Marie Calder hopes that her latest book will create more awareness of the plane crash south of Estevan in 1946 that shook the community and left 21 dead.
Together Forever in the Clouds is a 167-page non-fiction book penned by Calder that pays tribute to the 20 Royal Canadian Air Force pilots and one groundscrewman who died in the crash at the former Estevan Airport site.
“It’s been five years, six years, really, in the making, It seems surreal,” Calder told the Mercury. “I haven’t been this excited for quite some time.”
The book arrived last Wednesday and is now available for purchase at A&A Jewellery and Carnduff Agencies, or by contacting Calder at [email protected]. It costs $30, although it is $40 if shipping is required.
Calder penned the 25-book Other Side Series that chronicled her father Edmond Donais’ experiences as a mechanic with the Canadian Army in Germany after the Second World War. When she finished that series in 2019 with the Other Side of Reunion, she thought that she was going to take a break from writing. But by that time, she already had the inspiration to write Together Forever in the Clouds.
Calder’s latest book shares information about the squadron that the victims of the plane crash were part of, and then it goes into detail about the accident. There are pictures of the crash site and the mass funeral.
There is a chapter for each of the men who died, with tributes from family members and photos.
“It took years to find … members of all of the families, but we did accomplish that,” said Calder. “Because of that, I was able to really tap into their memories, and this is what I was hoping for, I was hoping to write about … but I wanted to present them as the people they were, and not just a rank and a number.”
Angela Clements and Lynn Kindopp of Estevan, Lois Wilson of Regina and Jack Borno of Alberta helped Calder track down the families of the final four people she was looking for, by using Ancestry and other resources. By June 2020, they had been in contact with all 21 families.
“If you would have told me that I had just won the lottery, I could not have been as excited as I was when we found each of these families,” Calder said.
Military documents, pictures and other sorts of data are also found in the book. Siblings of the men aboard the flight, and children of the victims, helped to provide some necessary information.
Finally, there a couple of letters from the pilots that she was able to include. One was written by a man from Glenbain, a week before he died. Another was by someone who wrote to his mother in Regina about what it was like to be on a bombing run.
“We get a bird’s eye view, sometimes, of what their lives were like,” said Calder.
The cover has photos of each of the 21 men who died, and Calder believes the cover shows each person as an individual.
The book’s final chapter is on Darren Jones, the chainsaw artist from Rimbey, Alta., who carved the Estevan Soldiers’ Tree that is in downtown Estevan, the Forever in the Clouds monument for the plane crash of 1946 that is located south of Estevan, and numerous other items in Estevan.
The final chapter also chronicles how Calder and Estevan’s Lester Hinzman conceived the idea for the Soldiers’ Tree, which was supposed to have two soldiers but ended up with seven.
It was during the discussion of the Soldiers’ Tree that Calder and Hinzman discussed the plane crash of 1946 and how sad it was, but also how unfortunate it was that there was nothing to commemorate and honour the victims.
“Family members have since told me that they have come to Estevan looking for something, but they found nothing,” said Calder.
The book wouldn’t have happened without the family members.
Together Forever in the Clouds also came out a week after she met Al Ennis of Victoria, B.C. He was here in 1946 as a member of the RCAF rifle party at the funeral.
“I’ve had a lot happening in the past week, and I am so blessed. I just feel that I am grateful for all of the people who have come into my life and all those who have helped me, because I could not have done this alone. It was definitely a group effort.”
Calder has another children’s book coming out that is currently with her publisher, but now that she is finished this latest labour of love, she is looking forward to a little bit of a break.
Ultimately, her goal for Together Forever in the Clouds is to create more awareness of the tragic event that occurred in Estevan 75 years ago. She and others have done a lot of work to help people understand what happened, but ultimately she believes she needs help and she needs others to step up.
“Let’s talk about and let’s honour all who have and who have continued to serve. That’s what the Soldiers’ Tree was all about. We want Canadians to realize that freedom is not free,” she said.
