Warrior mentality: Russell Harrison's lessons in life — and banking — parachuting behind enemy lines on D-Day
After graduating with a Commerce degree in 1943, Harrison concluded that with the Second World War already raging, conscription would soon be invoked. Rather than await the inevitable, he enlisted and learned lessons during the war that would colour his career in banking.
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Global News
3 days ago
- Global News
Nagasaki marks 80 years since A-bomb, survivors put hopes of nuclear ban in hands of youth
The southern Japanese city of Nagasaki on Saturday marked 80 years since the U.S. atomic attack that killed tens of thousands and left survivors who hope their harrowing memories can help make their hometown the last place on Earth to be hit by a nuclear bomb. The United States launched the Nagasaki attack on Aug. 9, 1945, killing 70,000 by the end of that year, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima that killed 140,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending the Second World War and the nearly half-century of aggression by the country across Asia. About 2,600 people, including representatives from more than 90 countries, attended a memorial event at Nagasaki Peace Park, where Mayor Shiro Suzuki and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba spoke, among other guests. View image in full screen People observe a minute of silence at the Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Park, during a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the day an atomic bomb was dropped on Japanese southwestern city, in Nagasaki, Japan Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. Eugene Hoshiko/ The Associated Press At 11:02 a.m., the exact time when the plutonium bomb exploded above Nagasaki, participants observed a moment of silence as a bell rang. Story continues below advertisement 'Even after the war ended, the atomic bomb brought invisible terror,' 93-year-old survivor Hiroshi Nishioka said in his speech at the memorial, noting that many who had survived without severe wounds started bleeding from gums and losing hair and died. 'Never use nuclear weapons again, or we're finished,' he said. Doves released Dozens of doves, a symbol of peace, were released after a speech by Suzuki, whose parents are survivors of the attack. He said that the city's memories of the bombing are 'a common heritage and should be passed down for generations' in and outside Japan. View image in full screen August 9, 2025: Doves are released during a memorial ceremony held at Peace Park in Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 2025, to mark the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the southwestern Japan city during the Second World War. Credit: Kyodonews via ZUMA Press 'The existential crisis of humanity has become imminent to each and every one of us living on Earth,' Suzuki said. Story continues below advertisement 'In order to make Nagasaki the last atomic bombing site now and forever, we will go hand-in-hand with global citizens and devote our utmost efforts toward the abolition of nuclear weapons and the realization of everlasting world peace.' 'A world without war' Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Survivors and their families gathered Saturday in rainy weather at Peace Park and nearby Hypocenter Park, located below the bomb's exact detonation spot, hours before the official ceremony. 'I simply seek a world without war,' said Koichi Kawano, an 85-year-old survivor who laid flowers at the hypocenter monument decorated with colorful origami paper cranes and other offerings. View image in full screen Paper cranes are placed with messages against nuclear weapons in the park marking the hypocenter of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, on Aug. 9, 2025, the 80th anniversary of the attack during the Second World War. Credit: Kyodonews via ZUMA Press Some others prayed at churches in Nagasaki, home to Catholic converts who went deep underground during centuries of violent persecution in Japan's feudal era. The twin bells at Urakami Cathedral, which was destroyed in the bombing, also rang together again after one of the bells that had gone missing following the attack was restored by volunteers. Story continues below advertisement Despite their pain from wounds, discrimination and illnesses from radiation, survivors have publicly committed to a shared goal of abolishing nuclear weapons. But they worry about the world moving in the opposite direction. 