70 years ago: The Nazi invasion of Winnipeg

Winnipeg Free Press, Feb 19, 1942

On February 19, 1942 at 6 a.m. air raid sirens sounded over Winnipeg. Within the hour 3,500 Nazi troops in convoys of armoured vehicles began to seize key points in the city.

By 9:30 a.m. they reached City Hall and arrested Mayor Queen and other city officials. Winnipeg had no choice but to surrender and the Nazi flag was raised at city hall. Next, it was to the Legislature and the arrest of Premier Bracken and the Lieutenant Governor.

Nazi soldier arrests news agent (Source)

Charleswood bus stopped, searched (Source)

Over the course of the day dozens of people are arrested off the streets, buses and streetcars were stopped and searched for people without identification. Random stores and restaurants are ordered shut. The William Avenue library is sacked and hundreds of books are burned on the front lawn.

Winnipeg Tribune, February 19, 1942

Even the Winnipeg Tribune is targeted. On February 19, 1942 a special German edition of the newspaper is distributed.

German tanks on Portage Avenue (Source)

Before sunset, the Nazi invasion ended. Troops marched and rode down Portage Avenue to the outskirts of town. "If Day" was over.

The invasion, or If Day, was staged. It was an attempt to show Winnipeggers what others around the world found themselves subjected to and what would happen IF the Nazis actually invaded the city. The soldiers were played by Junior Board of Trade members and other volunteers. The replica Nazi uniforms, flags and banners were rented from movie studios in Hollywood.

If Day was a fundraiser for Manitoba's Victory Loan campaign and on every level was a huge success. Media outlets from around the world including British Pathé, the New York Times and Christian Science Monitor came to cover the event. LIFE Magazine gave it a three page photo spread.

In the 24 hour period after IF Day the Manitoba Victory Loan campaign raised over $3 million, (almost $43m in 2011 dollars.)

Related:
If Day Manitoba Historical Society
Winnipeg is conquered LIFE Magazine
If Day Special (pg 3, 17, 27, photo page) Winnipeg Tribune*
Nazi army's invasion of Winnipeg Leader Post (1984)
Even the milk bottlers got in on If Day !

Video:
If Day: The Nazi Invasion of Winnipeg (trailer)
British Pathé newsreel
NEW: This morning's bit on the CBS Morning News looking back at If Day. "You can't spell Winnipeg without W-I-N !"

* The Trib archive site often goes offline. Check back if it's down!

Winnipeg's Cultural City Hall announces new home !

Clockwise: ca. 1905; ca. 1998 (source); ca. 2009 (source); ca 2010 (source)

Winnipeg's Cultural City Hall has just announced the location of their new home: 123 Princess Street ! (Here's the full announcement.)

Winnipeg's Cultural City Hall, of course, is the new, co-op reincarnation of Aqua Books currently located in the Norris Block on Garry Street.The new location will boast a lot more entertainment, and a lot fewer books !

On March 3 Winnipeg's Cultural City Hall is hosting a "Hello 123" fundraiser at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People at the Forks featuring the likes of Fred Penner, the Royal Canadian Navy band, comedian Al Rae and more.

The building is also known as the Miller & Richards block (or the Western Elevator Lofts.) In today's Winnipeg Downtown Places post I take a look back at the history of the building.

Why are AB taxpayers subsidizing Minhas Brewery?

Minhas Brewery is already on my tut-tut list for the eyesore of 2011.

They owned the Ontario Wind Engine / Regal Furniture building at Logan and Arlington as well as a more modern warehouse extension at the back. Pleading that they couldn't afford to bring it up to code they applied to have it demolished, sweetening the deal by floating a balloon that they would like to build a brewery at the site within two years that would employ up to 100 people.

Well, soon after the demolition was complete the DTZ for sale sign that hung on the building went back up on the property and can be yours for $1.5m. To make matters worse they left an eyesore resembling something form the blitz it its wake.

I was surprised at the time to find how many people thought that the beer was brewed here, or at the very least, somewhere in Canada. Their website gives the impression that the brewery is based in Manitoba: "Minhas Creek is 100% Canadian owned and operated and based in Winnipeg, Manitoba." Unless, of course, you enter through another province's portal, say Sakatchewan's, and you find that it is "Minhas Creek is 100% Canadian owned and operated and based in Regina, Saskatchewan."

Huffington Post Feb 11, 2012 (Source)

On Saturday, David Menzies had a piece in the Huffington Post Canada about Minhas Creek Brewery asking why is Minhas receiving subsidies from the Alberta Government under their small brewers program, ($5.6m in 2010.) After all, their brewery is in Munroe, Wisconsin and the company that holds their trademarks etc. is Mountain Crest SRL based in the tax haven of Christ Church, Barbados.

