Arthur and George Coles were flying Spitfires and Lancaster bombers for the Allied war effort when tragedy struck for the North Vancouver based brothers. Reported as missing in action in the latter part of 1943, one brother returned home after the war whilst the other, sadly, did not. Eighty years on, our Remembrance Day tribute offers thanks for their service.
Donald Hings: The Philadelphia Experiment
80 years ago this year, a group of top scientists from the US, Britain and Canada collaborated on developing a means of protecting Allied naval ships from German torpedoes. Called the Philadelphia Experiment, the event was one of the pivotal moments of World War II. Shrouded in secrecy, many have fantasized about what happened at the naval yard in Philadelphia in the late summer of 1943. Stories abound of a ship, the USS Eldridge that vanished in the night, teleporting to another place beneath a magical green glow. Sailors that disappeared in front of people’s eyes. The truth is as amazing as the fantasy. It includes one of our own: Canada’s “walkie talkie” inventor, Donald Hings, and it all started - at least for Hings - with a lucky break which facilitated his attendance at Chesterfield School for Boys in North Vancouver.