3:05 WW2 Nagasaki atomic bomb survivor calls for disarmament Passing down lessons Aging survivors and their supporters in Nagasaki now put their hopes of achieving nuclear weapons abolition in the hands of younger people, telling them the attack isn't distant history, but an issue that remains relevant to their future. 'There are only two things I long for: the abolition of nuclear weapons and prohibition of war,' said Fumi Takeshita, an 83-year-old survivor. 'I seek a world where nuclear weapons are never used and everyone can live in peace.' In the hope of passing down the lessons of history to current and future generations, Takeshita visits schools to share her experience with children. Story continues below advertisement 'When you grow up and remember what you learned today, please think what each of you can do to prevent war,' Takeshita told students during a school visit earlier this week. View image in full screen A woman offers prayer in the rain at the Atomic Bomb Hypocenter Park, as Japan commemorates the 80th anniversary of the day an atomic bomb was dropped on its southwestern city, in Nagasaki, Japan Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. Eugene Hoshiko/ The Associated Press Teruko Yokoyama, an 83-year-old member of a Nagasaki organization supporting survivors, said that she thinks of the growing absence of those she had worked with, and that fuels her desire to document the lives of others who are still alive. The number of survivors has fallen to 99,130, about a quarter of the original number, with their average age exceeding 86. Survivors worry about fading memories, as the youngest of the survivors were too young to clearly recall the attack. 'We must keep records of the atomic bombing damages of the survivors and their lifetime story,' said Yokoyama, whose two sisters died after suffering illnesses linked to radiation. Story continues below advertisement Her organization has started to digitize the narratives of survivors for viewing on YouTube and other social media platforms with the help of a new generation. 'There are younger people who are beginning to take action,' Yokoyama told The Associated Press on Friday. 'So I think we don't have to get depressed yet.' Nagasaki hosted a 'peace forum' on Friday where survivors shared their stories with more than 300 young people from around the country. Seiichiro Mise, a 90-year-old survivor, said that he's handing seeds of 'flowers of peace' to the younger generation in hopes of seeing them bloom. View image in full screen South Korean residents living in Japan and Japanese guests observe a minute of silence for the victims of the atomic bombing, during a memorial service for Korean atomic bomb victims ahead of a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the bombing near Nagasaki Peace Park, Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, in Nagasaki, western Japan. Eugene Hoshiko/ The Associated Press Japan's security dilemma Survivors are frustrated by a growing nuclear threat and support among international leaders for developing or possessing nuclear weapons for deterrence. Story continues below advertisement They criticize the Japanese government's refusal to sign or even participate in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as an observer because Japan, as an American ally, says it needs U.S. nuclear possession as deterrence. In Ishiba's speech, the prime minister reiterated Japan's pursuit of a nuclear-free world, pledging to promote dialogue and cooperation between countries with nuclear weapons and nonnuclear states at the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons review conference scheduled for April and May 2026 in New York. 3:05 Nagasaki survivor says a mistake could lead to nuclear war, 80 years after atomic bomb explosion Ishiba didn't mention the nuclear weapons ban treaty. 'Countries must move from words to action by strengthening the global disarmament regime,' with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or NPT, at the center, complemented by the momentum created by the nuclear weapons ban treaty, said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, in his message read by Under-Secretary-General Izumi Nakamitsu in Nagasaki. Story continues below advertisement Nagasaki invited representatives from all countries to attend the ceremony on Saturday. The government in China notably notified the city that it wouldn't be present without providing a reason. The ceremony last year stirred controversy because of the absence of the U.S. ambassador and other Western envoys in response to the Japanese city's refusal to invite officials from Israel.