It's hardly something that's going to impact the company very much, (unless the subsidy is pulled.) Those seeking out the absolute cheapest beer possible wouldn't really care much where it was brewed or who's helping subsidize it. Still, it's an interesting read about how to cloak your company into something it's not.

The beauty of hoar frost !

These are some photos I took last weekend while we were in the grips of a foggy patch. There's nothing like hoar frost to make a beautiful prairie winter day look even more spectacular !

Dufresne, Manitoba:

Ste. Anne, Manitoba:

Near Landmark, Manitoba:



St. Adolphe, Manitoba:


Niverville, Manitoba:

Linden, Manitoba:

The North End's new bank !

360 McGregor, ca. 2009 (Source)

360 McGregor, ca. 2012

First announced back in October, Assiniboine Credit Union's new North End Branch is now open at 360 McGregor (at College). It is their 25th branch.

Former Merchants, then Royal Bank, 409 Selkirk

Former Bank of Commerce, then Montreal, 607 Selkirk

It's great news for an area of town that, like many other older neighbourhoods, saw its bank branches begin to disappear in the 1980s. Take a look at any major intersection in the North End and you'll likely see the remnants. In fact, ACU's new branch was itself Royal Bank from 1979 to 1997.

I was in West Broadway back in 2001 when ACU opened a branch there. It was a handy addition to the neighbourhood and, more importantly, a great vote of confidence in a neighbourhood struggling to rebound.

You can read more about the new branch in ACU's February newsletter.

Related:
ACU Announces North End Branch Assiniboine Credit Union (2011)
ACU set to open branch in the North End Free Press (2011)

Manitoba Black History: Percy Haynes

Percy Haynes ca. 1964. Source.

February is Black History Month so I thought I would put together a few pieces on notable Black people in Manitoba's history.

I am starting with Percy Haynes. Most who recognize the name do so because of Haynes Chicken Shack restaurant at 257 Lulu Street and Logan (1952 - 1998). That was but one chapter of quite a fascinating life.

Piercy* Augustus Haynes was born in British Guyana and came here as an infant with his parents in 1912. (It seems that the official spelling of his name was Piercy but he mostly used Percy, which I will use here.)

Father William was a carpenter and the family moved to 257 Lulu Street, a small cottage-style house off of Logan Avenue. The site also doubled as a carpentry shop. There, the Haynes' raised four sons: Alan "Chick", Clifford, Piercy and Abram.

As a teen Percy attended Hugh John MacDonald School and began making a name for himself as both an athlete and a musician.

The first mention of him in the media is an August 1925 Free Press story about youth sports camp for 150 inner city kids at Gimli. They noted that "...Percy, the big darky boy with the wide smile who loped in was an easy first in nearly every event he tried." The following summer, at another camp, he took second place for best stage performance.

July 1, 1933, Winnipeg Free Press

Soon, Percy was making his mark on a wider stage. In the 1930s he was a noted local piano player and singer. He also excelled at a number of sports.

He was a member of the 1932 Winnipeg Stellars basketball team, who won the Canadian amateur championship. In boxing, he was the amateur welterweight champion of the city (1933 in 1934). He was also a noted softball pitcher, leading a number of local teams to city playoffs and championships.

Ad circa 1933

During the 1930s he worked as a carpenter during the day. In 1932 he first met a young jazz singer named Zena Bradshaw, who had recently arrived from Edmonton. The two were fixtures on the Winnipeg club scene and married in 1943.

During the war, Haynes, like many of his peers, wanted to enlist in the Royal Canadian Navy with HMCS Chippawa. He was turned away because he was Black, the confines of ship life seen as not a safe place for men of colour, (though they were accepted in the army.)

An angry Percy "... went to the top, I wrote to the admiral of the navy and I told him exactly what I felt about it." (Winnipeg Free Press November 25, 1990.) That "admiral" was Naval Secretary Hon. Angus L. McDonald and letters were sent to other naval brass in Ottawa. In time, he persuaded them to change the rules and was informed my McDonald to return to the recruiting centre to enlist. Haynes was the first Black in the modern Royal Canadian Navy. (William Hall joined the British Navy in Halifax in 1852 and is considered the 'first'.)

December 18, 1943, Winnipeg Free Press

Petty Officer Haynes worked as a shipwright and while in port entertained the troops by performing and putting together musical shows. For a time wife Zena joined him in Halifax and they performed together. Meet The Navy was one Royal Canadian Navy revue show that Percy was part of that was so popular it was made into a British movie in 1946 with Percy performing as a musician and actor. (See the film here.)

After the war, Percy did not go back to carpentry, instead he took a job as a CPR sleeping car porter. He worked the rails for more than 20 years getting involved in the union and working to improve the conditions of black workers. He also resumed his musical career and even went back to pitching softball.

