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Pa g e 2 2 · F ebruary 2 0 0 2 oakville rem em bered but how w e thank them! LAST SPRING, when I was doing some research on the beautiful stained glass win dows in our St. John's United Church, it occurred to me that I knew nothing about the men whose names appear on the brass plaques below and beside the "Soldiers' Window". This window was dedicated in July of 1920 and it was in memory of the 17 members of this church who were lost in the First World War. Then, in 1946, another brass plaque was hung on the wall beside the win dow with the names of 12 more church memBoocock who have been regular attenders for many years. In fact, Walter has been coming to this church since he was a child. I went to visit them and found my first story for the church's remembrance exhibit in Lusk Hall. I learned that Raymond Boocock was Walter's father. Walter was only nine when that dread ed cable arrived at his home, advising his mother that her husband would not be return ing. It was only three months before the end of the war. Walter remembers that day clearly, with tears in his eyes. Even more moving was the family picture Walter had of his parents and their four young sons taken just before Raymond left for overseas! He had been in the Halton Military Band and had never expected to be sent into active service, but as more and more troops were lost there had to be replacements. So Raymond soon found himself holding a gun instead of a clarinet, and instead of' marching in the streets of Oakville, he was marching to the trenches in France. As one young soldier described the scene, "It seemed as if both sides were feed ing men into a huge meat grinder and nothing was coming out." So far, I have not been able to find any information on the other men on that W.WJ plaque, other than what can be found on the website of Veterans Affairs Canada. It states the names, the Regiments, the rank, the age, the date of death and the place of burial for all but four of those men. One of them, Captain Eric Davis, was awarded the Military Reluctant heroes BY JOYCE STEPHENSON bers who had been lost in the Second World War. As I read all those names over carefully, I realized that there were only three that I rec ognized as families still connected with S t John's. I wondered how long it would be before no one would remember who these men were. They would all become "Unknown Soldiers." Their supreme sacri fice would no longer be remembered here in this church. Being a family historian and a lover of his tory in general, I set out on the path of research to see if I could find any family his tory of these men. The first name I recog nized was Raymond Boocock, the first one listed on the World War I plaque. We have in our congregation today, Walter and Margaret James Roy Hurst. Veterans Affairs Canada reveals that these two men were sons of Mr. and Mrs. James Hurst of Oakville. One son was killed on June 13,1944 at age 20, and the other was killed on July 2, 1944 at age 21, barely three weeks apart. They both served in the 11th Armoured Regiment in Italy. One only needs a few minutes of reading to realize Cross. I know that with some research at the the enormity of the task that the Allied troops National Archives in Ottawa, more can be had to reclaim Italy. The casualties were heavy, and these two young men from our learned about him and his sacrifice. I then turned my attention to the 12 men congregation were among them. As a moth on the plaque who were lost in World War II. er, I cannot even imagine the sorrow that Mrs. As far as I know, there are only three that still Hurst felt that summer. Another name on that have a connection with St. World War II plaque is Private John's -- Flying Officer Ralph Carl Turner. I found a very Featherstone, who was a broth fuzzy picture of him in the er to Don Featherstone, Flight OAKVILLE RECORDLt. Nelson Perdue, who was a STAR with only two printed brother to Mrs. Betty Toughs words - "Reported Missing." and Major Gordon Slater, a His record at Veterans Affairs brother to Mrs. Mary McLeod. Canada reveals that he was Don, Betty and Mary have all killed on August 19, 1942. shared their stories and their That date did not mean any pictures with us and we now thing to me until I was reading have a permanent record of some history of the various these men. battles. Many of you will Ralph was killed about know that was the day of the three weeks before V-E Day Dieppe raid when British and while flying for Ferry Raymond Boocock Canadian forces attempted to Command from North Africa to India Nelson was flying with #622 R.A.F. invade France at the port of Dieppe and along Squadron over Germany when he was shot 16 kilometres of beach on the north coast of down on Christmas Eve, 1944. Gordon was France. It was supposed to be a surprise killed in the battle for the Scheldt Estuary in attack on the German forces before dawn, but the fall of 1944, leaving a wife and a small instead, it was a massacre on the beach, leav ing 907 Canadians dead on that one day. son whom he had never seen. As for the other men on that plaque, I was Among them was Private Carl Turner and his able to find short newspaper reports in the buddy, Private Robert Withnell, both from the local paper for six of them. Their stories are Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. Flight Sergeant Jackson Cooke is another very sketchy, but even from thMittle glimpses we have, we can imagine the loss. For name worthy of mention. The OAKVILLE instance, there are brothers, Allister Hurst and (See 'The' page 24) house, to the large sheets of unapologetically undivided glass, this thing is a local master piece. In my opinion it has more strictly archi tectural merit than many of our designated buildings. Yet most unfortunately, it remains an architectural foreigner to our soil. As a friend of the family who built and occupy it I remember being aware of the incredible difference between this house and any I'd ever lived in or visited. The kitchen millwork was clad in bright yellow and white plastic laminate - again as a celebration of the merits of our own indus trial time and capacity. The beautiful asymmet rical massing, the play of solid and void - all of these speak of Modernism and of a truly great pairing of client and architect. On a personal note, I completed my architectural thesis last year at the U of T and one of my regular guest Critics was Kim Storey, Joe's daughter. Sadly for his family, friends and for Ontario architec ture, Joe died shortly after the completion of this house. Our final Modem architectural artifact is the Town Square