Peter Engbrecht

Engbrecht was born in Poltavka, Russia, Soviet Union to a Russian Mennonite family. They emigrated to Canada in 1926 where his father began working as a blacksmith in Whitewater, Manitoba.[1] As a youngster he was known as a crack shot with a .22 rifle and after completing public school in grade 8 he began to work in the blacksmith trade with his father.[1]

He enlisted in the military when the Second World War began, despite coming from a pacifist Mennonite community and family. Engbrecht was one of 15 Mennonite Canadians from Boissevain and just one of 3,000 Mennonite Canadians who served in the second global war.[1][3] He would serve with the No. 424 Squadron flying Halifax bombers.[1] During the night of May 27 to 28 they attacked Bourg-Leopold, Belgium on their second mission. The Halifax bomber they were flying, named Dipsy Doodle was attacked 14 times by German night-fighters in a battle that began at the target site all the way back to the English coast.[1] During this battle Engbrecht was credited with at least two kills as they were attacked by German Bf 110 and Ju 88 aircraft.[1] He was credited with two more kills the next month on the night of June 10 to 11. On this mission, they were dispatched to attack a site at Versailles-Matelots in France. Attacked first by a Bf 110 and then by a Bf 109 Engbrecht shot both down from the mid-upper gunner position with assistance from his rear-gunner partner Gordon Gillanders.[1][5] For these actions he was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal by King George VI on August 11, one of only eight CGMs presented to Canadians during the war.[1] Engbrecht's citation read that "his exceptional coolness and confidence under fire was a source of inspiration to other crew members. . . His feats have been worthy of great praise."[1]

His actions lead to Engbrecht becoming a household name in Canada and celebrated hero from southwest Manitoba.[3] Journalists referred to Engbrecht as "Canada's top air gunner".[6] A parade was held in his honour Parliament Hill and he laid a wreath at the national war cenotaph. As a result of his coming from a pacifist and mistakenly thought to be of a German (rather than Dutch) family, his conflicting circumstances were noted by the Toronto Star which stated that "The paradoxical Peter Engbrecht is, all at once, a member of a religious sect which forbids participation in wars, of pure German descent, a member of the RCAF."[3] Despite being celebrated nationally and by the king himself, his own family and community were somewhat conflicted by his participation in the war and he was not warmly received.[3]

Following the war Engbrecht returned to Canada, though like many World War II veterans he did not find a smooth return to civilian life. Three years later in 1948 he returned to military service as radar technician with the military as a part of NORAD.[1] Engbrecht served a total 28.5 years with the Royal Canadian Air Force and as a Master Corporal he was honoured by the RCAF Association with a Fly-Past Salute on Parliament Hill on September 28, 1972, the first person of his rank to ever take the salute.[1] At the time of his retirement in 1973 he was the longest serving NORAD serviceman.[1] He then moved to Beausejour, Manitoba working at the local newspaper the Beausejour Beaver.[1] An award was named in his honour and given annual to the "Airperson of the Year" in Canada, though the award was renamed in 1993 to the Roy Slemon award.[4] His wife passed away in 1978 and he remarried and moved to Altona, Manitoba before passing away in 1991. He was buried in a cemetery in Boissevain, Manitoba, close to his Manitoba hometown of Whitewater, and his headstone was provided by the Royal Canadian Air Force.

• Peter Engbrecht at Find a Grave