Two Aviation Memorial Services This Weekend

A pair of aviation memorial services will take place in the Saint John region this weekend.

The Pennfield Ridge memorial service will take place at the former tourism park in Pennfield at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Historian Harold Wright said the annual service honours the 85 people who died at the former Pennfield Ridge air station and Camp Utopia army base.

“The people who passed, they passed by accident, injury, illness. “The list includes those who served and those who worked there in a civilian capacity,” said Wright, a member of the 250 (Saint John) Wing of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association and the Turnbull (NB) chapter of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society.

Memorial services have been held at the former tourism park since 2006, he said.

The Pennfield Ridge air station was one of three British Commonwealth Air Training Plan schools in New Brunswick.

It was operated by both the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and closed in 1945.

The Camp Utopia army base served as a training camp during the Second World War, starting in 1943. It was used by the reserve forces after the war until 1957.

Squadron Leader (ret’d) Bruce Carter, a Second World War veteran who was stationed at Pennfield Ridge, will lay a wreath during the ceremony.

“Sadly, the number of veterans who served there is fewer and fewer each year,” said Wright.

Meanwhile, the Battle of Britain will be commemorated during a ceremony at King’s Square in Saint John at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Wright said it was the first major battle won by the allied forces in the summer and early fall of 1940.

More than 2,300 pilots from Great Britain and 574 from overseas participated in the three-month battle, including more than 100 Canadians. Nearly 550 people lost their lives, including 23 Canadians.

“There were eight New Brunswick pilots who served in the Battle of Britain and were recognized for that service. Sadly, five of those pilots died. Three of them trained in Saint John,” he said.

Family members of two of the pilots will be participating in the service, along with an Air Force veteran from the Second World War.

Wright said both services will look a bit different this year because of COVID-19 restrictions.

“We’re not laying as many wreaths, we’re sort of combining a few. The wreaths will be laid ahead of time so the official wreath layers will be able to approach the monument and the wreath on their own,” he said.

Both services are also limited to 25 invited guests, said Wright.