at Lakeshore Road and George Street. Much more Post-Modem than truly Modem, its inclusion is based on it's time of inception and undeniable success. This was one the Planning Department got right I find the inclusion of the north-south cut centred on George Street to be a great move affording pedestrians a thirst-quenching glance of Lake Ontario from downtown while also facilitating access and ventilation. My favourite times in the square are during early evening having a coffee alfresco or even more so during the jazz festival. It is an amazing thing to be near the main stage (backing onto Robinson) listening to great jazz pounding through the air and looking northwest at the 1000s of peaceful, civilized jazz fans enjoying the privilege and pleasure of Modem architectural and musical heritage in Canada. Long maythey run. Dan Chalykqff is the past co-Chair of the Oakville Heritage Trust. He recently completed his Bachelor ` s thesis in architecture at the University of Toronto and is a Director of the Canadian Association of Professional Heritage Consultants and an active local designer and builder. The 20th century was born sometime between 1914-1918 with the advent of trench warfare, incredible industriallyassisted carnage, mustard gas, and the Russian Revolution. (continued from page 18) end of the main hall of the school. Walking between Gym "C" and the office you walked right past them. Although I had one grandfather in each of these wars, the^seemed so distant to me even in 1972 when I first entered this fron tier of knowledge. Amazing - I was only 27 years in time from the end of WWTI. Now it seems a drop in the bucket of time, but then it seemed an eternity. This architectural artifact serves as our official gateway between the actu al 19th and 20th centuries in Oakville. Having noted the use of expressed structure in the railroad bridge we jump forward to the 1950s and New Central Public School, another of my favourite Oakville sites.' The same Modernist love of expressed structure is evi denced at this Balsam Drive campus. So is the idea of a non load-bearing curtain wall, an idea invented in Chicago after the great fire (October 1871) ami used in the earliest sky scrapers of Burnham & Root, Adler & Sullivan et al. The architect of New Central used a very simple skeleton of large glulam timbers for the basic frame of the school. The ceilings are clad and spanned with precast concrete panels running across the timbers. These details alone would not have made it noteworthy, however the use and selection of the glazed brick in each of the panels between columns and beams is more interesting. I believe this was a designer fully aware of his time and technology. He used a glass curtain wall above a spandrel panel of bricks laid vertically - stack bond soldier cours ing. This tells anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of masonry that the brick is not bearing and that it is serving as non-structural cladding. It is as though the architect is leaving a message for posterity, "...yes we were cog nizant and supportive of Modernism." The choice of colour was carefully considered as it matches the colour of patinated copper also used as a decorative band at the chimney and quite likely on the original eavestroughs and downsipouts. I also feel the siting of this build ing was well considered. It affords the Lakeshore Road houses (on to which it backs) views of trees and sky from their upper floors with minimal obstruction. Altogether, the sim plicity of the head-neck-body plan, the architec tural language, and the situation make this one of Oakville's best and earliest Modem build ings. In 1967 I remember standing in a large crowd at the creek just west of Navy Street while Piene Trudeau, who I believe was then running for election as Prime Minister, arrived by boat or baige and dove off of the high diving board at the recently opened Centennial Pool, part of the Centennial Plaza. I think this 1960s complex is one of the best (and too rare) public spaces in Oakville. The navigation of its hill side site, its^apologetic use of board-formed and precast ®#brete, its use of decorative con crete accents to mark space and massing is con fident optimistic, and clearly Modem. Some of my favourite moments occur in the connecting spaces where the board-formed concrete is seen. This material is aging beautifully and while being unequivocally industrial, the lines and grain of the boards give evidence of the work of the human hand which I find lacking in sheet or steel formed concrete work. The mass ing and line of the stairs, integral planter boxes, and garden walls are lovely. I particularly like the eastern-most low wall, parallel and near to Navy Street when the line of cherry trees is in bloom. The colouring of the petals against this gorgeous patinated concrete provides a great instant of insight into a successful marriage of architecture and landscape. Our town fathers chose that particular architect very well. I believe it was the then-local firm of Dunlop Farrow & Aitken, but X may be mistaken; I know subsequent additions to the library and of the theatre have been executed by Shore Tilbe and Ron Thom respectively. Just south of the library is the Anderson Bridge, a contemporary in time and spirit The contrast and similarity between this and the Railroad Bridge are telling. The taper, smooth ness, and sleekness of the two pier walls sup porting the beautifully cambered bridge bed are studies in simplicity. The two piers rise without statement straight out of the earth and open out ward to provide a continuous, planar bearing surface for the articulated hardware connecting the bed and the abutments. To me, this bridge designer was clearly aware of his time and his subject: automotive and pedestrian traffic at and above the river. Unlike any other bridge in Oakville, the auditory experience provided while walking alongside the piers while the rain is falling on the creek is unique. So is the cele bratory framing of the harbour at which the Town was founded. In 1972, a few years after the opening of this bridge, a private family engaged Chatham Ontario architect Joe Storey to build them a house on the lake in far east Oakville. When I have architect friends into town, this is one of my mandatory stops. We don't need to go in because the materials, massing and language of the architecture say what needs to be said from the sidewalk or the lakeside walkway. This is one of Oakville's few resolutely and classically Modem houses. From the beautiful interior and exterior stonework to the continuous wood sof fit running from front to back and inside the