Veterans’ Week 2006

Cumberland war veteran presented with France's highest honour

This story originally appeared on www.orleansonline.ca in 2004 and has been re-printed with the publisher’s permission.

Between 1939 and 1945, the Royal Canadian Air Force enlisted approximately 232 000 men and almost 17 000 women including some 260 women from Newfoundland, and operated 86 squadrons, including 48 overseas.  26 997 Canadian airmen including ground crew perished during the war.  By the end of the war, the RCAF was the fourth largest air force in the world.

This week, as part of our Veterans’ Week coverage, we salute all our Second World War Air Force veterans, including Distinguished Flying Cross recipient, Dr. I.F. “Bus” Kennedy of Cumberland, Ontario.

By Fred Sherwin, Orléans Online

It's been more than 60 years since Dr. I. F. 'Bus' Kennedy flew missions over Western Europe. The Allies had just invaded Normandy and Bus and other spitfire pilots were engaging the enemy above Northern France on an almost daily basis.

Dr. I. F. 'Bus' Kennedy of Cumberland Village holds the Légion d'honneur he received from the French government for the role he played in the liberation of France. Credit: Fred Sherwin

As fate would have it, Bus was shot down six weeks after the invasion, the victim of either a very lucky anti-aircraft gunner, or a very accurate one.

For the next four weeks Bus (short for Buster) managed to elude capture until he eventually came into contact with a group of American soldiers. Several days later he was back in England where he learned that his brother had just been killed when his bomber went down. A week later he was back in Canada having been sent home on compassionate grounds.

All told, Dr. Kennedy flew 329 sorties during the war and shot down 14 enemy aircraft, twice earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. But it is his most recent decoration makes him the most proud. Sixty years after the successful conclusion of the war, Dr. Kennedy and 31 other D-Day veterans from across Canada have been bestowed with France's Légion d'honneur, the highest decoration one can receive from the French government.

Dr. Kennedy and three other veterans from Ottawa were presented with their medals at a ceremony hosted by the French Embassy over the summer.

The Order of the Legion of Honour dates back to 1802. The Order was established by Napoleon Bonaparte to reward men both for outstanding military accomplishments as well as for other distinguished service to the State.

The decoration bears the profile of "Marianne", symbolic figure of the French Republic, around which is the inscription "République française". On the back is the tri-colour flag of France and the inscription "Honneur et Patrie" (Honour and Fatherland). The medal itself is shaped like a five-sided double-pointed star, and is made of white enamel. It is encircled by a green wreath of oak and laurel leaves and surmounted by a smaller, similar wreath. The star and the red moiré ribbon from which it is suspended have never varied.

The decoration came as a total surprise to Dr. Kennedy, who wore it proudly during last week's Remembrance Day ceremony in Cumberland Village.

"It was a total surprise because it was so unexpected. It's a tremendous honour," said Dr. Kennedy during a recent interview at his residence in Chickadee Woods.
Dr. Kennedy was notified that he had been awarded the Legion of Honour in a letter from French Ambassador Philippe Guelluy.

In the letter, the Ambassador writes that Dr. Kennedy and the others were being bestowed with the Legion of Honour for the role they played during the Normandy invasion and ultimately the liberation of France from German forces.

For more information about Dr. Kennedy, visit Orléans Online.