Larry Burden – This Day In The RCMP

 

Photograph of a unique RCMP crest (Source of photo - Sheldon Boles).

 

The achievements and contributions of the Force have been built upon the individual contributions of many past Veterans.

These contributions have largely been forgotten.Veteran Sgt. Larry Burden ( #35982) served in “E” Division for 20 years has spent over ten years researching and summarizing these achievements by specific date. Nearly every day, Larry sends out an email message with a selection from his work in progress manuscript “This Day In The RCMP” to individuals interested in these historical notes.

 

In an effort to share his research to a large group, Larry has agreed to permit us to develop a webpage on our website. Each webpage will post Larry’s historical notations over the past week.

If you wish to contact Larry Burden or provide additional information about his research, please email him at larryburden8@gmail.com.

November 9th

1942 – On this day during World War II a Nazi secret agent named Werner von Janowski came ashore near the Gaspé town of New Carlisle after being delivered by submarine U-518. Within twelve hours he was captured due to his strong accent and out-of-place possessions.

After being captured the RCMP decided to “turn” him and become their first double agent. With the passage of time, it appeared that he may have been a triple agent and that was the German plan in the first place. In 1996 author Dean Beeby published Cargo of Lies: The true Story of a Nazi Double Agent in Canada in which he detailed the events surrounding this story.

1970– Surrey B.C. members responded to a domestic disturbance where a mother had reported that her distraught son had fled her house with a rifle after he threatened to kill his wife and himself. As the supervisor #15736 Sergeant Arnold McPherson left the house the suspect drove by honking his horn at the police. The sergeant then followed the man in his car and 100 yards down the road the suspect stopped and jumped from his vehicle and aimed the rifle at the policeman.

After a tense standoff the gunman jumped back into his car and sped off and shortly thereafter fled from his car on foot into the bush. After a search of the area with a police dog failed to locate the man, constables #27665 John W. Clarke and #27842 K. L. Smith were sent to his house and they hid inside to await his return. Shortly thereafter the man kicked in the door to his house and threatened to shoot Constable Clarke with the rifle. As he stepped forward, Constable Smith grabbed the barrel of the rifle and the two officers subdued him. He received a six-month sentence for pointing a firearm. Both constables were later awarded Commanding Officers Commendations for bravery.

1973 -Commendations for bravery were issued to #18887 / O.959 Victor Edwards along with #20064 Dennis Roberts and #25458 / O.1646 Maurice Riou after they arrested an armed man who had shot and wounded Constable Roberts and two civilians at Williams Lake, BC.

1976 – #23101 Corporal Robert C. Henderson and Constable #28498 Richard A. Bourgoin (Honour Roll Number 175)saved a man from a smoke-filled room in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Both men and were awarded St John Ambulance Meritorious Certificates.

1979– A gunman went into the Caisse Populaire (Credit Union) in the New Brunswick village of St. Basile and after firing a warning shot into the ceiling, demanded money. He then made his escape in a getaway car driven by his accomplice. An hour and a half later the pair ran a police roadblock near the village of Green River. #22674 Sergeant L.H. Armstrong then pursued the culprits in a high-speed chase at speeds exceeding 110 miles per hour. During the criminal pursuit the bank robber crawled into the back seat of the car and began shooting at Armstrong with a high-powered rifle. The pursuit continued until the suspect vehicle skidded into the ditch. As Anderson brought his vehicle to a halt 75 feet away the gunman fired three more shots at him before the pair began to run towards the bush. When Sergeant Armstrong ordered the men to stop, the gunman turned and took aim at him with the rifle. Before the suspect could shoot, Armstrong fired his revolver twice and wounded both men. The wounded men were then arrested and transported to hospital. On June 17, 1980 Sergeant L.H. Armstrong was awarded the Commissioners Commendation for Bravery.

1982– Former FLQ terrorist leader Yves Langlois returns to Quebec from exile.

1983– #29714 Corporal Rick W. McKillican received a Commissioners Commendation for outstanding service for working undercover and pretending to be a high-level drug trafficker gaining the trust of psychopathic murder suspect. He was so convincing that over time he won the confidence of the suspect who eventually took him to where he had buried the victim.

