Isaac Newton High School - Newtonian Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

Page 49 text:

Newtonian 47 FRANCES KAGAN Lady Slick, 1947-48 WILLIAM TUSKEY Senior Slick of Arls MISS LUBA NOVAK Miss Novak graduated in 1941. Since then she has made a name for herself in the field of music. The celebrated ’cellist toured Europe during the war with the Roesch Little Symphony. She was later engaged by the Strauss Or¬ chestra. The orchestra consists of thirty-five men and five women. They play semi-classics and classics, specializ¬ ing in Strauss’ work. In October they gave a performance for President Tru¬ man and his party in a Washington theatre. At present Miss Novak is touring the military hospitals as a soloist in the Eastern and Southern States. She also plays in a trio. Miss Novak intends to rejoin the Strauss Orchestra when the concert season re-opens. Music is the food of life, they say, so play on Miss Novak, I’m hungry. ♦ NEWTON GOES TO WAR The slogan of World War I was: THIS IS A WAR TO END ALL WARS. But in 1938 statesmen began to think differently. Talk of German re-arma¬ ment was everywhere; harsh words were flying between governments; war was a certainty. With the German invasion of Poland, matters were brought to a head. On September 3, 1939, Britain went to war against Germany and the Axis. A few days later, Canada indicated her sup¬ port of Britain’s action when, on Sep¬ tember 6, she too declared WAR. It took a long time for most of us to realize just what this meant. To us war was just a word; we failed to re¬ alize its significance and portent. It was inevitable that we at Newton should be caught up in the swift tide of events. Canada was calling for men —for young men from every walk of life, summoning them to the battle¬ fields of the world. Without hesita¬ tion, Newton accepted her full share in the struggle for world peace. With each new enlistment the Honor Roll in¬ creased, u ntil, by 1946, 1,120 names were inscribed on it. When, in August, 1941, the headlines told Canada that the Camerons had raided Dieppe, we began to realize the

Page 48 text:

46 Isaac Newton High School EX NOBIS Newton students have distinguished themselves in every field—medicine, law, sports, art and literature. Of the hundreds who have passed through its doors, of the hundreds whose footsteps echo down its halls, many have earned recogni¬ tion in one field or another. Outstanding scholars, artists, and athletes have gone from her portals to the gates of the world to continue their pursuit of fame and success. We have lost track of many, for many have gone abroad to study or to distant parts of Canada and the United States to take up residence. But we would like to mention a few of those whom we know and whose activities will interest many of us. WILLIAM TUSKEY William Tuskey is a 1938 graduate. He attended Normal School in 1939 and taught school for two years. In 1942 he joined the R.C.A.F. He was a navi¬ gator on a bomber and held the rank of Flying Officer. He was with the 429 Squadron in England. In September, 1945, he received his discharge. He is now attending the University of Manitoba. He takes an active part in the choral society, sports and debating. He is taking Third Year Arts. This year he was elected Senior Stick of Arts. William intends to be a teacher. MISS FRANCES KAGAN Miss Frances Kagan graduated from Newton in 1944. She won the Catholic Women’s League Scholarship. She is studying at St. Mary’s Academy. She won the Nelda Kennedy Scholarship in 1945. She is a Third Year Arts Stu¬ dent and was elected Lady Stick for 1947-48. Last summer she went to Quebec and took a five-week course in French at Summer school and at Laval University. She is interested in His¬ tory, Music and Modern Languages. SAMUEL LAVITT Sammy Lavitt, well-known hockey and rugby star, graduated from New¬ ton in 1940. Sammy played with the East Kildonans, Monarchs and the R.C. A.F. He received a cup awarded to the most popular player on the team in the winter of 1943. Samuel was in the Air Force but when he received his dis¬ charge he resumed his hockey playing. He was with Dallas. He is at home now, but will soon leave for Flin Flon, where he plans to do some prospecting. Strike your goal, Samuel! THE DALE SISTERS The way to a man’s heart may be through his stomach, but the Dale Sisters, Jeanne Peiluck and Olive Har¬ rison, would probably stake their fine voices that songs and music run a close second. The two girls started their singing careers by coming first at many a Man¬ itoba Musical Festival and winning sev¬ eral cups. They later went to New York, where they studied singing with Madame Denolga. While they were in New York, they had a floor show in a nightclub. The girls accompanied their songs on mandolins, which have com¬ paratively soft tones. In order to dis¬ tribute the sound, the girls inserted ' miniature microphones in the hollow of the instruments, thus enabling the people in the farthest corner to hear clearly. Their popularity is partly due to the fact that besides singing in English, they know Russian, Ukrainian, French and Jewish. During the war, they went on a U.S.O. tour that lasted for two years, singing in Japan, New Cale¬ donia, Guadalcanal, the Phillippines, Korea, Bataan and numerous other places. While in Tokyo they witnessed the war crimes trials involving many Win¬ nipeg Grenadiers. Most of their songs were poplar hit tunes but they “sneak¬ ed in the odd semi-classics, something from light opera” said Miss Harrison. They were also in Iwo Jima at the time of the second anniversary of the raising of the flag. Pretty and tanned, the girls have just recently arrived in Winnipeg, having flown from Honolulu to San Francisco and thence home.

