29, and the local Legion Ladies’ Auxiliary.
Since that time, Hayes has been receiving information from district residents, and doing research on her own, on a daily basis.
The names and any information on those who served in either war then are put on posters and up on the museum walls.
But for as much information as the museum has gathered, Hayes said there’s much more out there—and the museum would love to know more before the exhibit ends in April.
Hayes noted they’ve got more than 400 names and profiles up on the walls, but there’s probably upwards of 4,000 district men and women in total who served in either war.
“If you’ve got a relative who was in the war, come on in and make sure we’ve got what information you want to say about them,” said Hayes.
She added if she has the person’s name, she has had success finding some information about them through obituaries. But she needs the families to help by providing a photo and any military information they have.
“It’s hard to track down the military information ourselves,” noted George, saying even the Legion sometimes only has a name and information as to which military branch the individual served in.
“And usually the only information that’s in the paper is if the soldier was killed,” said Hayes.
“So those that survived, it’s pretty hard to get that information,” George conceded.
Hayes said there are plenty of examples where families had at least four sons who fought, but the museum only has information on some of the siblings.
For example, the Armstrong family saw six brothers—Bernard, Phillip, Francis, Vincent, Gerard, and Alvin—serve in WWII but the museum only has information on three of them.
George said the exhibit will come down in April, after which time the museum plans to compile all of the information it’s gathered about veterans into a binder as a permanent resource there.
The more they have for it, the better.
She added although the 75th anniversary of the beginning of WWII has passed, in the next five years there will be anniversaries of the various conflicts of World War II and the liberations of various countries.
Consequently, there will be more and more services in Europe.
“It would be nice if we could raise as much excitement over here,” George remarked.
Any district residents who had relatives serve in either world war is encouraged to drop by the museum and provide it with any information they have, if they have not done so already.
The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
You also can 274-7891 or e-mail sgeorge@fort-frances.com
