Lowe High School - Towers Yearbook (Windsor, Ontario Canada)

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T H E T () W E R S Page Sixty-Three l!y MYRA PLAWUCKI € NE OF THE GREATEST EVENTS in the history of the school occured on March 12, 1947, when the Windsor Walkerville Vocational School was officially renamed The W. D. Lowe Vocational High School, in honour of the late Mr. W. D. Lowe, the first principal. Since Mr, Lowe’s death in June, 1945, an oil painting of him has been hung in the main lobby of the school. Now the school he loved so well and worked so hard to make famous, bears his name. The program dedicating the school began with a prayer by Dr. H. M. Paulin. After this, the guests, teachers and students sang “All People That On Eart! » o Dwell . Then Mr. J. F. Twigg, Chairman of the Board of Education, spoke about Mr. Lowe, knowing that the students would remember him vividly because of his interest in them. Alderman Patterson, substituting for Mayor Arthur J. Reaumc, spoke on behalf of the citizens of Windsor. Mrs. William Rose, an ex-pupil of the school, sang The Lord Is My Shepherd” with true feeling. Col. E. A. Baker, Toronto, head of the C. N. I. B., was then introduced to the audience. Because of his blindness, Col. Baker had never seen Mr. Lowe, but from his voice he had known that Mr. Lowe was a great and generous man. Mr. L. Wheelton gave the last address. Then the students and guests sang “O Cod Our Help In Ages Past”. After the hymn, the chairman, guests, and students filed in order into the lobby, where Mr. S. R. Ross, our Principal, unveiled a plaque mounted there by the Board of Education, in honour of Mr. Lowe. The school was then officially re-named the W. D. Lowe Vocational High School. At the close of the ceremony, everyone sang Onward! Christian Soldiers , and the students silently marched by the plaque to show their respect. The plaque bears these words in Latin—the language Mr. Lowe knew and loved so well—“Eregi Monumentum aeri Perennius” — I have reared a monument more lasting than brass. The hundreds of ex-students, whose lives have been shaped by Mr. Lowe s precepts and example, are the living memorial represented by these classic words.

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Page Sixty-Two T H E T O VV E K S 3n Jfletnoriam... Wdrld War 11 -By VV. A. MALKIN, e .. K.C.A.C. HEN the Windsor Walkerville Vocational School opened for the fall term in 1939, many of the senior students had already deserted its halls and were wearing the battle dress of the Essex Scottish or the blues of the R.C.N. and R.C.A.F. In the previous week, the German mechanized army had invaded Poland. Britain and France had fulfilled their obligation to that unfortunate country and were at war with Germany, which was being supported by her Balkan satellites and Russia. The members of the British Com¬ monwealth, except Eire, had thrown in their lot on the side of democracy. In Canada, recruiting was being conducted on a rather limited basis for the Navy, Army and Air Force. Canada’s industry was starting to change over to war production, and the Empire Air Training Scheme was being developed. In Europe, Poland was overrun in a few days before any material aid could be given to her. The French and British Armies moved into the Maginot Line. During the win¬ ter of 1939-40, it was quiet on the Western front and “Phoney War” was ' introduced into our reading and thinking. In the spring of 1940, the flood broke. The German Blitzkrieg broke through the British and French defences and in a few weeks overran Belgium, Holland, and Northern France causing a weak French Government to capitulate. The remnants of the British Army, without their heavy equipment and vehicles, withdrew to England. Ever anxious to be on the winning side, Mussolini had joined the Axis. Britain was left to face Europe with only a few miles of sea , the Royal Navy, a desperately small Royal Air Force, a small and very poorly equipped Army, but with a population united in a determination to defend every inch of the tight little island. The Luftwaffe introduced the Blitz. Day after day and night after night air armadas swept over the British Isles, bombing and gunning; but as steadily as they came, as steadily the fighters of the R.A.F. went up to meet them and knocked them out of the sky. The grim Britons, under Churchill, fought fires, dug out the ruins, buried their dead and laboured to build more planes and to re-equip the Army. A few British divi¬ sions and the First Canadian Division spread out along the South Coast while the Home Guards were hastily mobilized. Preparations for an Invasion of Britain went on along the French, Belgium, and Dutch Coast. The Battle of Britain was a grim, relentless one. By the summer of 1941, Hitler apparently despairing of invading Britain turned eastward, and attacked Russia. The Russians fought desperately as the enemy drove them back and gradually brought the German advance to rest. Britain breathed a little easier but kept on working. In December, 1941, the United States, which had been aiding Britain by supplying food and tools of war, was treacherously attacked by Japan. The two great Democ¬ racies now faced the Axis in a Globular War. The war in the Pacific went very badly for the Allies. The American fleet was crippled at Pearl Harbour and within a week, Britain lost her greatest warships. Base after base, island after island, including Britain’s Gibraltar of the East, Singapore, fell to the Japs. In Asia, in Europe, and in Africa, the tide was against the Allies. However, now American, British and Canadian factories were turning out ships, planes, ammunition, guns, tanks and other war supplies in unprecedented number. These were being convoyed by the Royal and Canadian Navies to Europe and by the United States Navy to the far East. Huge armies, air forces and navies were being recruited, equipped and trained. By 1943, the tide was turning. The Axis was thrown out of Africa. Britain was dotted with air fields from which hundreds of bombers and occasionally a thousand of them, swept over Germany and the occupied countries and bombed the industrial areas, the railways, the bridges, the highways and the ports. They were escorted by fighters in all but the longest sweeps and the air over Europe was no longer dominated by the Luftwaffe. The British and Americans overran Sicily and Invaded Italy. The Italians became co-beligerents, but the Italian campaign was tough, bloody and long. In 1944, came D-Day (Continued on Page 69)