1986– Special Constable Denis Chausse’ a member of the Executive/Diplomatic Protection Section, earned a Commissioners Letter of Appreciation for his role in apprehending two armed men in a shopping mall in Hull Quebec. Chausse’ was off duty when he noted the two men flee from a store and though he was unarmed, he confronted the pair, identifying himself as a peace officer and ordering them to stop. The pair split up and ran off in different directions, so with the help of mall security he chased after the men and arrested them.

November 12th

1894– #3063 Constable Samuel Knight is brought up on charges of neglect of duty and then summarily dismissed from the Mounted Police by the Commissioner. Constable Knight’s crime was, allowing a barrel of beer to be stolen while he was in charge of the guard. His career was brought to an abrupt end after only seven months of service and resulted in a dry spell in the canteen!

1971– Brandishing 54 sticks of dynamite and a shotgun, Paul Joseph Cini hijacks an Air Canada flight over the prairies but is subdued and arrested.

1979 – Honour Roll Numbers162 and 163.

Twenty-six-year-old #30749 Constable Gordon Alfred Brooks and # S/623 Special Constable Ningeoseak Etidloi age 41 drowned near Cape Dorset, Baffin Island N.W.T.

Constable Brooks along with Special Constable Etidloi set off from Cape Dorset in a twenty-four-foot freighter canoe powered by a 50 hp engine, accompanied by Inuit hunters in four other freighter canoes. Brooks was going to conduct an investigation while Etidloi and several other Inuit hunters were going to hunt walrus. Later in day, the weather turned bad and the canoes became separated in the rough sea, when they tried to regroup they discovered that the canoe with the two constables and two Inuit hunters had capsized in the storm. Searchers found the capsized canoe along with several pieces of floating gear and evidence that they had succeeded in getting a walrus. An extensive search of the area only located the bodies of the Cst. Brooks, Special Constable Etidloi’s body and the two Inuit hunter’s bodies were never found.

Gordon Alfred Brooks joined the RCMP in 1973 he was married and had a seven-month old daughter. He is buried in the Eagle Valley District Cemetery at Sicamous, British Columbia.

Ningeoseak Etidloi joined the RCMP in 1972 and was married with two children.

1992– Auxiliary Constable S.I. McCormack of the Souris PEI Detachment was honoured with a Commanding Officer’s Commendation for his observation skills. McCormack observed suspects fleeing from a break and enter in the nearby community of Montague. The resulting arrest of the suspects led to the solving of 85 unsolved crimes in the area.

November 13th

1943– The movie “Northern Pursuit” starring Errol Flynn who plays a Mountie and poses as a traitor in an attempt to infiltrate a Nazi spy ring is released by MGM.

1968– The FLQ plant a bomb that explodes at the Domtar factory.

1971– The Meritorious Certificate from the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem was awarded to Constables #24763 Arthur Carter and #24809 Kenneth O’Brien for saving a life near Regina Saskatchewan.

1972– After he saved three children and their mother from a house fire at Strathmore, Alberta, Cochrane Highway Patrol member #28785 Constable John P. Mills is awarded Testimonial Parchment from the Royal Life Saving of Canada.

1987 – Constable J.A.M. Marien of Chilliwack, British Columbia received a Commanding Officers Commendation for his work and perseverance in investigating and convicting the members of a stolen car ring who were responsible for the theft of numerous vehicles throughout 1985.

2000– The Medal of Bravery and The Commissioner’s Commendation was earned by #44373 Guy Joseph Roger Francis Forcier who, while off duty along with two civilians tackled and arrested jewelry store robber in Langley, BC.

Armed with a 9mm Colt pistol, a would-be robber entered the Golden Tree Jewelers at the Willowbrook Mall, in Langley, British Columbia. The thief ordered the employees to fill a duffle bag with $400,000 in high-end jewelry, while he repeatedly threatened them with the pistol. The brazen robbery was witnessed by several people in the shopping mall, including, mall security officer Mr. Garry Rozak and customer Mr. Clinton Michael Douglas Kakoschke and Constable Forcier who was off duty and unarmed.

As the robber attempted to run outside to join his accomplice who was waiting in the getaway vehicle, the trio chased and tackled him at the mall’s exit. In the ensuing struggle Mr. Kakoschke was pistol-whipped in the head and the robber repeatedly aimed his pistol at the other two officers. Undeterred they succeeded in wrestling him to the ground and holding him until the local police arrived. Mr. Kakoschke was treated in hospital for his injuries, and upon closer examination of the handgun police discovered that the ammunition clip had become dislodged during the attempted escape from the jewelry store.

