After leaving the Merchant Marines, Ted (Edward) Wickens joined the Ontario Provincial Police and was stationed at Mount Forest, St. Marys (Municipal), Chatham and finally at Orillia.
On the evening of May 10, 1960, a cement carrier traveling on Highway 11 lost a wheel and veered into Constable Wicken’s lane. A collision occurred, as there was no room on the road or the shoulder for Ted to manoeuver his vehicle around the truck. On closer scrutiny, it was determined that the cement carrier had rolled onto Constable Wicken’s cruiser, killing him instantly. He was thirty-one years of age.
His wife and three children, one of which was born after his death, survived Ted. Ted Wickens was thirty-one years old.
Joining the Ontario Provincial Police in May 1954, Cal Fulford served at Kenora, Minaki, Dryden and Ear Falls.
Cal was a family man whose interests included playing hockey and curling.
In the early morning of Christmas Day 1958, Cal was advised of a shooting and proceeded to the scene. The gunman, who had already killed four people with a rifle, shot at Constable Fulford, wounding him. Although he attempted to get away, Cal was unable to make it to safety before the gunman caught up to him, extracted Cal’s revolver from it’s holster and used it to inflict the fatal head wound.
A plaque, placed in Cal’s memory, is located in the O.P.P. Detachment at Ear Falls.
Calvin Fulford was survived by his wife and three children. Cal Fulford was twenty-eight years old.
Willis Jacob joined the Ontario Provincial Police in January 1955 working at General Headquarters in Toronto and then at Alliston and Wasaga Beach. In 1957, while at Barrie Detachment, Constable Jacob was part of the newly formed Traffic Unit.
On the evening of October 3, 1958 Constable Jacob’s cruiser was traveling on the highway between Barrie and Orillia when a car traveling in the other direction lost control and crossed into the path of Constable Jacob. The impact killed Constable Jacob instantly.
His wife, who was expecting their first child, survived Willis Jacob. Willis was thirty-four years of age.
On August 24, 1957 Constable Ronald Pitt was shot by two gunmen as he approached a stolen vehicle in the small village of Morrisburg, Ontario. The following articles are the actual newspaper accounts of this incident.
While police today conducted one of the most intensive probes in the history of this river front area, citizens from all walks of life were rallying to save the life of a rookie policeman shot by the bullets of two car thieves here early on Saturday morning.
“We are putting the heat on and tracking down every lead we can get,” said Inspector Jack Craig of the OPP’s Criminal Investigation Branch, Toronto, who was rushed here on Saturday to head the investigation into the incident which critically injured Constable Ronald Pitt.
The search for the two men centered west of Iroquois, the town near which the constable’s police car was abandoned by the fleeing thugs following the shooting.
Constable Pitt, aged 33, still was in critical condition and the subject of close attention by a team of specialists at the Montreal Neurological Institute today.
He was flown to Montreal on Saturday by helicopter from the Cornwall General Hospital where he had been taken following the pre-dawn gun battle in which he intercepted two car theft suspects on a lonely water front street about 5 a.m.
In a crucial seven-hour operation conducted by a team led by Dr. Gilles Bertrand, one of the three bullets was taken from the spine and two from the abdomen. The bullet which lodged in Pitt’s spine narrowly missed the heart, nicking the spinal column. He is paralyzed from the waist down.
Inspector Craig told the Citizen today that he “had some suspects in mind” but that they were not from the immediate Morrisburg area. “It looks like the work of outsiders……….but I don’t think they are too far removed from here,” he added. Fingerprints have been obtained from the police cruiser use in the escape.
Meanwhile, the response to a call for blood to keep the injured constable alive has been overwhelming.
“The response has been terrific,” observed Morrisburg’s Chief of Police, Earl McIntyre.
Ontario Provincial Police and Morrisburg municipal police said at noon today they are working on promising leads which they expect will result in the arrest of two gunmen who shot and wounded Constable Ronald Pitt in a wild gun battle here early this morning on a quiet waterfront residential street. Shot twice in the chest and reported in critical condition, the 34-year-old rookie constable, was flown from Cornwall – he had been rushed there earlier this morning for emergency treatment – to Montreal’s Neurological Hospital.
Police said Constable Pitt was shot when he attempted to question two men who had driven off without lights in a car he knew belonged to a Morrisburg resident shortly after 4 a.m. today.
Constable Pitt only two months on the force, had just been issued with a uniform. He emptied his gun at the men who cut him down, but it is not known if any of his bullets found their mark.
The two gunmen fled the scene of the shooting in the patrol car which Pitt had been using. It was found later this morning, undamaged, on a lonely road a mile north of Iroquois. The car was abandoned in the same area as other cars which had been recovered by police following robberies in the Hainesville-Iroquois area. This leads police to suspect the same gang is involved in the Morrisburg gun battle.
