Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

"H.M.C.S. LADY NELSON"

Date Range From

1944

Date Range To

1950

Materials

FELT, COTTON, PAINT

No. Pieces

1

Length

67.6

Width

18.7

Description

GREEN FELT PENNANT WITH TWO WHITE FELT TIES SECURED IN LOWER LEFT CORNER WITH METAL STAPLE; PENNANT HAS METAL STAPLE IN UPPER LEFT CORNER. PENNANT FRONT HAS WHITE AND BLUE PAINTED IMAGE OF A MILITARY MEDICAL SHIP BESIDE YELLOW AND ORANGE TEXT “H.M.C.S. LADY NELSON” AND YELLOW AND ORANGE ANCHOR. FRONT IS FADED FROM LIGHT EXPOSURE WITH MINOR SOILING; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

CEREMONIAL ARTIFACT

Historical Association

MILITARY

COMMEMORATIVE

History

ON SEPTEMBER 16, 2016, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED CHRIS AINSCOUGH REGARDING HIS DONATION OF A COLLECTION OF MILITARY OBJECTS. THE OBJECTS BELONGED TO AISNCOUGH’S GRANDFATHER AND FATHER, WILLIAM GEORGE AINSCOUGH (FIRST WORLD WAR) AND REED WILSON AINSCOUGH (SECOND WORLD WAR AND POST-WAR). ON HIS FATHER’S, REED WILSON AINSCOUGH’S, MILITARY SERVICE, CHRIS AINSCOUGH RECALLED, “THE ONLY STORIES THAT I EVER REMEMBER HIM TELLING ME WAS, THEY WERE IN LONDON, AND THEY CLIMBED UP A CHURCH TOWER—IT WAS TWIN TOWERS ON THIS CHURCH…I WAS LOOKING AT A PICTURE OF IT IN A BOOK, AND HE SAYS, YES, THAT HE AND A COUPLE OF GUYS WERE ON LEAVE, AND THEY CLIMBED UP TO THE TOP OF THIS TOWER—THEY HAD TO SQUIRM THEIR WAY TO THE TOP, AND, ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE AIR RAID SIRENS WENT, AND THEY WERE HUSTLING TO GET DOWN, AND THEY GOT DOWN TO THE STREET, AND THE OTHER SPIRE WAS GONE. THERE’S THAT, AND I DID ASK HIM WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM WHEN HE GOT WOUNDED. HE DIDN’T GO INTO VERY MUCH DETAIL ON IT, BUT JUST SAID THAT THEY WERE OUT ON A SORTIE—HE WAS A FORWARD OBSERVATION OFFICER…THAT’S A WICKED JOB BECAUSE YOU’RE IN FRONT OF EVERYBODY, AND HE SAID, HE HEARD A BURST OF MACHINE-GUN. THEY STARTED RUNNING DOWN THIS ROAD, AND THEY USED TO SKIP THE BULLETS DOWN THIS ROAD, APPARENTLY, AND THOSE GERMAN MACHINE-GUNS WERE 10 SHOTS FOR EVERY BROWNING—AND HE SAID, ALL OF A SUDDEN, HE HAD A BURNING IN HIS LEG AND HE HOPPED ALONG, AND THAT WAS IT. IT DAMAGED HIS LEG SO BADLY THAT HE COULDN’T GO BACK, SO THOSE ARE THE TWO STORIES. AINSCOUGH ELABORATED ON HIS MOTIVES FOR DONATING THE COLLECTION, STATING, “I THINK [THE OBJECTS ARE] A BIG PART OF SOUTH ALBERTA’S HISTORY. DAD WAS VERY ACTIVE IN THE MILITARY AND THE MILITIA FOR MANY YEARS. I THINK THAT’S THE BIGGEST PART [OF WANTING TO DONATE THE OBJECTS]…IT’S DIVESTING, BECAUSE AFTER MY DAD DIED [IN 1992], MY MOTHER STAYED IN THE HOUSE FOR ABOUT 5 YEARS, AND THEN SHE MOVED OUT TO THE COAST. IT WAS AT THAT TIME, WHEN WE WERE GOING THROUGH THE STUFF IN THE HOUSE, THAT WE THOUGHT THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO GET IT DOWN TO SOMEPLACE LIKE THE GALT THAT WOULD LOOK AFTER IT.” THE DONOR’S GREAT GRANDFATHER, WILLIAM THOMAS AINSCOUGH, MARRIED MARGARET A. AINSCOUGH IN 1878 AND EMIGRATED FROM SMITHFIELD, UTAH TO CANADA IN 1898, BRINGING SIX CHILDREN, AGED 1 TO 18, WITH THEM. WILLIAM GEORGE AINSCOUGH, THE DONOR’S GRANDFATHER, WAS AMONG THE CHILDREN (BORN 1885). THE AINSCOUGHS INITIALLY SETTLED IN WHISKEY GAP, ALBERTA, BEFORE RELOCATING TO WOOLFORD, ALBERTA. ACCORDING A RESUME FOR REED W. AINSCOUGH INCLUDED IN THE PERMANENT FILE, REED WILSON AINSCOUGH WAS BORN ON JUNE 21, 1918 IN CARDSTON, ALBERTA. IN 1940, REED AINSCOUGH JOINED THE 93RD BATTERY OF THE ROYAL CANADIAN ARTILLERY [RCA] STATIONED AT FORT MACLEOD, ALBERTA, AND WAS PROMOTED TO A SECOND LIEUTENANT. REED AINSCOUGH WAS POSTED OVERSEAS IN 1942 AND SERVED UNTIL HIS DISCHARGE ON JANUARY 8, 1946. LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES REPORTED REED AINSCOUGH AS BEING IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHTING IN FRANCE, NOTABLY AT CAEN. IT WAS REPORTED IN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD IN 1944 THAT REED AINSCOUGH WAS PROMOTED TO CAPTAIN, AND WAS WOUNDED IN HIS LEG IN OCTOBER 1944. REED AINSCOUGH WAS SENT TO BELGIUM FOR SURGERY AND TO BE HOSPITALIZED, AND WAS RETURNED TO CANADA ON THE HOSPITAL SHIP H.M.C.S. LADY NELSON IN 1945. IN 1947, REED AINSCOUGH BECAME THE BATTERY COMMANDER OF THE 93RD BATTERY RCA, AND SERVED AS THE COMMANDER UNTIL 1959, BEING PROMOTED TO MAJOR IN 1951. IN 1959, UPON A TRANSFER WITH HIS EMPLOYMENT AT CANADA LIFE, HE MOVED TO MEDICINE HAT, ALBERTA, AND JOINED THE SOUTH ALBERTA LIGHT HORSE AS A SQUADRON COMMANDER IN 1961. IN 1964, HE WAS PROMOTED TO LIEUTENANT COLONEL AND COMMANDER OF THE SOUTH ALBERTA LIGHT HORSE, AND WAS APPOINTED AIDE-DE-CAMP TO LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR GRANT MACEWAN UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT. ON OCTOBER 20, 1993, REED WILSON AINSCOUGH PASSED AWAY IN LETHBRIDGE. FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING FAMILY MILITARY SERVICE FILES, NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS ON WILLIAM GEORGE AND REED AINSCOUGH, A RESUME FOR REED AINSCOUGH, AND THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20160017001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20160017002

Acquisition Date

2016-06

Collection

Museum

Less detail