True and Fascinating Canadian History
Vet of the Month: August 2008
Reg.#10982, Sergeant Louis Romeo Dubuc
RCMP Vets. Ottawa, ON
In August 2008, we honour a deceased member of the Force who served and died for Canada. His name is RCMP Sergeant Louis Romeo Dubuc and he joined the RCMP 77 years ago today.
Sergeant Dubuc's story is very special. First, the circumstances surrounding his death allows us to recall once again the bravery of members of the Force and the wide ranging roles they played in World War II.
Sergeant Dubuc died in a plane crash while approaching Ireland in bad weather.
Information gleamed from the RCMP Graves Discovery and Maintenance database encouraged Kingston RCMP Veteran Reg.#17023, Jack Hickman to begin a search of the grave of Sergeant Dubuc and his search was successful. The story of Sergeant Dubuc would be not be complete without the interest and help of my friend Jack Hickman.
Interestingly, but close collaboration among Veterans through the RCMP National Graves Discovery databank is encouraging more and more RCMP Veteran stories to be collected, explored, and told and for Vet memories to be honoured.
This month our Vet of the Month is dedicated to Reg.#10982, Sergeant Louis Romeo Dubuc, RCMP Honour Roll #69. His story is being released on the 77th anniversary of Sgt. Dubuc joining the RCMP.
Dear Joe:
Re: Sergeant L. R. Dubuc
"You might recall that we exchanged e-mails a couple of months ago, specifically regarding web links to our Kingston Vets website. About the time that I was browsing through your database I spotted the entry for Sgt. Dubuc.
What particularly caught my eye was the fact that he was buried in the Catholic Cemetery in Newry, Northern Ireland. At the time, I was planning a trip to Ireland, and my cousin, Andy Tohill, whom I intended to visit, lives about ten miles from Newry. I thought to myself, why not try to find Sergeant Dubuc's grave while I'm visiting Ireland?
With my cousins help, I located the Catholic Cemetery and Sergeant Dubuc's grave site. I took a couple of pictures of the grave marker for you.
Sergeant Dubuc's grave is very well kept, and this care is typical of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's work. According to the cemetery staff, a poppy is placed on Sergeant Dubuc's grave each November 11th. There is no reference to the RCMP on his marker.
Unfortunately due to lack of light contrast, the writing on Sergeant Dubuc's stone is practically illegible in the photos, but the plot contains two graves, the other being for "Mr. Kenny", evidently a Radio Technician on the aircraft piloted by Sergeant Dubuc. Both grave stones contain the insignia of the RCAF, and Dubuc's stone describes him as "Lieutenant de Section" (French for Flight Lieutenant).
The following website: Foreign Aircraft Landings in Ireland contains a list of all aircraft crashes during World War II in the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) which was neutral at that time.
Sergeant Dubuc's aircraft crashed in County Louth. I would expect that his remains were transferred for burial from Dundalk, Ireland to Newry, in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.""
Jack Hickman, (R'td)
Kingston, ON RCMP Vets
RCMP Veteran and Historian Jack White of Kamloops, BC added the following background details to the Dubuc story.
"Sergeant Dubuc served in the RCMP from August 19, 1931 until his death at Dundalk, Ireland on September 27, 1941. He served in 'D', 'K', 'C' and 'G' Divisions and he was a pilot in the RCMP's Air Section.
In its second year of existence (1938) the RCMP Aviation Section was comprised of 10 members; they were, O.297 Michelson, Reg.#11780 Fraser, Reg.#11296 Cox, Reg.#10982 Dubuc, Reg.#11830 Grant, Reg.#12099 Gray, Reg.#10927 McNeil, Reg.#11169 Swaney, Reg.#12835 McClellan & Radio Operator W. Elliott.
On November 20, 1939, with the recent outbreak of World War II, Sergeant Dubuc was temporarily transferred to the Ferry Command of the RCAF to move aircraft across the Atlantic to Great Britain. On September 27, 1941 he left Canada flying a new Hudson bomber with two other crew members.
The air crew fought storms all the way across the Atlantic. They were getting low on fuel as they approached Ireland. It was reported that they were also flying in dense fog. While attempting to land at Dundalk, the Dubucaircraft struck some sort of ground obstruction and it crashed. The three crew members were killed.
Sgt. Dubuc was buried at Newry, North Ireland.""
Dubuc Crescent, 'Depot' Division RCMP, Regina, Saskatchewan was named in honour of Reg. #10982 Sergeant Louis Romeo Dubuc, RCMP who is on the RCMP's Honour Roll #69.
Reporting from Fort Healy,
J. J. Healy
August 23, 2008
