Friday, August 10, 2007

LaSalle Boul and Wellington St. 1938 - 2005

1938 - 2005 Photos intersection LaSalle Boul. and Wellington St. at Regina Street:
 
These photos show the intersection of LaSalle Boul. on the left and Wellington Street on the right looking south. You can see the Notre Dame des Sept Douleurs church in the background. The park at the intersection was called Parc du Souvenirs and the name of the parc was changed in 2005 to Parc des Madelinots in honor of the Madelinots who moved to Verdun at the beginning of the 20th century and their social club is situated next to the park.The War monument called "The memorial of the Victory of Verdun" wich was standing there since 1924 was moved in front of city hall  and the Canadian legion on Verdun avenue between 1st ave and Willibrord St. in 1959.
 
Guy
 
1938                                                                                           2005
 
ARCHIVES SHGV

15 comments:

guy5479 MSN said...

Here are some other interesting historical facts about Verdun:   LaSalle Blvd.: Named in honor of the french explorer Robert Cavelier, Sieur de LaSalle formerly named Lower Lachine Road. It is the longest artery of Verdun and the oldest road of Montr챕al wich runs along the river, This road joined Ville Marie to the Lachine post. Anniversaries: June 7th 1913: Foundation of the Irish catholic parish St Willibrord. June 30th, 1881: Act incorporating the Protestant Hospital for Insane (Douglas Hospital). June 18th 1958: Inoguration of the new Verdun city hall on Vedun ave.   Guy   ARCHIVES SHGV

joey-verdun MSN said...

Guy....

Thanks for your photos..and the additional Verdun information....

as you mentioned in an earlier post concerning the name of "Torchy Warf " (sp) and it being attibuted to Tortue.....my researches indicate that LaTortue (sp) was associated with Laprarie.
So there maybe some divergence in the source of the name.

respectfully

joey

guy5479 MSN said...

Joey, I will do some research on this subject at the SHGV and see what I can come up with. Guy

joey-verdun MSN said...

Guy....
The other day I posted the names of a few famous people from Verdun.......I hope that you got it.....

A name to add to that list is Sgt.Major Rocky Leger......he lived on Beurling between Beatty and Moffat . He was made famous by the mail box incident....he is creditied with starting the first Canadian military anti terrorist squad in approximately 1962 .

There were also a few guys in the squad that were from Verdun....

respectfully.....

joey

guy5479 MSN said...

Joey, Can you give me those names again, I may have missed them. Guy

joey-verdun MSN said...

Guy....

It is my pleasure.....

MARJO and her chum......I think his name was Jean.....
from Corbeau......they lived on Crawford bridge St. in the
1988 time approximate.

Pierre Junneau , former Chairman of CBC .....grew up on
Bannantyne .
Also Pierre's brother Andre Junneau... Artist .

There was a hockey player also which you may have already
but here is his name anyway..... Jimmy Mann...

I hope that submitting Rockey's name doesn't make you uncomfortable. Sometimes we gotta shake up the status quo....eh ? Out of respect for his abandonment by the Canadian public , left to languish away in DVA hospital.......
it would be ironic if the Verdun community finally recognised his unselfishness ........I am sure his family would be impressed . His life was a milestone event in Quebec
history .

respectfully....

joey

joey-verdun MSN said...

Guy....

It is funny that after I posted the reference to Rocky Leger and the first anti terrorist squad ...that Ottawa pumped out some news about the aniversary of the devils brigade and their connection with the anti terrorist squad ....as is contained in todays Gazette.......

The article is a bit ambigous (sp) fuzzy as to the origination date of the anti terrorist unit.....

However , Guy , should you feel inclined as a rep of the Society Historic du Verdun....you may be able to access a photgraph of the original squad with Rocky ...the photo was taken at the 3rd field Engineers armory in Westmount about 1962...the photographer was Sgt . Benjamin ...... they may still have a copy in their regimental archives......

Further to the concept of propaganda and sunshine for the glory hole.......the article in todays gazette is a very interesting study in Information.....

First . there is no attribution........no byline .....no reporters name attached . Which usually is indicative of being a press release by the issuer........sometimes a press release may be rewritten by a reporter .....the only issuer that would gain by this release is the Ottawa war machine .....

Second , if a published article is a bonified news story there has to be a balance to it ......both sides of the issue have to be equally presented or the form is beyond the standards of the press council.........

Guy I hope that you can use the data that I've supplied you.....


respectfully

joey

maggiemck MSN said...

