It is 9:30 on a Wednesday morning, the coffee is hot and the conversation is simmering at a long busy table in the otherwise empty Lethbridge Legion.
There is nowhere else in the world that Fred Burton would rather be.
In his mid eighties, Burton sits down, shaking slightly.
Though his age shows through his movements, he is still able to command attention and respect with his dignified stance and gaze. A wireless operator for the Canadian Air Force, Canadian Six Group, Bomber Command, Burton is a veteran from the Second World War.
Born and raised in Lethbridge, Burton joined the Air Force in 1942.
“I was 18 years old and full of vim and vigour,” he says, with an ironic smile.
Stationed in Leeming, Yorkshire in Northern England, Burton would spend the rest of the war flying in Lancaster bombers from England to Germany.
Being a member of the Royal Air Force did not come without its risks as the Bomber Command teams had a 50-70 per cent casualty rate. Out of 7,374 Lancasters that were built, 3,932 of them were destroyed throughout the war.
“War never accomplishes anything. War is ugly.”
As a wireless operator, he had to pick up recorded messages and decipher them; he would subsequently relay the messages to the pilot. In a time of war, the connections one makes with those around them are often the only thing which maintains the semblance of normalcy.
During the war, Burton would spend his days on the plane with six other men, all in charge of different operations.
“There were seven in our crew,” recalls Burton, “and we got to be closer than brothers.”
“I used to keep in touch with all the crew, but I recently found out that only me and the pilot are left.”
Upon his return from the war, with a loving wife he met while in England, Burton took up farming until 1963. Following that, he took a course in auctioneering and performed as an auctioneer up until a few years ago.
Burton is the proud father of four daughters, numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren and even great-great grandchildren. On Remembrance Day, which he still refers to as ‘Armistice Day,’ Burton will continue his yearly ritual of bringing his grandchildren to the ceremonies.