Page 50 text:

48 Isaac Newton High School seriousness of the job we had under¬ taken. The losses were heavy and many Newton boys lost their lives on the bloody battle-field. Dieppe was only the first scene of a tragic drama unfolding before the eyes of the world. Our boys saw battle in every theatre of the war — Belgium, Holland, Italy, North Africa, Germany and the East. And in every battle new lives were lost and new families mourn¬ ed their dead. Many of the boys who were in the fighting lines, did not, even in the heat of the struggle, know why they were out there fighting, and many of them wondered if the world would be any better for all the sacrifices its youths were making. They were still young and reluctant to give up all that life offered them without being assured that their sacrifices would not be in vain. The following excerpt is quoted from a letter deposited with the Air Force to be mailed home only on condition that the writer should not return from an operational flight. It gives us an inkl¬ ing of some of the thoughts that run through the mind of a boy on active service. His ideas are very strikingly stated: “I have chosen my path and I must follow it. I am proud to have been given my chance to strike a blow for freedom. I am not fighting for England or Canada. I fight for the right to the freedom for which we are all born. No one must take that heritage from us. “In days to come the airmen of Can¬ ada will be remembered by the free men of all nations. You must not tar¬ nish that tradition by being sad because I died living up to it ... I have shot my bolt; I have paid my debt to humanity. O God! I hope I have not died in vain.” Among the writer’s personal papers was an article which included the fol¬ lowing sentences, evidently written to clarify his own thoughts regarding the war. “Gradually the full meaning of this greatest of wars has filtered through my mind. I am no superman. I am endowed with average intelligence and physique. You may see me on the farms, in the small towns, in humming factories, on city streets, in the dimness of poolrooms and the brightness of dance halls. In short, I am the youth of Canada” . . . “Ours is an arduous task. It will not be easy. We will have to endure suffering and hardships; but we will, we must triumph.” . . . “Freedom or cringing slavery, we must choose it now.” DISTINGUISHED WAR HEROES The fortitude shown by Canadian boys in the battles of World War II will never be forgotten. Their valorous deeds of heroism were recognized by all nations. Many of our own Newton lads were given honourable mention in news despatches and many others earned medals, ribbons and bars for their services. Though we do not know of all the boys who have performed heroic feats, certain of them have been brought to our respectful attention. PILOT OFFICER ANDREW CHARLES MYNARSKI, V.C. Pilot Officer Andrew Charles Mynar- ski was posthumously awarded the Empire’s highest medal for valor — the Victoria Cross — the second award of its kind in the history of the R.C.A.F. Andrew had been mid-upper gunner on a Lancastrian bomber. He lost his life from burns received while attempting to rescue his comrade. June 12, one week after D-Day, the Lancaster was flying over France when an enemy fighter attack caused the en¬ gines to burst into flame. Andrew was spattered with hydraulic acid but when he saw his comrade trapped in the blaz¬ ing rear turret, he scrambled through the blaze and frantically tugged at the immovable turret. The Captain ordered the crew to abandon ship, but until P.O. Brophy warned Andrew away, he continued to struggle with the mecha¬ nism. He reluctantly went towards the escape-hatch, and as a last tribute to his seemingly-doomed comrade, he stood to attention in his flaming cloth-