November 7, 1952, Winnipeg Free Press

In summer 1952 the carpentry shop area of the Haynes family home at 257 Lulu Street was converted into a small restaurant, (the Haynes family continued to live in the house.) It was Zena's idea, who had always wanted to run a restaurant. She recruited her sister Alva Mayes, a local cook already famous for her fried chicken to work the kitchen.

Why that location ? Money was tight and the home was already the scene of many impromptu jam sessions complete with late night feasts and "... we figured we might as well get paid,"Percy recounted to Hal Sigurdson in the Winnipeg Free Press, June 16, 1992.

A 1972 restaurant reviewer for the Free Press wrote:

Fashioned out of an old house off Logan Avenue, three blocks west of Sherbrook Street, the restaurant is unpretentious and warm — not to mention Mary Poppins clean. And most important, much of the food is good, the service prompt and friendly.

December 9, 1972 Winnipeg Free Press

Ad circa 1989

Percy eventually retired from the CPR and he and Zena performed at the restaurant. It gained quite a reputation as a musical hotspot. Greats like Billy Daniels, Oscar Peterson and Harry Belafonte all visited, some multiple times.

The muscial influence rubbed off on son, a step-son to Percy, Del Wagner who become a popular musician and band leader.

In the late 1960s Percy, who was a Mason, spent a couple of terms as the Grand Master of the Minnesota Lodge, which at the time included Manitoba in its territory. He turned his hand to politics, running unsuccessfully for the provincial Liberals in 1977 and for city council in 1980. As a boxing judge he scored many Danny Vandal and Donny Lalonde fights in the 1980s.

September 28, 1998, Winnipeg Free Press

Alva Mayes died in 1988 and Zena Haynes in 1990. On July 24, 1992, Percy Haynes, 81, died at Princess Elizabeth Hospital. He was working, greeting customers at the restaurant, up until the week before his death.

The restaurant was sold off. It was thought that Bomber James Murphy would be the new owner but in the end it was two long-time staff members who purchased it. Haynes' Chicken Shack continued on until September 1998.

Related:
Further details of Haynes and his attempts to join the Navy can be found in these Senate Committee hearings and this Senate debate.

For more on Blacks in the Canadian Navy and for Black history in Manitoba.

A Diamond Jubilee.

Today is Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee and it's remarkable to get a sense of how long she has been our head of state.

The Queen's Coronation parade route went past rubble left by the blitz and commercial airline travel was just a budding industry. Louis St. Laurent was Prime Minister, Vincent Massey was Governor General, Garnet Coulter was Winnipeg's Mayor (and Winnipeg's current city hall was a decade away from being built) and Brandon was led by James Creighton.

Here's a look back at how Manitoba celebrated her accession and coronation.

February 6, 1952, Winnipeg Free Press

Princess Elizabeth was in Kenya, just one week into what was supposed to be a five-month trip around the world, when her father, King George VI, died. At age 25 she became Queen.

City flags, which had been lowered to half mast upon news of the King's death, were raised again the next day at noon to recognize the new monarch. The 213 Field Battery, R.C.A., part of the 27th brigade stationed in Winnipeg, sounded a 21 gun salute at the Manitoba Legislature.

June 2, 1953, Winnipeg Free Press

The sudden death prompted some immediate administrative changes.

The Attorney General announced that all King's Counsel automatically became Queen's Counsel (QC) and to immediately make the necessary changes to stationery and other paperwork. Premier Campbell led the other members of the legislature down to sign the new oath of allegiance. Schools were sent new portraits to replace those of the King that hung in their classrooms.

Manitoba, October 1951, Source

Manitoba was familiar with Elizabeth II. Just four months earlier she and Prince Phillip were on a 33 day tour of Canada. It included a day-long stop in Winnipeg that included visits to Deer Lodge Hospital, the city halls of St. James, Winnipeg and St. Boniface, a state luncheon and a concert at the Auditorium. That night, it was off by train for a whistle stop in Brandon then on to Regina.

June 2, 1953, Winnipeg Free Press

The coronation ceremony was held more a year later, on Tuesday, June 2, 1953. Unlike the bittersweet mood of her accession the coronation was a celebrated affair.

Many businesses closed for the day, including Eaton's. A coronation parade began at 9:45 a.m. from Main and Higgins and proceeded to the Legislature grounds where festivities were held. A gala coronation concert was held that night at the Winnipeg Auditorium.

June 2, 1953, Winnipeg Free Press

For those not able to get into one of the city's fancier doos, there were numerous teas, dances and parties throughout the province !

Related:

Manitoba Events

Queen Elizabeth II Official Homepage
Diamond Jubilee Official Website
Manitoba Celebrates Province of Manitoba
Queen celebrates 60 year reign BBC
Queen given Diamond Jubilee broach by Manitoba Regiment National Post
Long may she reign over us Globe and Mail

Video:
Across Canada With Princess Elizabeth British Pathé
Coronation Ceremony