Note
Marcel is now 89…
***
Marcel Bergeron is 82 and he is not a veteran Mosquito pilot nor is he a war hero.
Marcel went to see someone, a veteran air gunner of No. 425 Alouette. He asked for his help in finding more information about Eugène Gagnon. You see Eugène Gagnon was his hero when he was a youngster. In a sense Marcel is also a hero because he wanted to keep Eugène’s memory alive.
Marcel told me this anecdote.
Eugène died in a plane crash in 1947.
Collection Marcel Bergeron
Eugène’s sister moved to the United States. She came back to Canada where she had lived before. She threw away in the garbage all Eugène’s medals and also his precious logbook.
She did not know how valuable they were.
Marcel had kept a few mementos of his hero.He has his RAF wings and a button with a small compass hidden inside in case Eugene had to parachute over enemy territory. He also has a piece of the jacket Eugène wore when he died on October 21, 1947.
Those mementos are the most precious things he has of his hero.
Eugène Gagnon DFC
(Courtesy Mario Hains)
Marcel had also copies of his discharge papers.
But Marcel wanted to know more about Eugène’s service in the RAF… and he asked someone’s help who, in turn, asked me to help him.
To learn more about this search you will have to read my other blog titled Lest We Forget.
This is the article I wrote in 2013 about my search for Eugène Gagnon.
RAF 23 Squadron 
I cannot believe what people are stupid enough to throw away. It just defies belief what may get destroyed after a couple of seconds’ thought.
I told Marcel she probably lied to him and didn’t want to be bothered. But if she really did this…
How awful they were all just discarded. My father’s sister
did the same, his uniform and all his papers just thrown away – what a waste.
Then Eugène’s sister really did throw them away…
I am still hoping she didn’t and everything is still somewhere in a shoe box.
Fingers crossed!
Toes also…