On April 18 from 2 to 4 p.m., the Dufferin County Museum and Archives (DCMA) will host a Veteran Appreciation Day, including the launch of the Dufferin County Virtual War Memorial.

This event is being sponsored by Lorie Haddock and is open to the public. The DCMA extends a special invitation to veterans and their families. Also, until May 15, the DCMA has mounted a display to honour Dufferin County veterans, and to introduce the Dufferin County Virtual War Memorial to the public. Admission for veterans is free during this time.

There are many soldiers already listed and researched in our computer. One that we are particularly proud of is Dr. George Urquhart Hill. Dr. Hill was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, in the closing days of World War I. He finished his pre-medical degree in 1939 at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, and promptly joined the R.C.A.F. After training at the Halifax Aero Club, Camp Borden, and the air navigation school at Trenton, he served as a navigation instructor at bases throughout Canada.

In 1942 he was posted to Aston Down in England, where he took further flight training, and began his career in air combat. He is credited with being one of the highest scoring Canadian Ace Fighter Pilots, with 15 enemy aircraft destroyed, three probably destroyed, and eight damaged.

After damage occurred to his aircraft while on a mission over France, he was taken prisoner by the Gestapo, and held in several POW camps. At the lowest, he weighed 110 pounds. He was interrogated daily and kept in solitary confinement and on starvation rations, but never told more than his name, rank, and service number.

Finally liberated by Russian forces, he returned home and immediately entered medical school.

He began a practice in Orangeville, and was known for never refusing a house call, no matter what the time of night or weather conditions. He also ran for provincial and federal election representing the NDP, and served on the Orangeville Public School Board, the Halton County Medical Society, and the Dufferin Area Hospital Board.

Flamboyant and charismatic, he did much of his campaigning from his private plane, hopping from field to field to connect with local farmers. In November, 1969, he was killed in a car crash on his way home from visiting a patient in the Dufferin Area Hospital.

Another veteran that the museum entered into its database recently was Seymour Curry, a veteran

the Spanish-American War.

Seymour was born in Amaranth in 1878. In 1882 his father, James Curry, moved the family

Michigan. After Seymour’s mother died, his sister moved to Montana to get married, and James and Seymour followed her there. Looking for adventure, Seymour joined the First Montana Volunteers in 1898, and was deployed to the Philippines. There he established a reputation as a colourful character, known to his friends as “Kid” Curry. He kept a menagerie of animals as pets during his time there, including parrots and a monkey with a talent for stealing objects from the officers and bringing them to her appreciative owner. He was discharged late in 1899 and made his way to Tooele, Utah, where he met his bride and settled down. Descendants of Seymour Curry are still in Utah today.

These names are two of 3,600 entered in the Dufferin County Virtual War Memorial. This includes any veteran who was born, lived, married, died, or was buried in Dufferin County. Our veterans span the time from the War of 1812 to the current conflict in Afghanistan. Please join us on the 18th to honour veterans like Dr. Hill and Seymour Curry, as well as the many who are still with us in our community. Their numbers continue to grow as men and women return from peace-keeping missions and from the war in Afghanistan. With your help and submissions, their names will not be forgotten.

The Dufferin County Museum and Archives is situated on the North East corner of Hwy 89 and Airport Rd. For more information, please call 705-435-1881 or toll free 1-877-941-7787, or visit www. dufferin museum.com