It is reported that Pitt had noticed the two men cruising the village streets earlier in the evening and became suspicious shortly after 4 a.m. when he saw them tampering with a small car owned by Robert Merkley of Morrisburg. As he drove up in his patrol car to question them, the men drove off without lights.
Constable Pitt followed the men in his patrol car and succeeded in blocking their path on Riverside Drive in front of the residence of Parker Locke. As he jumped out to question the men, the officer was met by a burst of gunfire.
Drawing his service revolver the rookie constable, who is a recent arrival from Scotland, returned the fire and ran across the lawn seeking shelter.
He was struck by the gunmen’s bullets and fell to the ground where he lay semi-conscious.
In the meantime, Parker Locke had heard the shots and ran outside his home. He heard the wounded officer calling for help and ran into his residence.
The crash of the shots, meanwhile, had shattered the quiet night air in the village and Harry Ing, proprietor of a Main street all-night restaurant, heard the blasts. He telephoned the municipal police but was unable to get an answer. Mr. Ing telephoned Ontario Provincial Police District 11 Headquarters at Cornwall and informed them of the situation. Radio contact was made with the Morrisburg Highway Patrol which went to Riverside Drive to investigate and found Constable Pitt lying on the ground, wounded and in a widening patch of blood.
The constable’s 1957 model grey Ford coach had been taken by the gunmen.
Dr. C.A. Louden was called and ordered the wounded man taken to Cornwall General Hospital after giving emergency treatment.
On arrival at Cornwall, Dr. L.A. Caldwell took charge of the semi-conscious victim and examination disclosed that he had received two bullets in the chest. One bullet passed through, from front to rear. The other lodged near the spine. The officer is paralyzed from the waist down. Blood transfusions were given immediately and a squad of eight OPP officers donated blood.
Arrangements were made with the RCAF at Rockcliffe to have the wounded man taken by helicopter to Montreal Neurological Institute. The helicopter landed at the Athletic Grounds nearby the hospital and took off shortly before noon with a doctor, nurse and Constable Peter Burton of Morrisburg accompanying the victim.
Police, meanwhile, recovered a dump truck stolen earlier from Iroquois. It was found abandoned in the railway yard at Morrisburg and is believed to have been used by the gunmen to get to Morrisburg. Corporal James Aldred of the OPP detachment at Morrisburg, along with Constable Herbert Meyer, is assisting Morrisburg Police Chief Earl McIntyre with the investigation. Identification experts Constables Robert Fox of the OPP and Sgt. Fred Seavers of Cornwall city police are also assisting in fingerprinting and photography.
Roadblocks were thrown up early this morning east and west of Morrisburg on Highway 2 and north on Highway 31. They were removed, however, after the stolen police car was found.
Morrisburg druggist, Mac Wilson, whose store is two blocks from Parker Locke’s home told the Standard-Freeholder that his wife was awakened at about “five” by “four or five” shots in rapid succession. Mr. Wilson dressed immediately and left the house. “When I arrived Police Chief Earl McIntyre was already in attendance,” he said. He noticed that Constable Pitt was still conscious.
Epilogue: Constable Pitt, never recovered from the wounds he suffered during the early morning hours of August 24, 1957. He died in hospital shortly after the incident. He was survived by his wife and two sons, 7-year-old Ronald Jr. and 3-year-old Ian. In an outpouring of support for the family the citizens of Morrisburg, established a $3,000.00 trust fund for the children. No one was ever apprehended or charged for the murder of Constable Ronald Pitt. The file remains open to this day. The murder of an area farmwife, which occurred around the same time also remains unsolved. The early optimism for Constable Pitt’s recovery and the apprehension of the culprits who fired the fatal shots are faded memories now.
Prior to joining the Ontario Provincial Police in August of 1954, Hank (Henry) Harper had distinguished himself as a representative of Canada in the Olympics of 1948 in kayaking events. Hank also brought prior policing experience to his O.P.P. position at Gananoque.
On the evening of August 5, 1957, while investigating an accident, Constable Hank Harper was struck by another motorist and was badly injured. Hank lapsed into a coma soon after arrival at the hospital. Unfortunately, he never regained consciousness and died on September 11, 1957.
Hank (Henry) Harper was survived by his wife and four young daughters. He was twenty-eight years old.
After serving in the military and with the British police, Peter immigrated to Canada. Soon after his arrival, Peter joined the Ontario Provincial Police and was posted to the Kenora detachment in February 1957.
While heading to the scene of a motor vehicle accident on July 1, 1957, the cruiser carrying Constable Sebborn and his partner was hit head-on by a car traveling on the wrong side of the road. Constable Sebborn died of the injuries incurred.
Peter Sebborn was survived by his mother and brother. Peter was twenty-eight years old.
Phil De La Rue was born on February 5, 1934, and originated from Chatham. He was appointed to the OPP on April 1, 1955, and travelled a great distance for his first posting in the northeastern part of the province.
