Just over 70 years on from flying two dangerous, top-secret missions on D-Day during the Second World War one longtime Bonnyvillian was given the freedom of France earlier this year, being awarded the rank of Knight of the French Order of the Legion of Honour.
Ninety-one-year-old Marcel Croteau is a much decorated veteran of the Second World War having flown in 39 high-risk missions over a two-year period in the conflict in Europe.
A gunner by trade, Croteau would often find himself manning a machine gun at the rear of the plane. His job was simple, yet terrifyingly challenging at the same time; he had to watch out for and attempt to shoot down any enemy plane he encountered.
With the lives of his comrades quite literally in his hands on more than one occasion, it is easy to see why Croteau has such a celebrated history stemming from his participation in the war. Boasting such medals as the Distinguished Flying Medal, the Aircrew Europe Star-Bar, the Defense of Britain Medal, a Canadian Voluntary Service Medal and Overseas Medal, a Bomber Command Medal and now the Knight of the Legion of Honour medal, Croteau is one of the most decorated Canadian war veterans still alive today.
And still, whenever he is quizzed about his participation in the war, Croteau passes off his involvement as simply doing his job, that according to his eldest son Edward, who still lives in the Bonnyville area.
Croteau himself now resides in Sechelt, British Columbia, a small seaside village located approximately 50 kilometres northwest of Vancouver. It was there that he first received word and then was later presented with the prestigious Legion of Honour medal.
In a special ceremony that saw 90 of Croteau's closest friends and family gather to celebrate the recognition, it was a letter from Phillip Zeller, the French ambassador to Canada, explaining the significance of the decoration that touched the hearts of those in attendance.
“This distinction illustrates the profound gratitude that France would like to express to you,” the letter read. “It is awarded in recognition of your professional involvement in the liberation of our country. Through you, France remembers the sacrifice of all your compatriots who came to liberate French soil, often losing their lives in the process.”
Speaking to the Nouvelle early last week, Croteau's eldest son Edward struggled to put into words just how proud he was of everything his father accomplished during his two-year stint in the military.
“I guess, when I was a little younger, I didn't exactly realize what exactly was involved (in the war) because everybody took it for granted. Now this honour has come up, it kinda makes you realize all the soldiers that went to war, it was pretty brave of them,” Edward said. “As normal, everyday civilians fortunate enough not to have lived through (the First or Second World War) we don't realize what the army personnel went through.”
He added, “On behalf of his family, we want to say how proud we are of our dad for his accomplishments. He was (a highly decorated war hero).”
Born in Bonnyville to community pioneers Omer and Marie Croteau, Marcel would spend much of his early and teenage years helping out on the family farm. It was this work that he attributes to being the foundation for his success.
“I worked eight horses and a plow breaking land,” Croteau told media back in Sechelt when he was originally presented with the award on Sept. 27. He noted that particular job gave him the strength, resolve and determination he put to good use manning the “heavy” gunners during the war.
Enlisting in the military wasn't something Croteau had particularly considered, but once Canada joined the allied forces in an attempt to quell Hitler's Nazis in Germany, he simply decided it was something he had to do.
After officially joining the military on Aug. 30, 1942, Croteau attended officers training at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec in early 1943, upgrading his high school education before graduating and heading to flying school. By July, the young man from Bonnyville had been presented with his air gunner wings and was shipped over to Europe on the Queen Mary along with 12,500 other troops to join the fight against the Nazi Germans.
Attending operational training at the birthplace of William Shakespeare, Stratford-on-Avon just after Christmas in late 1943, Croteau was preparing himself for the very real possibility of taking an active combat role in the war.
Upon passing his commando training with flying colours, Croteau joined the 425 Alloutte Squadron in March 1944 to take up arms alongside his fellow Canadians in Europe.
It was then that the real work began and Croteau was immediately thrust into the thick of the action, participating in his first bombing mission on March 22, 1944. From there, he spent almost as much time in the air as he did on the ground in Europe over the next six months – doing everything from blowing up enemy planes to scrambling for his life after being involved in a terrifying mid-air collision.
The day Croteau most remembers from his time in the military is the same day every other soldier and indeed the rest of the world remembers – D-Day. After flying an early morning bombing mission on enemy coastal defenses on that fateful day, June 6, 1944, Croteau was ordered back into the air for a second time, this time at night where he and his team bombed and destroyed a bridge used regularly by the Germans at Houlgate.
“They were landing crafts and ships. The channel was covered with craft. We had been waiting for that. The Americans were flying over us; we were given the lower placement. There were 11,000 to 12,000 soldiers on the beaches that day. Just before midnight, we bombed a bridge,” Croteau recalled.
Shortly after, Croteau received the first of his medals, the Distinguished Flying Medal, personally presented to him by King George VI for “using guns with deadly effect.”
By Sept. 13, Croteau had racked up 39 bombing missions and he was decommissioned from active service shortly after, leaving the war before it's conclusion in late 1945.
Upon his return to Canada, Croteau moved back to the Bonnyville area where he started a “fish trucking” business that saw he and a partner transport fresh fish from the northern lakes by air to Edmonton. After going through two planes, the business eventually went up in flames and Croteau turned his attention to real estate.
“My dad was one of the first real estate agents in town,” Edward told the Nouvelle. “He was really involved in land allotments, construction, selling of houses and land. That was something he did for most of his life after coming back from the war.”
Somewhere along the line, Croteau met Berthe Lapointe, a woman he married, had five children with and later divorced.
After living in Bonnyville almost his entire life, Croteau decided it was time for a change and in the 1980's, he relocated his family to British Columbia where he and several of his children still reside today. Since the move, Marcel has dabbled in such pastimes as painting, drawing and writing, while maintaining an interest in farming, only this time it's the preservation of his small garden at home rather than acres upon acres of farmland.
In closing, Edward, after sharing much of his father's stories with the Nouvelle, said Croteau's family, which includes five children, 11 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren, were exceptionally proud of their “brave, brave” patriarch.
“I think the saddest thing about all of this is that with the war being so long ago, people have forgotten and taken for granted almost what these people put themselves through to fight (for our freedom),” Edward said. “This (Legion of Honour medal) is such a special, special honour and it's one I know my dad is very emotional and ecstatic about.
“It's a commemoration and acknowledgement of everything he achieved in the war. He was (a hero). He is our (hero).”
