I thought someone would have posted this already, but I did a search and couldn't find it.
Great article on an old soldier.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060213.SOLDIER13/TPStory/National
War honour brings back old memories for Canadian
Ex-soldier had almost forgotten his role in saving the life of a French police chief
JANE ARMSTRONG
HALIFAX -- Jack Fairweather had nearly forgotten the 1944 afternoon when he saved a stranger from a firing squad in war-torn France. Then, two years ago, he received a letter from the Frenchman's daughter, who tracked him across the Atlantic Ocean to say thank you.
Now, Dr. Fairweather has received another message from France, this time from the French Prime Minister's Office, saying he is to receive the Legion of Honour for his bravery during the Second World War.
Dr. Fairweather, 82, said news of the award brought back memories of the hair-raising summer he spent in German-occupied France when he and a fellow Maritimer, Jack Veness, sought refuge with the French underground after they escaped from a prison camp not long after D-Day.
"I was surprised," Dr. Fairweather said in an interview from Lewisburg, Pa., where he has lived for the past 40 years. "My army career was 3½ years of my life, 60-some years ago. I've gone on to do other things."
Dr. Fairweather and Mr. Veness's wartime heroics were the subject of a 1954 book, The Two Jacks: The Amazing Adventures of Major Jack M. Veness and Major Jack L. Fairweather. The Canadians were with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders when Canadians landed on the Normandy coast on D-Day. The men battled the Germans for days before they were captured and sent to a German prison camp in France.
Their adventures with the French underground began after they escaped by jumping from a railway car near the city of Tours. The Canadians found refuge in a church, and a priest put them in touch with a French resistance leader named Georges Lecoze. In truth, his name was Georges Dubosq and he was a ruthless career criminal.
Dr. Fairweather said he and Mr. Veness initially stuck to Mr. Dubosq because he appeared to be a smart "survivor." But his criminal nature soon grew apparent. Over the next two months, the Canadians witnessed Mr. Dubosq routinely shoot French citizens on the pretext that they were allies of the Germans.
One day, after seizing a castle in the town of Loches, Mr. Dubosq lined up some of its citizens, including a police chief named Alfred Hangouet, and asked the Canadians to shoot him. They refused.
"We said: 'Our enemy is the Germans. We're not getting into French politics,' Dr. Fairweather said. "And [Mr. Dubosq] was quite irate about it, and stormed around.
"It was in the centre of town. These people were all lined up. Some were just shot out of hand by Georges Lecoze."
After the Loches killings, Dr. Fairweather and Mr. Vennes left Mr. Dubosq's group and sought refuge with a bona fide underground unit, which helped the Canadians escape to England.
Both men declined offers to be re-posted in Canada and rejoined their regiment in Europe.
After the war, Dr. Fairweather, a Nova Scotia native, became an obstetrician-gynecologist and moved to Pennsylvania.
Mr. Veness returned home to New Brunswick, where he began his career as an engineer. The two men remained friends until Mr. Veness's death two years ago, at age 80.
Over time, Dr. Fairweather forgot the incident with the French police chief, but in France, Mr. Hangouet always remembered the two young men, according to his daughter, Jeanine Wallace.
In a telephone interview from France, Ms. Wallace said her father spoke often of the "Allied aviators" who spared his life, but he didn't know the Canadians' names.
In the 1970s, a friend told her of the book The Two Jacks. She recognized the protagonists as the two men who saved her father, but she didn't know how to reach them.
Two years ago, she typed the book's title into an Internet search engine and saw a Globe and Mail obituary on Mr. Veness. The article quoted Dr. Fairweather and noted the city where he now lives. Ms. Wallace wrote to him.
In the final years of the war, she said it was common for criminals like Mr. Dubosq to pose as resistance fighters. Her father had been investigating Mr. Dubosq when the criminal turned on him.
Eventually, Mr. Hangouet arrested Mr. Dubosq and he was executed in the fall of 1945 on charges of murder and treason.
Ms. Wallace said the war scarred her parents, but the two Canadians remained a "light" in her father's memory and gave him a reason to believe "there was hope for mankind.
"He said: 'They [the Canadians] were very young, but very wise.' "
Dr. Fairweather said he was touched to receive Ms. Wallace's letter two years ago. He wrote back, joking that his role in saving her father made him her honorary uncle. The next time Ms. Wallace wrote, she called him "Uncle Jack."
One of Dr. Fairweather's friends in Canada eventually sent Ms. Wallace's letter to the French consul in Moncton, N.B.
Apart from rogues like Mr. Dubosq, Dr. Fairweather said he owes his life to the French resistance movement.
"I think they stuck their necks out. And I certainly wouldn't be here if it weren't for them."
A spokesman for the French Embassy in Ottawa, said Mr. Fairweather was among about 30 Canadians who were awarded the Legion of Honour for their respective roles in the liberation of France.
However, Olivier Casenave said Ms. Wallace's letter, which was forwarded to French authorities, played a role in the country's decision to honour him.