Joey-Verdun, I found and read this article in today's gazette. I don't see the connection at all. Can you fill in my blanks? I've never heard the story of Rocky Leger. How was he connected to the "Devil's Brigade"? The article as it appears in today's gazette: Successors honour Devil's Brigade Special-ops veterans reunite at Petawawa DAVID PUGLIESE, CanWest News ServicePublished: 10 hours ago The old and new of Canada's special forces came together yesterday as commando veterans from the Second World War and those who have served in Afghanistan swapped stories and made new connections and friendships. U.S. and Canadian veterans from the wartime First Special Service Force, also known as the Devil's Brigade, were in Petawawa - about 167 kilometres northwest of Ottawa - for their 61st annual reunion. The old-time commandos were joined by U.S. Special Forces soldiers who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as members of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, some of whom have returned from Afghanistan. "We're interested in forging a new relationship between the old guys who started it all and the young men who are now involved in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Bill Story, a Devil's Brigade member. Story, 86, originally from Winnipeg, now lives in the U.S. "It's marvellous meeting all these young people," added 86-year-old Devil's Brigade veteran Eugene Forward from Lancaster, Ont. "They're carrying on our traditions." Fifty of the veterans, along with their families, showed up for this year's reunion, which alternates annually between sites in the United States and Canada. The veterans, as well as serving special forces members from both countries, will attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa this morning. The First Special Service Force was a joint U.S.-Canadian unit that fought with distinction during the Second World War, earning a reputation as a hardened and professional fighting formation. The unit established its legendary reputation fighting to liberate Italy. The veterans estimate there are a little more than 300 of their comrades still alive. Members of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) trace their roots back to the Devil's Brigade. CANSOFCOM includes Joint Task Force 2, the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, the 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron and the Joint Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence Company. As the veterans looked skyward, U.S. and Canadian special forces parachuted in to a landing zone in front of the audience of several hundred people. The Canadian Special Operations Regiment also put on a display of firepower as troops used heavy machine guns, mounted on Humvees, to destroy targets on a nearby range. CF-18 fighter aircraft dropped practice bombs on targets. Herman Kasoff, an 82-year-old First Special Service Force veteran from Farmington Hills, Mich., said military life appears pretty much as it was when he was in the Devil's Brigade. "It's hurry up and wait," he explained as Canadian and U.S. paratroopers got ready to board aircraft for a display of parachuting.

짤 The Gazette (Montreal) 2007    

joey-verdun MSN said...

Maggi...

When I read the article at one in the morning west coast time....four ottawa time there was no attribution
You have to go to part two (2) of the story to see the referance to the anti terrorism unit....

Devil's Brigade vets meet at CFB Petawawa

David Pugliese, CanWest News Service
Published: Saturday, August 11, 2007
Article tools

The regiment is designed to take on its own missions or support Joint Task Force 2, the military's

>> counter-terrorism and special forces unit. <<

The military acknowledged last fall that the regiment, based in Petawawa, had deployed troops to Afghanistan but it has not released details of its operations. JTF2 has also been operating in Afghanistan for a number of years.

Hammond said although the weapons have changed, the special operators of today undergo the same high level of training that Devil's Brigade veterans went through.

"It's all the same physical set of demands." he explained after reviewing some of the old training regimes. "If my guys were alive back then they would have volunteered for that organization and vice versa."

Charlie Mann, a Devil's Brigade veteran from Kincardine, Ont. said he sees a lot of his own unit in the current special operations forces. What has changed is the equipment and aircraft, said the 85-year-old. "The equipment is a lot more compact and the aircraft much larger," said Mann.

Ottawa Citizen
짤 CanWest News Service 2007

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


My assertion was that Rocky Leger was the guy that started Canada's first AntiTerrorism unit.....and that it was interesting that the day after I mentioned it there was a article containing reference to the term....and a connection with the Devils Brigade....

Thanks for your feed back....

respectfully

joey

guy5479 MSN said...

Joey, I looked up Jimmy Mann, Hockey player on the Wikipedia sight and here is what they say: Jimmy Mann, born April 17, 1959 in Montreal, Quebec, is a retired professional ice hockey player who played 293 games in the National Hockey League, He played for the Quebec Nordiques, Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg Jets. Wanting to know more about his residence if in fact he was born in Verdun, here are 4 Mann residences, Woodland, Egan, Joseph and 3rd ave. wich I got from Lovell's Directory. Do you have more information on him?   Guy P.N. I must say I do not remember him.

metalman108 MSN said...

guy   jimmy mann, lived on egan beside the laneway going on egan lane, we all played ball hockey in that lane as little verduners at times we walked to the hockey rinks, up the street in front of woodland pizza, played ball hockey, some of us didn't have skates nor knew how to skate, i was one of them. wolfe cylces was the hot spot for the curve hockey stick, 7 dollars   i didn't know till now that jimmy became a hockey player good for him, always proud to know about a verduner doing well in life. we didn't have much back then, all we had was our loyal freindship.    

maggiemck MSN said...

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les__f MSN said...

Metalman ,.how ya doing?  Curved sticks for $7 bucks............   YIKES  we used to do it the old fashion way ( or at least try to......hahahah) we bent them slowly in the Steam Radiator at Willibrord Park,,,,,,,,,,,,     but we broke a few too,...learning to bend them slowly,.......patience wasn't one of our virtues as a young Verdunner..............  but even the broken sticks had their purpose as a 'ball hockey' or 'street hockey stick, in the spring,when the ise melted,,,,,,,,,,,,....get a new stick for Christmas,and break it within a couple of weeks ,............hahahahahah Thank God we had Sheds to hide our mistakes in,...............................  Curved Sticks,....good memory there Walter,........most kids today wouldn't have a clue why we had to bend our own sticks,........& probably wonder Why we would have had to bend one anyway,.....aren't they all curved now................hahahahha                                                     Have Fun & Remember Verdun

metalman108 MSN said...

yes the curved hockey stick, later they made those plastic adapter with the curve, affordable repair? so when the stick broke, you just added the bottom curved plastic adapter didn't look nice but it worked, the cheap electrical tape for the hockey stick? the big ball on the end of the stick, the taping skill on the curved part the asphalt wore the bottom rite out of the tape protection. yes les i'm still a crazy verduner as always. verdun did its toll on me and still does today

guy5479 MSN said...

Joey, Since Jimmy Mann was born in 1959, I checked the 1960 Lovell's directory and there is a Don Mann, Mechanic Sonoco, 262 Egan wich would be between Wellington and LaSalle Blvd. so this is no doubt his address. Guy