Fowlerville woman honors great uncle who died as Canadian airman in WWII

Patricia Alvord, Livingston Daily
·4 min read

FOWLERVILLE - After receiving an email out of the blue, Michelle Spisz learned a forgotten bit of her family's history and how she was connected to a bomber that was shot down almost 80 years ago during World War II.

"There's a group of people that have been working on the story a lot longer than I have. In fact, one of them is an amateur historian and the other one is one of the new other members of the crew," Spisz said. "What they have been putting together for the last 18-plus years is this story of all these men that went down with the Royal Canadian Air Force and so I was one of the missing links. One of the last families that they were trying to find."

The story begins with an Avro Lancaster R5695EM-C being shot down Nov. 25, 1942, over the Atlantic Ocean by a German fighter. The bomber had eight airmen on board, including Spisz' great uncle James Louis Guichard, James McGregor Allen, Eugene Edward Chouiniere, John Janes Gallimore, Alfred Joseph Parkyn, Jack Slater, William John Vandervoort and Windsor Francis R. Webb.

"It was my grandfather's brother, who basically jumped the border to join up with the Canadian Air Force in World War II because the United States wasn't involved at the time and it was pretty controversial. The FBI and things were after these people for jumping and wanting to get involved in the war so he sounds kind of rebellious, which I think I love," Spisz said.

After learning of the family history, Spisz participated in a Memorial Day parade in Trenton, where her great uncle grew up.

"I met one of the brothers of one of the other people on the flight and we both laid a wreath in their honor of the Lancaster flight EM-C for Charlie and so that was part of commemorating it here in the United States," Spisz said.

To carry on with honoring those lost, one family member for each of the people on the flight will go to England from Nov. 23-26, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of when the plane went down.

"We're doing some very interesting tours. We're going to try to go to one of the pubs that the men were known to have frequented when they were in England, so we're almost trying to recreate the good times over there as well," Spisz.

On Nov. 25, Spisz said, she will deliver some words with the Squadron 207 chaplain.

"We're going to do a remembrance of them with the standard from the Royal British Legion and all of the families we've applied for a special war medal that each of the members is entitled to, so those went to the ministry over there and we should be being presented with a bomber medal," Spisz said. "The next of kin are going to get awards by the Royal Air Force."

Veterans Day is Friday, and there will be several events in Livingston County to honor veterans and active-duty military over the weekend and on the holiday.

Veterans Day Observances

This year's Livingston County Veterans Day events are set to include the following:

Brighton

  • The Brighton Veterans Day parade begins at 11 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 12, from St. Georges parking lot traveling East on Main Street to the Mill Pond area. Following the parade, there will be a ceremony at the AMP with several speakers and a wreath laying at the Brighton Veterans Memorial.

  • Veterans appreciation dinner for veterans and active-duty military personnel will be from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Friday at Howell Elks Lodge 2168, 2830 E. Grand River Ave. in Genoa Township. The free dinner will feature fish, fries, coleslaw and a roll. Call 517-861-0829 for reservations. Wives, children and friends may attend at a cost of $6 per person. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the VA Hospital's Christmas dinner for disabled veterans.

  • Caretel Inns of Brighton will conduct a presentation honoring veterans who are residents of the assisted living center, 1014 E. Grand River Ave., beginning at 3 p.m. Friday.

Howell

  • The cadets in the Howell High School Air Force Junior ROTC program will conduct a special event to honor veterans Friday, Nov. 11. There will be refreshments at 8:40 a.m., and a panel discussion on military service at 9:25 a.m. at the Howell High School Rod Bushey Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Grand River Ave. The event can be streamed live.

  • American Legion Devereaux Post 141 Veteran Luncheon for veterans and their guests will follow the courthouse program at noon Friday at the post, 3265 W. Grand River Ave. in Howell Township.

  • Livingston County 11-11-11 Veterans Salute at the historic Livingston County Court House, 200 E. Grand River Ave. in Howell will commence at 11 a.m. Friday.

Contact Livingston Daily reporter Patricia Alvord at palvord@livingstondaily.com about news coverage.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Fowlerville resident, others to travel to England for Thanksgiving