147 Airwolf squadron planning new memorial for 1945 bomber crash

Planning is underway for a new memorial for 11 airmen who lost their lives in 1945 when their bomber crashed on Mt Welch near Chilliwack shortly after taking off from Abbotsford airport.

Lieutenant Ron Shore from the 147 Airwolf squadron says a memorial had been built on the mountain in 1983 but that it has fallen into disrepair.

“The monument had been washed away from the side of the river and is now facedown in the middle of airplane creek. So what we did is put together a project to create a new memorial for the men, something that people would actually see, because this was really high up in the mountains and not really accessible to too many people.”

Shore says the hope is that it will be more than a memorial, that it will also make people more aware of the region’s military aviation history.

“Many people don’t know that Abbotsford and Boundary Bay airports played a critical role in training pilots for the Commonwealth in World War 2, and we want to bring back some of that rich history of the Abbotsford and Chilliwack area to say there were over 10, 000 men trained her in Abbotsford.”

Shore says they’ve narrowed down possible locations to a couple of options on Chilliwack River Road and hope to have the project finished by the fall.