Lament for a Fallen Comrade

Baor(27CIB)surfers,
Part A
Lament for ZC3939 Lieutenant Milton Cameron Vipond, QOR of C +18 /03/1955
" For everything there is a season
A Time to live and a time to die"
Ecclesiates
The timely extension of the Baor forum enables me to pay my respects and to extend my sympathy to the family of Lieut Vipond on his untimely death in Korea in 1955. To the reader it must seem very strange that I have waited so many years to do this but I only recently learned more about his tragic accident in Korea. I first met Vic, as he was known, with the 27CIB in Hannover in 1952. We both served in the same battalion, !st Canadian Rifle Battalion where he was deployed in the Support Company, Queen's Own Rifles of Canada while I was with an infantry company, RHLI. During the short time that we served together we became good friends and more importantly he became my mentor during my posting as a platoon commander. Even though we were close friends I knew very little about his former military service with the QOR's during WW2 or anything about his personal life. At some point at the end of the 27CIB NATO mission in Hannover ca Nov 1953 he must have transferred to the 25th Canadian Brigade in Korea. It was only after my return to Canada and many years later during the early 1980's that I heard about Vic's accident but there was not enough information for a thorough search. Then about a month ago I made a telephone call to my friend, Ken Ridge who had served in the same support company with the QOR's, 27th Bde. I was looking for some information for the articles which I was submitting to the Baor forum. Our lengthy talk eventually gravitated to Vic and Ken had picked up more details on his QOR network. Vic was a very heavy smoker and a deep sleeper; he went to sleep in his hut with a lighted cigarette in his fingers. The forensic investigation revealed that he had been asphyxiated and worse on 18 Mar 1955. With this added information, I was able to research in depth with the aid of the Veteran's Affairs of Canada site on the internet. There is an excellent Photo Collection relating to Lieutenant Milton Cameron Vipond. I have selected six photographs which trace events in his life and they are displayed below in chronological order. Anyone interested in seeing more of the pictures need only Google," Milton Cameron Vipond" and click into the various links.
Part B with pictures to follow:
BobR

Part B to A Lament for a Fallen Comrade

Lieut Milton Cameron Vipond
a.k.a. Vic as I knew him in 1952

Lieutenant Milton Cameron Vipond
and Helen Beatrice Brown taken on
17 Nov 1951
Some questions for the reader:
Question 1. Where do you think the picture above was taken?
2. Explain why you think so.
3. Does the picture of Helen reveal any clues about the nature of her
work, profession? Elaborate.
Part C to follow:
BobR

Part C to A Lament for a Fallen Comrade

Newlyweds Lieutenant Milton Cameron
and Helen Vipond nee Brown of Bradford on
17 Nov 1951
A marriage announcement appeared in the Barrie, Ontario Examiner on 26 Nov 1951, Page 6, "Date of the event 17 Nov 1951, Helen Beatrice Brown, Bradford"

The picture above was taken during the Pilgrimage to the United Nations Memorial Cemetery at Busan, Korea in 1998 on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the end of the Korean War.
L-R
Marius R. Grinius, Canadian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea
Helen Vipond with her daughter, Lorraine Mantle.



Grave Marker for Lieutenant Vipond
at the United Nations Cemetery at
Busan, Korea.
A death notice for Vipond M.C. appeared in the Barrie Examiner on 23 Mar 1953
"He fought the good fight
He finished his course
He kept the faith"
St. Timothy
May he RIP

Bob with reference to your photos and the questions. I believe it was taken in Hannover, looks familiar - near Cafe Kropke. Was she a nurse or something to do with welfare services (Maple Leaf ??).

BobG

I would imagine that the picture was taken in Canada, in the background is an Opticians sign and the vehicles look to be of American/Canadian production. The young lady is wearing some sort of uniform as Bob says Welfare/Nurse/Maple Leaf?

Looks loke Germany to me. The buildings are German style, there is a flag with three broad horizontal sripes flying and note the head gear of the small man over her right shoulder - classic German military type forage cap. Also a possibility the Optician sign could be Optiker or similar.

malaboman
You have made some very astute observations which I agree with. The architecture of the building on the left looks decidedly German. I also noted the cap shown over the shoulder of Helen which I had sized up as German. I missed the sign over the street and did not relate the logo to glasses. What I am attempting to establish is that Vic and Helen were married on the 17 Nov 1951, the same day that his picture was taken. I don't recall Vic ever mentioning that he was married. Unfortunately when I downsized the picture for posting to the forum some of the resolution was lost. I am going to go back to my original to have a closer look at the flag.
Thanks for your help
BobR

Looks like Germany to me as well