On behalf of the Royal Canadian Legion Bayview Branch 22
The Royal Canadian Legion Bayview Branch 22 has installed Veterans banners throughout Grand Bay-Westfield on the light poles along River Valley Drive and Nerepis Road.
The Legion has also installed two (2) Veterans banners at the Grand Bay-Westfield Veterans Peace Park.
“In addition to the Veterans banners throughout the community, the Legion will feature two (2) different Veterans annually on the light poles located at the Veterans Peace Park. The banners pay tribute to Veterans and are displayed proudly in our community.” – Cory Ryan, Royal Canadian Legion Bayview Branch 22 Vice President.
The two (2) Veterans featured for the 2024 banners at the Veterans Peace Park are:
Corporal Joseph Duncan McAulay (1914-2005)
Joseph was born July 12, 1914, in Stanhope, Prince Edward Island into a family of eleven children.
At the age of 17, he left home to work in New York City where two of his sisters lived.
As a construction worker, he worked on the Lincoln Tunnel and in the building of the site of the New York World’s Fair. In 1941 he returned to Canada and enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces later becoming a member of the South Saskatchewan Regiment
He met his wife, Muriel while stationed in Newcastle, NB. They were married shortly before he went overseas.
Joseph served in Canada, Britain, and Northwest Europe. He remained in Europe after the Occupation. He returned home in 1946. He and his wife, Muriel, settled in Saint John and then later in his beloved Grand Bay, where they raised a family of four children.
Joe was a faithful member of St. Matthew’s Roman Catholic Church and a member of the Knights of Columbus. It was his longtime wish to create a quiet place for people to reflect and pray.
In the year 2000 his dream came true when a millennium project by St. Matthew’s permitted the hiring of a university student to help Joe clear the land behind the church to create the Way of The Cross. At the age of 84, Joe and the young student blazed a trail through the woods to erect the fourteen crosses that marked the Way of The Cross.
Joe’s dream of giving thanks for his safe return from war was complete. The project took a full year and through it all; Joe worked tirelessly, determined to see it through. The Trail, as Joe called it is still there for anyone who wishes to visit
The McAulay Family would like to thank The Grand Bay Legion for this special remembrance.
CORPORAL ARTHUR E. DESAULNIERS (1925-1995)
Corporal Arthur Desaulniers, originally from Fredericton NB, joined the Army Signal Corp as a dispatch rider in 1943. He started his tour in England and ended his wartime duty during the Liberation of Holland, which he was especially proud of. He returned to Fredericton after the war then moved his family to Grand Bay in 1953.
Arthur was a dedicated member of the RCL Branch 22 as well as serving as President of the Legion. Arthur gave his children the honour of raising and lowering the Canadian flag at the Legion each day, ensuring the flag never touched the ground.
He worked as a lineman with NB Tel until his retirement in the 1980’s.
To learn more about the Grand Bay-Westfield Veterans Peace Park, visit HERE.