Great article on an old soldier.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060213.SOLDIER13/TPStory/National
War honour brings back old memories for Canadian
Ex-soldier had almost forgotten his role in saving the life of a French police chief
JANE ARMSTRONG
HALIFAX -- Jack Fairweather had nearly forgotten the 1944 afternoon when he saved a stranger from a firing squad in war-torn France. Then, two years ago, he received a letter from the Frenchman's daughter, who tracked him across the Atlantic Ocean to say thank you.
Now, Dr. Fairweather has received another message from France, this time from the French Prime Minister's Office, saying he is to receive the Legion of Honour for his bravery during the Second World War.
Dr. Fairweather, 82, said news of the award brought back memories of the hair-raising summer he spent in German-occupied France when he and a fellow Maritimer, Jack Veness, sought refuge with the French underground after they escaped from a prison camp not long after D-Day.
"I was surprised," Dr. Fairweather said in an interview from Lewisburg, Pa., where he has lived for the past 40 years. "My army career was 3½ years of my life, 60-some years ago. I've gone on to do other things."
Dr. Fairweather and Mr. Veness's wartime heroics were the subject of a 1954 book, The Two Jacks: The Amazing Adventures of Major Jack M. Veness and Major Jack L. Fairweather. The Canadians were with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders when Canadians landed on the Normandy coast on D-Day. The men battled the Germans for days before they were captured and sent to a German prison camp in France.
Their adventures with the French underground began after they escaped by jumping from a railway car near the city of Tours. The Canadians found refuge in a church, and a priest put them in touch with a French resistance leader named Georges Lecoze. In truth, his name was Georges Dubosq and he was a ruthless career criminal.
Dr. Fairweather said he and Mr. Veness initially stuck to Mr. Dubosq because he appeared to be a smart "survivor." But his criminal nature soon grew apparent. Over the next two months, the Canadians witnessed Mr. Dubosq routinely shoot French citizens on the pretext that they were allies of the Germans.
One day, after seizing a castle in the town of Loches, Mr. Dubosq lined up some of its citizens, including a police chief named Alfred Hangouet, and asked the Canadians to shoot him. They refused.
"We said: 'Our enemy is the Germans. We're not getting into French politics,' Dr. Fairweather said. "And [Mr. Dubosq] was quite irate about it, and stormed around.
"It was in the centre of town. These people were all lined up. Some were just shot out of hand by Georges Lecoze."
After the Loches killings, Dr. Fairweather and Mr. Vennes left Mr. Dubosq's group and sought refuge with a bona fide underground unit, which helped the Canadians escape to England.
Both men declined offers to be re-posted in Canada and rejoined their regiment in Europe.
After the war, Dr. Fairweather, a Nova Scotia native, became an obstetrician-gynecologist and moved to Pennsylvania.
Mr. Veness returned home to New Brunswick, where he began his career as an engineer. The two men remained friends until Mr. Veness's death two years ago, at age 80.
Over time, Dr. Fairweather forgot the incident with the French police chief, but in France, Mr. Hangouet always remembered the two young men, according to his daughter, Jeanine Wallace.
In a telephone interview from France, Ms. Wallace said her father spoke often of the "Allied aviators" who spared his life, but he didn't know the Canadians' names.
In the 1970s, a friend told her of the book The Two Jacks. She recognized the protagonists as the two men who saved her father, but she didn't know how to reach them.
Two years ago, she typed the book's title into an Internet search engine and saw a Globe and Mail obituary on Mr. Veness. The article quoted Dr. Fairweather and noted the city where he now lives. Ms. Wallace wrote to him.
In the final years of the war, she said it was common for criminals like Mr. Dubosq to pose as resistance fighters. Her father had been investigating Mr. Dubosq when the criminal turned on him.
Eventually, Mr. Hangouet arrested Mr. Dubosq and he was executed in the fall of 1945 on charges of murder and treason.
Ms. Wallace said the war scarred her parents, but the two Canadians remained a "light" in her father's memory and gave him a reason to believe "there was hope for mankind.
"He said: 'They [the Canadians] were very young, but very wise.' "
Dr. Fairweather said he was touched to receive Ms. Wallace's letter two years ago. He wrote back, joking that his role in saving her father made him her honorary uncle. The next time Ms. Wallace wrote, she called him "Uncle Jack."
One of Dr. Fairweather's friends in Canada eventually sent Ms. Wallace's letter to the French consul in Moncton, N.B.
Apart from rogues like Mr. Dubosq, Dr. Fairweather said he owes his life to the French resistance movement.
"I think they stuck their necks out. And I certainly wouldn't be here if it weren't for them."
A spokesman for the French Embassy in Ottawa, said Mr. Fairweather was among about 30 Canadians who were awarded the Legion of Honour for their respective roles in the liberation of France.
However, Olivier Casenave said Ms. Wallace's letter, which was forwarded to French authorities, played a role in the country's decision to honour him.
