This memorial is dedicated to the memory of the fifteen victims of the Orleans Aviation Disaster which occurred on May 15, 1956. A 20-foot cross adorned with a fighter aircraft, surrounded by 15 stones taken from the rubbles of Villa St-Louis is a reminder of this tragedy. This crash is depicted as one of the worst in Canadian military aviation history. The cross is located behind the contemporary Residence Saint-Louis, built in 1965, and one of the larger long-term care homes in the Ottawa area.
May 13, 2009 - Villa St-Louis - Ceremony commemorates Orléans disaster:
Fifty-three years after a CF-100 interceptor crashed into Villa St-Louis, in Hiawatha Park, killing 15 people, a group of Orleans veterans got together with members of the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa to commemorate the tragic event that occurred May 15, 1956. Shortly after 9 p.m. on that day a pair of CF-100s were launched from RCAF Station Uplands to identify an unknown aircraft flying from the North towards Montreal. After identifying the aircraft as an RCAF North Star flying from Resolute Bay to Dorval at an altitude of 7,000 feet, the two fighters climbed to an altitude of 33,000 feet to practice interception tactics and burn excess fuel before returning to their base.
One aircraft landed at Uplands but the other which remained airborne to burn more fuel never did; instead it crashed into Villa St-Louis, a rest and retirement home for the Sisters of Charity located in the outskirts of the - then - small village of Orleans. The cause of the accident was never definitely established although a malfunction of the aircraft's oxygen system is believed to have caused the loss of consciousness of the two crew members which ultimately led to the crash and the loss of 15 lives, probably the worst disaster in Canada's military aviation history.
Aside from the two aviators, 11 nuns, a civilian servant at the Villa and the chaplain, himself a retired naval padre, perished in the crash. This year's commemoration, the fourth organized by an informal group of some 30 mainly formerly members of the Air Force that meet regularly at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 632, was attended by about 50 people including official representation of the Legion and 410 Wing of the Air Force Association of Canada.
Post-scriptum: In his initial research while planning for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the crash, in 2006, Ray Drouin - a retired RCAF administration officer now residing a few hundred metres from Résidence St-Louis -discovered that the names of two deceased crew members did not appear in the Seventh Book of Remembrance, on Parliament Hill; through his valiant efforts this situation has since been remedied and the names of Flying Officer William J. Schmidt, 26, of Creston, B. C. (pilot) and Flying Officer Kenneth D. Thomas, 20, of Niagara Falls, Ont., now appear in the Seventh Book.
The Victims: Sister André-Bernard, age 22 (nee Lise St-Louis) from Hull, Quebec. Sr Claire-de-la-Charité, 21 (Jacqueline Dubé), Lorrainville, Quebec. Sr Claire-du-Crucifix, 30 (Aurore Buissière), Clarence Creek, Ont. Sr Jeanne-de-Lorraine, 58 (Maria Bérubé), Ville-Marie, Quebec. Miss Aline Lapointe, 40, Masson, Quebec. (Servant at Villa St-Louis) Sr Marthe-de I'Immaculée, 31 (Marie-Berthe Lajeunesse), Thurso, Quebec. Sr Mathias-de-la-Croix, 27 (Éliane Simard), Alfred, Ont. Flying Officer William J. Schmidt, 26, Creston, B. C. (Pilot) Sr St-Férréol, 67 (Valéda Lefebvre), Clarence Creek, Ont. Sr St-Justin, 77 (Émilie Hurtubise), Pointe-Gatineau, Quebec. Sr St-Laurent-Justinien, 71 (Lumena Genest), Saint-Isidore-de-Dorchester, Quebec. (Superior of Villa St-Louis) Sr Ste-Solange, 71 (Marguerite Guénette), L'Orignal, Ont. Sr Pierre-Aimée, 25 (Huguette Blais), Shawinigan-Sud, Quebec Flying Officer Kenneth D. Thomas, 20, Niagara Falls, Ont. (Navigator) Father Richard Ward, 43, Toronto, Ont. (Chaplain at Villa St-Louis and Assistant to the Chaplain General of the Royal Canadian Navy)
