True and Fascinating Canadian History
Vet of the Month : December 2010
Reg.#10217, Constable Samuel Leys Dustan
RCMP Vets. Ottawa, ON
This can only be described as a sad story for two reasons; first, not much is known about our December, 2010 Veteran of the Month and secondly, he died at a very young age.
The story of this man's life is written with the help of Veteran Jack White and serving RCMP member Michel Allain, A/Archives Analyst/analyst intérimaire d'archives Archives Management Section/Section de la gestion des archives, Royal Canadian Mounted Police/Gendarmerie royale du Canada in Ottawa, ON.
Samuel Leys Dustan was born in Aberdeen, Scotland on November 9, 1904 -- perhaps, it was the worst of times for men of the times because World War II in 1939 meant that he and many others would likely become Canadian soldiers and causalities.
Samuel Leys Dustan joined the RCMP on July 15, 1926 and he underwent Basic Training at 'Depot' in Regina, SK. He served in the northlands and then in British Columbia. On March 26, 1928, he was found to be intoxicated and fined $10.00. Afterwards, he stayed out of trouble and in fact went on to win great glory and fame.
According to Historian Jack White, Samuel Dustan was one of the background horse riders in the famous and popular Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie 'Rose Marie' which was partially filmed in the Lynn Canyon area of North Vancouver, BC. I think we can speculate that Dustan was not only on top of his horse with all the excitement and commotion but he was also on top of the world.
In 1936, Dustan's riding abilities led him to join the RCMP Musical Ride and he appeared with the Ride at the Rose Festival, in Portland, Oregon.
It's not known the full reasons for Dustan to quit the Force. Perhaps, he needed excitement and adventure. He took his discharge from the RCMP on March 14, 1938 -- just prior to WWII. At the outbreak of WWII, Dustan was shipped overseas as a Canadian soldier. He joined the the Royal Canadian Engineers as a Lance Corporal and it's know from Commonwealth War Graves records that his Service # was C/19564.
At some point, Dustan received serious injuries while in action and he was sent back to Canada.
Reg.#10217, Samuel Leys Dustin died in a Ottawa hospital on July 27, 1943. He was 38 years of age.
Today, Constable Dustin lies in Pinecrest Cemetery in Ottawa. Farewell our friend in 'Rose Marie'.
I'd like to sincerely thank BC Veteran Jack White and Ottawa RCMP member Michel Allain for their help with our Vet. of the Month story. It was dedicated to Constable Samuel Keys Dustan.
He gave his life for Canada. We pause during the month of December, 2010 and tip our Stetson to him.
Reporting from Fort Healy,
J. J. Healy
December 23, 2010
