This week in Prince George history, Dec. 18-24:
Dec. 21, 1944: The 'Flying Quinns' or 'Fighting Quinns' -five Prince George brothers serving overseas during the Second World War -took time from the front to write home to their mother, The Citizen reported.
"Cpl. Jack Quinn writes his mother, Mrs. Claude Barnes, from Holland that (his) tank crew buddies and he really dug into the Christmas parcel he received, eating everything edible except a Christmas cake," The Citizen reported. "'I'm saving the cake to share with a Dutch family who have been really grand to me,' he writes."
Flight Sgt. Ken Quinn was in the hospital suffering from a flu contracted at an operational training unit in England.
Flying Officer Harold 'Hal' Quinn was flying a De Havilland Mosquito in India, but hoped to be in England by February "to claim an English bride whom he hopes to introduce to Prince George in March."
Flight Lt. Gerald 'Gerry' Quinn was a pilot with a bomber squadron in England, flying missions over Germany and Flying Officer Phillip 'Phil' Quinn was conducting reconnaissance flights over Norway from Scotland, "where he finds the people extremely hospitable."
The Flying Quinns -and the one tanking Quinn -represented Prince George well during the Second World War. I scoured the archives looking for other references to them and their achievements, and here is what I found:
On Oct. 4, 1945 The Citizen reported that Gerald Quinn had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
"Flt.-Lieft. Quinn, one of the four 'Flying Quinns,' had the ironic experience of completing 36 trips over Europe with the Ghost Squadron of Lancasters (bombers), only to have himself placed in the position of 'walking home' to Canada," The Citizen reported. "Another pilot cracked up his Queen o' The Swamp as the squadron prepared to fly the Atlantic."
He had arrived home on Aug. 7, 1945.
On Aug. 16, 1945 Hal Quinn met with local Rotarians and recounted one of his experiences flying in India during the war.
"Without the benefit of radio and with a weather forecast, he took off from an airport on the North India frontier one afternoon about 4 o'clock and headed for Afghanistan, carrying ranking officers," The Citizen reported.
One his return trip to India, a violent dust storm forced him to turn back to the airport in Afghanistan, he told the Rotarians, "but there he found the storm had preceded him and he could not land."
"With only an hour's gas supply left and less than 60 minutes of daylight, the pilot and precious crew dashed for a small emergency landing field Flying Officer Quinn knew of in the country," The Citizen reported. "As he swooped down for a landing he found the field covered with small burros."
Quinn banked the plane and circled. Several people on the ground waved, but made no attempt to clear the donkeys from the landing strip. He circled several times, with darkness and the storm approaching, but the ground crew didn't clear the animals out of the way.
"Exasperated, Flying Officer Quinn zoomed up to a higher level and as he once more circled the field he scribbled a note and dropped it as he passed low over the runway. Then he got action, but not quick enough and he had to sweep down on the field before all the burros were clear. Striking one of the animals, the big plane went over on its nose and the occupants were thrown on top of the pilot."
Quinn and the ground crew managed to roll the damaged plane off the field, and they slept in a small building nearby.
"'In the morning there was no sign of the kite,' continued Flying Officer Quinn, 'During the night tribesmen crept down and put fire to it.'"
In the end, Quinn and the officers ended up riding some of the burros out of the mountains on a two-day trip back to the main airport.
All five Quinn brothers survived the war, however Hal Quinn would died in a plane crash in June 1952 in Sioux Lookout, Ont. He was a commercial bush pilot with Central B.C. Airways at the time, and the June 9, 1952 edition of The Citizen reported that it was believed his floatplane was hit by a powerful gust of wind during takeoff and crashed into a lake.
Dec. 24, 1919: The Citizen called for a public inquiry into the peculiar death of Henry Jones.
"Henry Jones, a young pioneer of this district, who for the past 10 years has been engaged with local land surveying firms, and who it was announced last week appeared to be developing symptoms of lunacy, died in the city hospital early Saturday (Dec. 20, 1919) morning of pleurisy," The Citizen reported. "Immediately on his condition being reported early last week he was removed to the hospital, but here his unusual behaviour disturbed the hospital inmates and he was removed and taken in charge by the police."
Police Chief Stewart said Jones complained of severe illness, but appeared completely rational.
On Friday (Dec. 19) Stewart called in Dr. Lyons, who examined Jones, identified his condition, and rushed him back to the hospital for treatment. However Jones died at 4 a.m. the next morning.
Authorities notified Jones' brother in Montana.
As of the Dec. 31, 1919 edition of The Citizen, Jones' body was still lying in the morgue awaiting instructions from the dead man's family. The Dec. 17, 1919 edition had reported that Jones was taken to hospital after displaying signs of "dementia."
According to funeral ledgers held by the City of Prince George, Jones' remains were sent to Intake, Montana on Jan. 4, 1920 for burial. He was 29 years old.
It appears no inquiry was ever conducted into Jones' mysterious death or why he was sent from the hospital to a jail cell with a dangerous lung condition.
Pleurisy, an inflammation of the tissue around the lungs, can cause sharp chest pain which is worse while breathing, according to the Mayo Clinic. But it wouldn't account for Jones' "lunacy."
To explore 100 years of local history yourself, visit the Prince George Citizen archives online at pgc.cc/PGCarchive. The Prince George Citizen online archives are maintained by the Prince George Public Library.
