Tribute To Maple Ridge Veterans by Stan Graham

War is a terrible and horrific fact of life that we would all like to forget - but we cannot. We cannot because, whether near or far, war has touched each one of us. And as soon as war touches us, we cannot forget it. As we are all aware, war does not happen to someone else or in some other country. As long as people continue to be takers instead of givers, there will be war.

This book has been written to commemorate all those who have given their lives in the service of their country and all of those who have survived the horrors of war and have returned to start their lives over - may we ever be grateful. They have sacrificed greatly around the world to uphold, protect and maintain peace and democracy.

This book is also written to coincide with the erecting of a monuent on Maple Ridge, New Brunswick, Canada, to perpetuate the remembrance of Canada’s fallen heroes.

On behalf of the Royal Canadian Legion, Millville Branch #59, I congratulate you on the tremendous task you have undertaken. Thank you for the honour you pay to our comrades.

At the going down of the sun
And in the morning
We will remember them
Thank you for this privilege

Arden Braun, President

For many years I have been involved with Royal Canadian Legion veterans and their continued program of remembrance and, for a half century plus, I have enjoyed living in a rich democratic country. Because of that, I have been motivated to initiate a community project by which all of our veterans might be recognized for what they have preserved, enriched and passed along to us and future generations. That project is a Maple ridge Veteran’s Memorial Stone.

I felt that the stone project could be enhanced if complemented by a book about the lives of those veterans, in order to recognize not only their personal sacrifice but also their additional achievements and dedication to their community and to their country.

We hope the readers of this book will be reminded of how far the human rights at home and abroad have come in the 20th Century. This achievement owes much to the individuals such as those to whom we pay tribute in this book. People have stood strong, and vowed to cherish and improve what they have been given as the result of the great sacrifice of those before them.

Over the years, the warring created by ruthless leaders and the abuse by rich landowners and business tyrants plagued liberty and took billions of lives from citizens of long-established nations. This went on throughout centuries of recorded history. It is noteworthy to point out that the very descendants of the immigrants who fled the terror of those nations and who sought refuge in North America, Australia, New Zealand and other free countries would someday grow strong and free enough to return to their root countries where they would challenge similar terrorists. They would change history dramatically - all for the betterment of millions worldwide.

The soldiers of our allied forces in the 20th century were different from the leaders and soldiers from which their ancestors had escaped. They would sacrifice their own lives by the millions, as did civilians, in order that farms, industry, homes, churches and many self-determining democratic institutions could be given back to various nations which had been robbed of such.

They rebuilt nations and returned to their homeland in peace. They did not abuse their power in victory to wrongfully control their own nation. Those who survived battle would often suffer physical and mental pain in life. Our heroes soothed their wounds as they continued to build their nation strong and free by instilling respect for human rights and democratic institutions while always reinforcing remembrance.

The spiritual and material blessings from which we benefit here in Canada and throughout the free world have surpassed the expectations of those who have sacrificed so much for it. Perhaps the last fifty years may go down as the best in the history of the earth, particularly in the free world, as not all countries are free.

Our veterans knew from whence they came, how far they had come, and where they were going. They experienced the price and pain of freedom. They understood the joy of grasping freedom and returning it to those who had lost it.

They carried the torch and presented it to us, a torch much brighter than the one they had been given. I believe it is our responsibility to brighten that torch of freedom for future generations by perpetuating human rights and liberty so the great sacrifices of those who liberated us will not have been in vain.

Stan Graham

James Dove was born in 1880. He and his wife, Elizabeth, born in 1881, had six children in Yorkshire, England, before immigrating to Canada in late 1912. The family was scheduled to come to Canada aboard the Titanic, but was prevented because Elizabeth was expecting a child at the time. At that time, there was a stipulation that children were to be a least six months old before they were allowed to make the crossing to Canada. The family came later in the year when there little daughter Eva was eight months old.

The family settled in Pinder then moved temporarily to Maple Ridge into the home at 910 Route 605, now occupied by Ivan and Bessie Bradley. At some later point they returned to Temperance Vale. James went back to England to fight in WWI. He served with the 59th Battalion CEF. James Dove was a good friend of Harold McElwain, also of Temperance Vale, who was killed during WW I. It has been said that James was sorely affected by witnessing the death of his good friend, Harold, who had just turned 20 years old. Harold was a stretcher-bearer and died at Vimy.

