Royalties, AlbertaPilot Officer Bercuson's body washed ashore 1944-09-17 near the town of Lindelse on Langeland Island and was buried in Magleby Cemetery there
Behind Grimble, in his small radio compartment, was Bernard Bercuson. Born in Calgary of immigrant parents on 2 July 1916, he was the old man of the crew. Bercuson had attended Western Canada High School and joined the Second Battalion of the Calgary Highlanders on the outbreak of war. At the time he was working as a stenographer in an oilfield machine shop in Royalties, a small hamlet in the oil fields southwest of Calgary. He was the only one in Savard’s crew who was married. He and his wife Adele, a girl from Regina, had married in Montreal on 4 June 1942 because his Calgary parents had temporarily moved to Montreal after his dad’s menswear shop went bankrupt in the Great Depression. Adele was a pretty girl with a twin sister. She stayed with her parents in Regina when Bernard went overseas. One of his instructors wrote of him: “Intelligent, sedentary Hebrew. Seems composed but does not impress as having much drive. Doubtful Pilot.” Another instructor thought of him as “most cooperative…rather shy and quiet and has a speech hesitation indicating he might be nervous.” His wireless instructor believed him to be an “above average W/op. [wireless operator] who has worked extremely hard during his course at this unit…Is suitable for early recommendation for a commission.” excerpt from "A Halifax: The Story of MZ899" by David J Bercuson, document attached
After seeing a picture of Bernard’s grave marked with a cross, Bernard’s sister Pat Bercuson Hector wrote to the RCAF that the family wished to have a Star of David on Bernard’s headstone. The RCAF wrote back that the cross had been erected by the citizens of Magleby and that a Star of David would be erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. On 5 May 1948, a commemoration ceremony and dedication service were held in the church at Magleby. American and British air attachés attended along with Ross Campbell of the Canadian Legation to Denmark. After a brief ceremony in the little church, about one thousand people from the surrounding area retired to the churchyard for the unveiling of a memorial wall to honour the airmen who had lost their lives in the war and were buried there. There were seven American flyers from a B-17, two British airmen and six members of the Royal Canadian Air Force in a portion of the church cemetery.55 The Americans were disinterred a year later and reburied in cemeteries in the United States. The Canadians and Britons are there still. excerpt from: A Halifax: The Story of MZ899 by David J Bercuson, full document attached
The Jewish fighter in World War II
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Finadagrave.com
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)
Final Story of Crew of MZ899 by David J Bercuson