He moved from his initial posting in South Porcupine to Matheson where he met and later became engaged to the daughter of a prominent local family. The wedding was to have been on June 15, 1957. De La Rue’s widowed mother had travelled north in early May to meet her son’s future in-laws.
On May 25, 1957, PC De La Rue left the Matheson office to patrol Highway 11 from his home base to just south of Iroquois Falls. A few minutes later, just north of Matheson, he was proceeding at a high rate of speed. The only reason the officer would have been traveling fast, was in pursuit of a speeder. The fast-moving cruiser struck a frost boil in the road. The sudden change to its momentum caused the police car to sideswipe an oncoming pickup truck, bounce a bit and then roll over, finally veering off across the highway and into a ditch.
The constable was trapped inside the car for a time and when released, although conscious, could give no coherent account of the mishap. Despite a desperate effort, a three-hour battle by hospital staff to save his life, Constable De La Rue died of his injuries. Beside him to the end was his fiancée.
His memorial service was held at the same church he was to be married in three weeks later.
PC De La Rue was survived by his mother.
PC Behan was born in Ottawa on July 23, 1934. He graduated from Fisher Park High School in 1953 and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force the age of nineteen, but left military service three months later.
He joined the RCMP and served until January 1956. He was appointed to the OPP on January 14, 1956, six months shy of his twenty-second birthday.
Constable Behan first served at Brockville and then was transferred farther north in the same district to Perth. On Friday, April 13, 1956, he met PC Crane who was on his first shift since arriving in Perth.
Things were quiet that night and both men were looking forward to the end of their shift as they were driving southwest along Highway 7. The road was dry and in good condition. The police vehicle was traveling between thirty-five and forty miles an hour as they rounded a bend in the road not far to the west of the village of Maberly and some way before Silver Lake.
When passenger Crane saw that his partner failed to negotiate the curve, the patrol car was already veering into the left lane. Crane only had time to shout “Pete!” but Behan swung the wheel to the left before any further defensive action could be taken. The car jarred in a gravel skid across the soft shoulder, crossed over a rock outcrop and careened into a ditch, struck several tree stumps and rolled several times before coming to rest upside down. Both men were thrown and wound up beneath the cruiser.
Pete Behan died instantly and Harold Crane received severe injuries, but survived the accident.
PC Pete Behan was survived by his parents, an older brother and a sister.
Henry Gilchrist was born in Ireland on January 4, 1913, and immigrated to Canada with his family between the two great wars. He joined the OPP on April 9, 1938, prior to the outbreak of World War II.
Cpl. Henry Gilchrist spent most of his time serving in Southwestern Ontario. It first posting was in Lucan and in 1940, he moved to the Elgin detachment and live in Iona. Some time later Gilchrist move to OPP district headquarters at London and worked in the radio room there while he studied for possible promotion.
Gilchrist advanced and was made corporal on October 1, 1949 and later transferred to his final post as detachment commander at Tillsonburg in 1951.
Gilchrist enjoyed all forms of sporting events. He was also involved as a member of the Iona Masonic Lodge and later the Shrine Club.
On February 16, 1954, Gilchrist was travelling on a straight stretch of Highway 3 from Aylmer to Tillsonburg. At about 11:50 p.m., his right front fender clipped the left rear of a truck parked on the south side of the highway. His car spun and he was thrown out of the car to be struck immediately by a car following close behind. He died three and a half hours later in hospital as a result of the injuries he sustained.
Cpl. Henry Gilchrist was predeceased by his first wife two years prior to his death and was survived by his second wife and three children.
Harry or Shag, as he was nicknamed by his friends, was born in Toronto, on June 29, 1902. When Canada entered the war, Shaugnessy was accepted as a special constable to replace officers that were in national service. A year after his engagement as a special constable he became a regular member of the force on June 1, 1941.
He served most of his time in the Muskoka area around Bala. Although Shaughnessy sought to advance, a promotion meant that he would have to move away from his life long group friends and family.
After some time he decided that a promotion would allow him to better provide for his family. He studied for advancement successfully and was transferred to Port Colbourne. Shaughnessy received his stripes on May 1, 1953. He boarded at an officer’s home and would travel home to Bala to visit his family on the weekends.
On Sunday, September 19, 1953, Shag had just returned from a visit home and was working the evening shift. He later stopped for a coffee, and proceeded along the Forks Road in Wainfleet Township about ten miles from Welland. It was on this road that Shaughnessy tried to maneuver a turn near a big bend when his patrol car left the road, was airborne, flipped over and came to rest on its roof.
Corporal Harold T. Shaughnessy passed away not long after arriving in Welland Hospital as a result of his injuries.
Ironically, just before his accident, Shaughnessy had obtained a transfer back to his hometown.
Shaughnessy was survived by his wife and five children.