James and Elizabeth had ten children, including Grace (Melbourne Venner) (Larry Maxwell), Harry H, (Muriel),Ada (Charles Dunham), Phyllis (Pruitt Romero), Charles (did not marry), Eva (Bill Sharp), Alice (Alfred Morris) (Jack Romero), Elizabeth (Milton Burk), Ethel (Jack Grant), and Perley James (Gerda Paulsen). It is believed that many of the children did not have middle names. The family returned to Temperance Vale after only two or three years on “The Ridge”. Their house burned and they moved down the road to the Scott House.

Perley and Charlie, two of James and Elizabeth Dove’s sons, served their country during WW II.
James and Elizabeth lived for a number of years in Temperance Vale, Fredericton and eventually Grand Bay-Westfield. James died in 1958 at the age of 78; his wife passed away three years later. They are buried in the Temperance Vale Cemetery which is adjacent to the Baptist Church.

Paul was born at Pokiok, York Co., NB, on August 7, 1920 to Edward E. (Ted) and Myrtle M. (Hoyt) Burden. He was a grandson of Henry and Etta Hoyt, early setters of Maple Ridge. Paul spent much time in his early years at Maple Ridge on the farm of his Hoyt grandparents at 1281 Route 605, the former home of Dean and Rita Blaney. Paul is listed as a student of the one-room school on Maple Ridge. The family was completed with a brother George, who died in WW II at the age of 22 and a sister, Betty (George Woodside)…

Paul’s family moved to Fredericton and Paul went directly from school to the RCAF in 1940. He served as a pilot of both the Lancaster X’s and the Halifax III’s, planes in 123 Ferry squadron, 434 Sqdn, and the 405 Pathfinders Sqdn, (434 and 405 operating out of England during wartime).

He flew one operation, Exodus, to bring 25 freed ex-POW’s from Lubeck, Germany, and three operations dubbed Manna, which dropped food to the starving in Holland. In addition, he flew 39 wartime operations - all bombing missions - from England to targets in German. Later, in preparation for the Pacific Campaign in the war with the Japanese, Paul was part of Operation Tiger Force. Japan, like Germany, would soon surrender and WW II ended. Paul was fortunate to have been neither wounded nor hospitalized during the war. He was discharged in 1946.

Paul received the DFC cross and title, indicating the highly Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery; and, in addition, the France and Germany Star, 1939-45 Star; Defense-Briton, Canada Volunteer and Victory Medals for Wartime Service. Because of service to country and community, he later received the Queen’s Coronation, Queen’s 25th, Canada’s 100th, Canada’s 125, Canadian Corps of Commissionaires Meritorious Service, CC of C Long Service and Combatants of Europe medals.

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Paul married Iris Southern, a section officer with the WAAF, the women’s auxiliary of the Royal Air Force. Their children are Christopher, Beverley, Betty, Michael, Penny, Nicolas, Peter and Martha.

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On the lighter side, it has been rumored that several years ago a Lancaster Bomber was flown under the Fredericton bridge, certainly a feat that only a very skilled daredevil pilot would attempt. The mystery pilot has never come forward because, naturally, this act would create an RCAF investigation and the possibility of severe reprimand to a pilot. One would never suspect a former member of the Gunter Brook Alder Tree Pole Trout Fishing Gang to push the laws of the land and those of nature to such extreme limits.

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Paul and Iris live in Fredericton, NB. Paul Edward Burden’s epilogue of this biographical article is …”if not truthful, is close enough to be recognizable.”

Donald R. Graham was born to Harry W. and Ellen E. (Barber) Graham at Maple Ridge, York County, New Brunswick, on May 18, 1933. His grandparents were Patrick and Annie (Blaney) Graham and William and Dora (Richards) Barber of Maple Ridge. He would later have a brother Alden L. Graham.

Donald lived on Maple Ridge a total of three years and later moved with his family to Maine. He was listed as a student at the Maple Ridge School. Donald graduated from South Portland High School in 1950. He voluntarily enlisted in the US Army during the Korean War and was inducted at Fort Williams, Maine, then later served at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and Fort Rucker, Alabama. All his postings were as part of the Medical Corp. He left the army on May 18th, 1954 - on his 21st birthday; and was honorably discharged on May 31, 1960.

Donald spent his civilian years in the construction industry as a carpenter. In 1956, he moved to Boston, Mass., and continued his career and had many experiences in high-rise and skyscraper construction.

He died suddenly as the result of a heart attack at the age of 44, on November 23, 1977, and is buried at the Maple Ridge Cemetery, Maple Ridge, NB. He is the father of one daughter, Patricia Graham.