David Renwick Hunter - Part 1

[Substack has cautioned me that my posts have been too long. Therefore, this, and possibly other articles, will be serialized.]

David Renwick Hunter was born December 22, 1919 on a farm north-east of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Joining him was his twin brother, Donald William Hunter. They had an older sister, Jean, who was then 2 1/2. He grew up in a clapboard shack, with shingles for siding, on the flat plains, near Saskatoon. The “Renwick” part of his name honoured an Anderson cousin killed in World War I. The “David” may have been in recognition of one of Jack’s uncles who lived in Saskatoon..

Dave’s parents were not the typical couple - John, known to the family as “Jack” Hunter, born in Fife, Scotland had come to Canada in 1913, as a lad of 19, (he claimed to be 20) to visit numerous relatives in the Saskatoon area.

Ellen, born in Cayuga, Ontario, was the youngest daughter of a Hunter family, who had been among the first to settle in the Saskatoon area, in 1883. She was over 30 when she met Jack. His uncle’s were her first cousins. It was complicated.

They married in December of 1915. After a summer of military training, punctuated by episodes of AWOL, Jack left for the War in September 1916. Ellen remained on her farm, gifted to her by her mother. Their daughter Jean (my mother) was born April 11, 1917 while Jack was seeing active service in the famous battle for Vimy Ridge.

Above: Shack in which Dave Hunter grew up. Jimmie Hunter, Dave’s grand-uncle, is driving the team. Jimmie assisted with the farming after Jack abandoned the family.

We have few records because we’re dealing with a poor farm family who struggled to survive the Great Depression. My mother, Dave’s older sister, told me of the twin boys being rambunctious. One cold winter day, Don enticed Dave to put his tongue on a frozen axe head. Far from being a prank, the situation escalated. Shrieking from intense pain, Dave was brought into the house and his mother tried pouring warm water on the axe head. Eventually, the axe head detached, taking a large junk of Dave’s tongue with it. Despite the pain, with blood flowing, Dave immediately jumped up, seized the axe and went for Don. Don escaped outside with Dave chasing him around the farm yard while brandishing the axe. Finally caught and restrained by his mother, Dave collapsed in a ball of pain, anguish, and frustration. The scar on his tongue was still noticeable many years later during his military medicals.

The three children attended the rural one-room Kilmeny School. In winter they travelled in an enclosed horse drawn sleigh, heated with hot rocks placed inside a foot warmer and all protected with a Buffalo robe. My mother liked to ride horseback in summer but her brothers opted to walk.

Dave (right) with his twin Don and older sister Jean - 1927

Jack abandoned the family in 1929. He apparently had little aptitude for farming. Even before the onset of the Great Depression, he had moved into Saskatoon. After about a year, he moved on to British Columbia and maintained a correspondence with Ellen until the summer of 1932. After that, his family had no contact with him.

Ellen, continued to operate the farm. She eked out a living selling eggs and chickens, and turkeys, through a merchant in Sutherland, a village which became a suburb of Saskatoon. As the Depression worsened, she was caught in the plummeting prices of farm produce. A heifer was sold and after deductions for auction fees and freight, she received $1.36.

Dave, Don and Jean continued to attend Kilmeny School. Dave appears to have had the most aptitude for schooling. Jean gratefully dropped school after Grade 8. Dave took Grades 9 & 10 via correspondence, at Blackley School. He was active in baseball in summer and hockey in winter, playing either pick-up or shinny games or with District teams. During these teenage years, he and Don frequently walked into Sutherland or Saskatoon - 12 miles away. At age 14, Dave suffered a bout of pleurisy - a very painful inflammation of the lung walls.

With no relief from the Depression, the farm could not support the entire family. Dave was “farmed out” to his aunt and uncle, or to neighbours, to do farm work and help with chores, in return for board and room. It is not known how the choice was made between Dave and Don to “work out”. My mother regarded the arrangement as unfair but didn’t explain it, if she knew.

On October 12, 1936, 16 year old Dave and Don were present at the marriage of my parents - Jean Hunter and Ralph Foster. Dave was one of the official witnesses, reflecting the special place he had in my mother’s heart.

For Grade 11, Dave enrolled in City Collegiate in Saskatoon. He left school, three courses short of Junior Matricultion. We find him next employed at the Perron Gold Mines in the Rouyn region of Quebec. He worked there for 2 ½ years, beginning as a hand but working his way up to machinist and “hard rock miner”.

Perron Gold Mine from the time period when Dave Hunter worked there 1937 - 1940

With the onset of World War II, Dave decided to follow his brother’s example and enlist in the army. His initial training was near Saskatoon, at Camp Dundurn.

Dave and Don Hunter Photo from September 1940 when they were both Privates in training at Camp Dundurn

In October 1940, Dave’s unit was moved to Weyburn, SK. In January 1941, it was on to Vancouver and then Nanaimo, BC on March 18, 1941. Then, on May 13, 1941, receiving permission from his unit, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Dave is described as follows:

In his Attestation papers, he lists his father as “Address Unknown”. As it would emerge much later, his father, now going by the name George Hunter, was actually living only blocks away, with a new partner and two small boys, ages 8 and 6.

Dave was immediately sent to Toronto for more basic training. Given his previous army training, he preceded rapidly through the program and on August 3, 1941 was promoted to Acting Flight Sergeant. The next day he reported to Wireless School in Guelph, ON. He was there until May of 1942, thanks in part to having to repeat one of his courses. On May 10, 1942, he reported to Bombing and Gunnery School in Paulson, MB for 6 weeks of training. As did his contemporaries, he bombed and strafed Lake Dauphin. He received his Air Gunner Badge on June 8, 1942.

Aerial view of training facility near Paulson, MB

Then it was on to Air Observer School in Edmonton, from late June 1942 until early May 1943. One of the sources of friends for Dave and his fellow trainees were the nurses in training at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, just a few blocks away from Blatchford Field, their training airport. On one of his training flights, Dave took the photo below.

Taken near Christmas 1942, Dave Hunter captured the Legislative Building of Alberta in Edmonton.

In the next instalment, Dave goes overseas.