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Article: Flight of the thunderbird: Bev Lundahl searches for the totem that graced HMCS Quesnel during World War II.(Your Story)
- Article from:
- The Beaver: Exploring Canada's History
- Article date:
- December 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Canada's National History Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
A wide-eyed thunderbird with a red, pointed beak and tufted head bravely faced the salty wind from the crow's nest of HMCS Quesnel, the corvette that my father served on during World War II.
The Quesnel was commissioned at Esquimalt, British Columbia, in 1941. To distinguish it as a West Coast ship, this totem pole was its emblem. I often wondered: "Did an aboriginal person give the crew this lucky talisman?"
My dad, who boarded the Quesnel in 1944 in Halifax, did not know the origin of the totem pole or its final resting place. During a two-year search, I found several Quesnel veterans and learned a less romantic story. ...