Wait for Me, Daddy

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Wait for Me, Daddy, taken by Claude P. Dettloff British Columbia Regiment 1940.jpg
Wait for Me, Daddy, taken by Claude P. Dettloff

Wait for Me, Daddy is a photo taken by Claude P. Dettloff on October 1, 1940, of The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles) marching down Eighth Street at the Columbia Street intersection, New Westminster, British Columbia. While Dettloff was taking the photo, Warren "Whitey" Bernard broke away from his mother to his father, Private Jack Bernard. The picture received extensive exposure, with widespread circulation through magazines such as Life and Time, and was used in war-bond drives. [1]

Contents

Background

On August 26, 1939, Hitler was threatening Poland and demanding Danzig. At 4:15 that morning the regimental adjutant in British Columbia, Canada, received a call from Ottawa instructing him to call out the British Columbia Regiment. [2] Soldiers fanned out in the city to guard vulnerable points. On September 10, 1939, Canada declared war against the German Reich, which had invaded Poland on the first of the month. While other units were sent to the United Kingdom, the British Columbia Regiment was left behind on the west coast. After months of drills and guard duty the regiment was ordered out and on October 1, 1940, marched to New Westminster to board a waiting ship, the SS Princess Joan, [3] to their secret destination. [4]

Photograph

Coming down Eighth Street in New Westminster, Canadian photographer Claude P. Dettloff of The Province newspaper positioned himself to photograph the whole column marching down the hill. As he was getting ready to take the picture, he saw a young boy run out onto the road; Wait for Me, Daddy captures the image of the boy, five-year-old Warren "Whitey" Bernard, running out of his mother's grasp to his father. [1]

Aftermath

The secret destination turned out to be Nanaimo on Vancouver island, only three hours away. Later, after years of training, the regiment converted from infantry to armour and was sent to France and the Netherlands; it returned home at war's end. [4] When Jack Bernard returned home, Dettloff was on hand to photograph the family's reunion. Jack and Bernice Bernard eventually divorced. [5]

Wait for Me, Daddy (2014), statue in Hyack Square, New Westminster, B.C., by Veronica and Edwin Dam de Nogales Wait for Me, Daddy Statue.jpg
Wait for Me, Daddy (2014), statue in Hyack Square, New Westminster, B.C., by Veronica and Edwin Dam de Nogales

The City of New Westminster commissioned a bronze statue honouring the photo to be placed at the bottom of 8th Street, in Hyack Square, to the artistic couple Veronica and Edwin Dam de Nogales. The city unveiled the statue on October 4, 2014. At the same event, the Royal Canadian Mint announced the issue of a series of three coins featuring a scene adapted from the image: it was released in denominations of $2 (alloy), $3 (1⁄4 troy ounce [0.27 oz; 7.8 g] silver) and $10 (1⁄2 troy ounce [0.55 oz; 16 g] silver). [6] Canada Post also issued a stamp featuring the iconic image. [7]

A re-enactment of the soldiers' march was planned for March 2015, to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. [8]

Detloff unwittingly captured a lesser known story in this photograph, though no less characteristic of wartime Canada. On the left-hand side of the photograph, the second woman behind "Whitey's" mother (wearing a dark long coat, necklace, and staring directly toward the camera) is Agnes Confortin (née Power) who had accompanied her friend Phyllis Daem that day to see the young men of New Westminster off. Even with the limited resolution of the photo, Agnes' somber expression reflects her concern for her two brothers, Wilfred and Larry Power, who had already enlisted in the North Nova Scotia Highlanders. [9] Larry returned to Canada in 1944 with severe posttraumatic stress disorder. Wilfred was killed in action in March 1945 near Arnhem as part of Canadian Forces preparation for the Liberation of Arnhem in April 1945. [10]

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References

  1. 1 2 Davis, Chuck (2010). "Wait For Me, Daddy". The History of Metropolitan Vancouver. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  2. ↑ "The Second World War 1939 – 1945". The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles). 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  3. ↑ LeBlanc, Ron, Keith Maxwell, Dwayne Snow and Kelly Deschênes, Swift & Strong: A Pictorial History of The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own), Vancouver: The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) Museum Society, 2011, page 159.
  4. 1 2 Lucas, Dean (July 7, 2010). "Wait for me, Daddy". Famous Pictures. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  5. ↑ "The British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own Rifles), Eighth Street at Columbia Avenue". Vancouver Sun. Canada.com. 2010. Archived from the original on July 27, 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  6. ↑ Unser, Mike (October 6, 2014). "Canadian 2014 $2 Wait For Me, Daddy Circulation Coin Released". CoinNews.Net. CoinNews Media Group LLC. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  7. ↑ Tahirali, Jesse (October 4, 2014). "'Wait for me, Daddy' photo immortalized in bronze". Bell Media. CTVNews.ca. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Iconic WWII photo to be immortalized in sculpture". CBC News. Archived from the original on July 26, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  9. ↑ Canada, Veterans Affairs (February 20, 2019). "Wilfred Joseph Power - The Canadian Virtual War Memorial - Veterans Affairs Canada". www.veterans.gc.ca. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Second World War Service Files: Canadian Armed Forces War Dead". Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on March 3, 2014. Retrieved February 27, 2014.

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