By Matthew McCully – On July 4, 1941, Flight Lt. Keith Ogilvie’s Spitfire Mark V was shot down over occupied France. It’s a story his 98-year-old cousin Lois Blanchette remembers well, especially this time of year. As of last week, the annual Poppy Campaign was launched across the country leading up to Remembrance Day, Nov.11. It is a time to pay tribute to the sacrifices made to protect the rights and freedoms we enjoy today. It is also a time to remember, to record and re-tell the stories collected that paint a vivid picture of what our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents lived through. An entire generation of Canadians, scarred for life, returned from the war, welcomed their loved ones home, or mourned their losses and continued with the struggles of daily life. While many men and women of that generation made the burden seem weightless, their experiences were extraordinary and should be remembered as such, undiluted by time. This is the story of Flight Lt. Keith “Skeets” Ogilvie (1915-1998) as told by his 98-year-old cousin, Sherbrooke resident Lois Blanchette. See full story in the Tuesday, October 30 edition of The Record.
