Skip to main content
Elinor Florence (Company name) Elinor Florence

The RCAF Bracelet Mystery

Whose wrist did this lovely little RCAF bracelet adorn? The mystery surfaced after I wrote a post about a young navigator named Jim Barnes from Battleford, Saskatchewan, who died on a bombing raid over Germany. I asked readers for more information about him, and Emily Tucker of North Battleford sent me this photograph of a mysterious bracelet bearing the name J.M.J. Barnes.

(To read about Jim Barnes, click here: Letters From a Lonely Airman.)

Emily Tucker found this bracelet in her uncle’s effects after he died, but she has no idea where it came from. Her uncle was Elijah (Lige) Scargall, brother of her father Aner. Both were born in Lincolnshire and emigrated to Canada when they were young. 

During World War Two, Lige served as ground crew in the RCAF. Emily doesn’t know much about his service overseas, except that he brought home some horrendous pictures of the death camps in Germany.

After reading my post about Jim Barnes, Emily thought there might be a family connection and generously decided to pass the bracelet along to a Barnes family member. But I’ve been unable to find any, although I left several telephone messages with people named Barnes.

When I tried to research the Service Number on the bracelet, I determined that the W in front of the number means it belonged to a woman, a member of the RCAF Women’s Division. 

It’s a small bracelet for a small wrist, bearing the number W301958, the name “Barnes, J.M.J.” and the date: January 10, 1942. On the opposite side is the RCAF crest.

It appears J. M. J. was no relation to Jim Barnes. Jim did have a sister Bernice who served in the RCAF Women’s Division, but those aren’t her initials.

And although we know her service number, the Department of National Defence won’t release any information unless you are a family member.

So the mystery remains. 

Being a hopeless romantic, I suspect the bracelet’s owner gave it to Lige for a good luck charm, and he kept it for all those years.

Lige Scargall married late in life and had no children. Perhaps he was still carrying a torch for the mysterious J. M. J. Barnes!

If someone knows more, please contact me.

(Readers, the owner of the mystery bracelet was identified in September 2017!  To learn more, read my post by clicking here: Bracelet Mystery Solved!)

* * * * * 

More Great Wartime Novels

My post titled about wartime novels drew plenty of recommendations from readers. To read the original post, click here: Best Wartime Fiction.

Here are three that caught my fancy.

Tuesday’s War, by David Fiddimore. As their battered Lancaster limps home to base in thick fog, an RAF crew almost collide with another bomber whose pilot skillfully swoops out of the way. On the runway the thankful young men are stunned when the other pilot climbs down from the cockpit and they see a female Air Transport Auxiliary pilot.

Monuments Men, by Robert M. Edsel. Based on a true World War Two story, a group of museum curators and art historians called the Monuments Men risked their lives to save pieces of art that the Nazis planned to destroy. The movie will come out next month with an all-star cast: George Clooney, Matt Damon, John Goodman and Bill Murray.

March Violets, by British author Philip Kerr. The first book in a series introduces readers to Bernie Gunther, an ex-policeman working on the streets of 1930s Berlin whose cases suck him into the grisly excesses of Nazi subculture. Hard-hitting, fast-paced, and richly detailed, March Violets is noir writing at its blackest and best.

And here, folks, are the rest of the book recommendations so far. Thank you, everyone, for sending them to me. Enjoy!

First World War Reading Recommendations:

  1. The Secret Battle, by A. P. Herbert
  2. Her Privates We, by Frederic Manning
  3. The Century Trilogy, about both wars and the period between, by Ken Follett
  4. The First Casualty, by Ben Elton
  5. Passchendaele, by Paul Gross

Second World War Reading Recommendations:

  1. Blue Man Falling followed by three other books in the series about fighter pilots, by Frank Barnard
  2. A Pair of Silver Wings, by James Holland
  3. The Red Line, by John Nichol
  4. Das Boot: The Boat, by Lothar-Gunther Buchheim
  5. The Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro
  6. Battle Cry, and Mila 18, both by Leon Uris
  7. Night of Flames, by Douglas Jacobson
  8. The Cauldron, by Zeno
  9. The Kappillan of Malta, by Nicholas Monserrat

 

* * * * *

STAR WEEKLY AT WAR

The Star Weekly was a Canadian newsmagazine published by the Toronto Star. During the Second World War, a beautiful colour illustration appeared on the cover each week with a wartime theme. Here, in honour of Robbie Burns Day on January 25, is an image showing a member of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps playing the bagpipes, dated November 6, 1943. To see my entire collection of covers, click here: Star Weekly at War.

Thank you for reading this post. Don't forget to subscribe!

comments powered by Disqus