On June 25th, 2004 the Governor General of Canada,presented the trio with the Medal of Bravery.

2004– Honour Roll Number 205.

#A/9447Auxiliary Constable Glen Evely age 39, was killed when a when the police car in which he was riding was struck by a stolen truck that ran a red lightin Vernon BC.

#38034 ConstableFrancois Grenier and Auxiliary Constable Evely were on routine patrol in Vernon BC. Earlier in the evening a stolen pickup truck from Armstrong BC had been involved in a high-speed pursuit, and the chase had been shut down because of the dangerous manner in which the pursued vehicle was driving.

At 3:00 AM the two constables were driving through the intersection of 29th Street and 30th Avenue, when the same stolen vehicle sped through the red light and broadsided the police car. Auxiliary Constable Evely was killed on impact and Constable Grenier was seriously injured.

The two occupants of the stolen truck were injured also and taken to the local hospital. The 23-year-old driver, Michael Douglas O’Brien was later charged with several criminal offenses including criminal negligence causing death. On December 8th, 2004 O’Brien was inadvertently released from jail due to the misreading of court documents. By the time error was discovered, the accused had fled. A Canada wide warrant was issued for his arrest and he was apprehended a few days later in Calgary Alberta. On March 5th, 2005 Constable Grenier awoke from the coma he had been in since the collision.

Glen Evely was married and had two children; he was employed by the B.C. Forest Service and had been an Auxiliary Constable for two years.

November 14th

1898– While transporting the first mail from Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Constables #2000 John Richardson and #3078 William Bell were caught on Hootalinqua River when the ice broke up and swept them away. As they were being swept downstream near 8-Mile cabin, 190 miles from Dawson City they saved themselves fromcertaindeath by grabbing hold of some tree branches and climbing up the riverbank. Their lives were spared, but all of the mail was lost.

1901– #3710 ConstableDaniel Holland had his finger shot off by Indian, when he opened the cabin door to make an arrest at Carcross, Yukon.

1953– US President Dwight D. Eisenhower addresses the Senate and House of Commons.

1960– A panel of experts, appointed by Ontario’sAttorney General Kelso Roberts, finds that D.H. Lawrence’s novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover is not obscene according to the Criminal Code.

2012– Honour Roll Number 231, Cst. Adrian Johann Oliver

#57673 Cst. Adrian Johann Oliver was working the early morn hours, during a twelve-hour night shift in Canada’s largest detachment in Surrey, British Columbia. After receiving a report of a stolen pick-up truck Cst. Oliver proceeded to search for it in an unmarked police car.

At the intersection of 64th Avenue and 148th Street he collided with a semi-trailer truck driven by 57-year-old Harjit Singh Lotay that turned left into his path.

An independent investigation into the crash that killed Cst. Oliver resulted in a charge of driving without due care and attention being filed against the truck driver, Harjit Lotay. But the charge was withdrawn a year later by the British Columbia Prosecution Service. In 2014 the Attorney General of Canada sued both Harjit Lotay and his employer for damages.

Adrian was 28 years old when he died. In 2009 he and his twin brother Ben followed their father’s footsteps and joined the RCMP. Adrian was posted to Surrey and Ben was posted to nearby Burnaby, BC.

At the regimental funeral attend by a sea of uniforms Ben told the crowd in the 5500-seat center, how close he and his twin brother were, “I’ve lost my best friend in the whole world,” Ben said. “In 28 years of life, Adrian and Ihave only been apart for a total of 12 months. Adrian, thank you for showing me how to be a better son, friend, brother and person. I love you.”

Adrian was not only loved by his family, but by everyone he worked with. So much so, that to honour him they created the Adrian Oliver Memorial Run which, raises money for Honour House a “home away from home and a place for recovery for emergency services personnel, Canadian Forces members, veterans and their families.” In the first six years of the run over $180,000 was raised for Honour House. Adrian’s father Assistant Commissioner Joe Oliver remarked “It has been extremely important to find a way to turn Adrian’s tragic death into a legacy that supports others,”.