Global News
02-08-2025
- Global News
Ceremony held for RCAF pilot killed in Cape Breton crash while training in 1944
According to his Royal Canadian Air Force service records, 21-year-old Pilot Officer Bill Bennet was a fine airman. Described as tall and wiry, his commanding officer noted in March 1944 that the Montreal man was also 'enthusiastic and intelligent.' And as the Second World War in Europe entered its final phase that summer, Bennet was made a staff pilot at the RCAF station in Summerside, P.E.I., where he started training to fly reconnaissance aircraft or bombers. On Aug. 6, 1944, Bennet was tasked with flying a twin-engine Avro Anson V training aircraft carrying two navigators and one radio operator. Their routine mission that Sunday was to fly east from Summerside to a point over the Gulf of St. Lawrence north of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia and then return. But something went wrong over the water. The aircraft was well south of where it should have been. And as it entered a thick bank of fog, Bennett began a descent that he hoped would bring the plane below the haze. Story continues below advertisement Instead of emerging above the vast gulf, the aircraft suddenly plowed through a stand of small trees. Its wings, tail and one engine were torn off as it slammed into the side of Jerome Mountain on the western edge of Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Bennet was badly injured, having suffered a fractured skull. Incredibly, the other three men had only minor wounds. Given the steep, rough terrain, it wasn't until the next afternoon that a search party reached the remote crash site northeast of the Acadian village of Cheticamp, N.S. The searchers were told Bennet had died during the night. 2:26 RCAF celebrates 100 years in the sky The three survivors — 20-year-old navigator John Robert Ogilvie and 22-year-old navigator William John Astle, both of Edmonton, and 22-year-old communications officer Jack Roy Burke of Wallaceburg, Ont. — managed to hike down the mountain by late Monday. But it would take another day before Bennet's body could be recovered. Story continues below advertisement Jeff Noakes, Second World War historian at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, said an RCAF inquiry later found the plane's compass wasn't working properly. As well, he said investigators determined the navigators and the pilot weren't communicating as well as they should have been. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'The RCAF ultimately concluded that they weren't 100 per cent sure why there was an error in the navigation,' Noakes said in an interview. On Saturday, more than 80 years after the crash, a non-profit group based in Cheticamp — Les Amis du Plein Air — held a public ceremony to unveil two commemorative panels at a campsite in the shadow of the mountain. Among those in the crowd of about 50 people was one of Bennet's nephews, 63-year-old Bill Bennet of Ottawa, who was named after his late uncle. He said it was important for him and his two children, Liam and Nora, to travel to Cape Breton to be part of the unveiling. 'My son is 21,' Bill Bennet said, his voice cracking with emotion as he recalled his uncle was the same age when he died. 'I want to make them aware of our family's connection to the war and what that means. It's also a chance to connect with the people of Cheticamp … about the efforts (their ancestors) made to rescue these men in this very rugged terrain …. I think of the sacrifice of my uncle, but there are so many more people involved in this whole story.' Story continues below advertisement 2:52 Remembering the Canadian general who helped secure Dutch freedom during WWII Bill Bennet's 65-year-old brother Doug, who travelled from Toronto with his wife Nancy and their children Nathan and Eliza, said his uncle's tragic story illustrates the sacrifices made by those who took part in the British Commonwealth Air Training Program, often described as among Canada's most important contributions to the war effort. By the end of the war, the program had graduated more than 131,000 pilots, observers, flight engineers and other aircrew for the air forces of Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand. More than half joined the RCAF. It was often dangerous work. In all, 856 trainees were killed, though some sources suggest the number is much higher. 'It was a huge cost,' Doug Bennet said before the ceremony began. 'And they were almost all in their late teens and early 20s.' Story continues below advertisement Erin Gregory, curator at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, said most Canadians are more familiar with the sacrifices made overseas during the Second World War. 'It's important to mark this moment of service and sacrifice at home, which is at least as important as what happened overseas,' Gregory said. 'As part of the war effort, it was extremely important and it was dangerous.'
Toronto Star
02-08-2025
- Toronto Star
Ceremony held for RCAF pilot killed in Cape Breton crash while training in 1944
HALIFAX - According to his Royal Canadian Air Force service records, 21-year-old Pilot Officer Bill Bennet was a fine airman. Described as tall and wiry, his commanding officer noted in March 1944 that the Montreal man was also 'enthusiastic and intelligent.' And as the Second World War in Europe entered its final phase that summer, Bennet was made a staff pilot at the RCAF station in Summerside, P.E.I., where he started training to fly reconnaissance aircraft or bombers.