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Page Sixty-Four T H E T O W E K S LITERARY An Assignment in Ctil la -By KEN LARAMIE, T4-D The sun was slowly setting as John Carver returned to his home. He was a huge man with a kind but serious face. The Cuba., sun had changed his light brown hair to golden blonde. His face was tinted as that of a native resident. John ' s face clearly showed that he was wor¬ ried about something. A.ter a hard struggle to gain his chosen career, with success almost in reach, he had been sent to Cuba on a special mission. He had become bitter because of this assignment. John strode up the walk to his home over¬ looking the beautiful Chaceain river. His faith¬ ful valet, opening the door, informed him that he had guests. A superior looking gentleman in a tuxedo lounged in a deep chair near the cor¬ ner of the room, while across the room a huge man of about two hundred and fifty pounds tinkered away at the grand piano. A mean looking scar ran from the bridge of his nose the full length of his face. He wore a monicle in one eye, and what was left of his hair was a steel gray. 1 he man in the tuxedo was the first to notice the entrance of John Carver. He stood up clicking his heels in a foreign manner, an¬ nounced himself. “I am Eric Von Reichmann. I presume you are John Carver.” John acknowledged the fact, whereupon the gentleman continued, “This is my associate, Joseph Kirstinn.” “Well, Gentlemen, this is quite a surprise— meeting you. Now just what is it that you want?” asked Mr. Carver of the Foreign Intel¬ ligence Bureau. “Mr. Carver, 1 understand that you are here to investigate so-called espionage activities. 1 am here to offer you a few suggestions. The first is that you play along with us. The second is — well, it’s just too bad if you don’t. You seem to be a very, nice man and it would be such a pity if you were to — shall we say, disappear? Good night, Mr. Carver!” After they had left, John Carver went into action. He left his house at nine o’clock. He climbed into his long black sedan; his first stop was at the Cuban military headquarters where he paused only long enough to inform the com¬ missioner that he intended to carry out his plan ahead of schedule. He then proceeded to the German Embassy, where he went around to the back and entered with the help of a skeleton key through a door set in the basement. Lock¬ ing the door behind him John proceeded with caution through the dark, dingy basement. He heard the crackla of a static electricity machine that he knew powered a short wave set. He stopped then, as it seemed to be coming from the other side of the wall; but that was impos¬ sible as he was at the edge of the basement wall. John examined further along the wall and discovered that a thin beacon of light was coming through a crack in the solid cement wall. At this moment he heard a sound familiar to his ears, the “dah-dit-dah” of a short wave set. He then knew the purpose ot the mysteri¬ ous message that had been intercepted by a night reconnaisance plane a month ago over the Cuban Gulf, Now all he had to do was find out who was at the head of this group of Nazis. He was not surprised when a voice behind him said, “Welcome, Mr. Carver”, as he knew it was Eric Reichmann. Carver thought fast — he turned — swung hard — and landed a beautiful blow square on his chin. The big German went down in a heap. John then started to find the entrance to the underground radio set. As he leaned against the wall a brick gave way, and a huge section of the wall slid open. He stepped inside—gun in hand, the operator turned around too lata. Carver’s gun struck him squarely on the temple. John quickly went to a door in the back of the room. Opening it, he was confronted by five men gathered around a huge table with a group of papers with government seals on them. He quickly took control of matters. He lined the five agents up against the wall, removed their guns and tied them up. He then went back for the unconscious operator and waited. He knew that eventually someone would come down;— He was right! It was that “two ton wonder”, Joseph Kirstinn and a small, bald-headed man with thick lips and glasses. They entered the small radio room. Entering behind them, John slowly said, “Please reach for the sky, gents”. The small man swung fast with a gun blazing in his hand. He didn’t do any damage as a bullet had entered his skull just a split second before his gun blazed away at the bare wall. When Kirstinn saw this he begged for mercy, giving all needed information to John Carver. Fifteen minutes later, the Cuban police force took the agents into custody. The leader of the group turned out to be the little radio operator with the black mustache; his name was “Adolphin Hitlerinsk”. After this turn of events, Carver was joyously recalled to the United States, where he was joined by his for¬ mer members. John Carver, Special Investi¬ gator, was now John Carver, Head of the For¬ eign Intelligence Bureau. A just reward for a deserving man.