CNN iReport CNN iReport

In Texas fields, no poppies blow; "forgotten" Canadians and Britons

November 11, 2008 | Fort Worth, Texas | Vetting explained

dunkelberg Posted by:
dunkelberg

  • Viewed 28,331 times
  • Shared 95 times
 
iReport —

During World War I, thousands of  Royal Flying Corps officers and men came to Texas for flight training.  However, many came only to die without ever facing the enemy and never returning home to Canada or the UK.

 

This video is about eleven of those men.

 

The graves in the video are at Greenwood Cemetery.  Every other year, the cemetery hosts a commemoration at the site on Memorial Day, the American holiday honoring war dead.

 

My mother says in World War II, a Canadian cousin ( a real cousin by blood) came to Fort Worth for flight training.  He then went to Liberal, Kansas, for advanced training and was lost in a crash.   My mother says they first suspected Nazi sabotage, but eventually the kids in the family blamed the government.  Wayne washed out of pilot school and became a navigator.  Mother says the kids decided it was the government's failure to make Wayne a pilot that cost his life and the lives of his crew.  Not sure which government she meant.

Comments

Log in to comment

iReport welcomes a lively discussion, so comments on iReports are not pre-screened before they post. See the iReport community guidelines for details about content that is not welcome on iReport.

What is iReport?

  • Share

    Tell a story, offer an opinion, say what's important to you.

  • Discuss

    Join the conversation on the day's big issues.

  • Be heard

    The best iReports get vetted and used on CNN platforms.

iReport is a user-generated section of CNN.com. The stories here come from users. CNN has vetted only the stories marked with the "CNN" badge. MORE...