79 www.on.legion.ca ONTARIO COMMAND BRECHIN, Manley Lyall Manley was born in Coldwater, Ontario, on March 28, 1923, the son of John and Lila Brechin. After graduating from Orillia Collegiate Institute, he worked as a junior clerk at a bank in Orillia. He was quite involved in sports, particularly hockey and basketball. During World War II, he enrolled with the Royal Canadian Air Force on August 18, 1941. Leading Aircraftman Brechin completed his basic flying training at No. 14 Elementary Flying Training School at Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. He was awarded his pilot wings upon graduation from No. 11 Service Flying Training School inYorkton, Saskatchewan in July 1942, and was later given an officer commission. Flying Officer Brechin was eventually posted to No. 458 Squadron (Royal Australian Air Force) in North Africa, operating in the Mediterranean along the coast of Italy. His last flight was on August 24, 1943, when he and his crew took off aboard their Vickers Wellington bomber for an antishipping reconnaissance mission over the Mediterranean, along the coast of Italy. The aircraft failed to return to base. Flying Officer Brechin has no known grave. He is commemorated on the Malta Memorial, in Malta. BRENNER, Norma Theresa Norma was born in Kitchener, Ontario on May 13, 1924 to Cornelius and Alfreida (Dietrich) along with siblings: Marlene, Jack, Carl, Ollie, Paul, Alice, Helen, and Mary. Norma became involved with the World War II effort by joining the Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division in 1944 and was stationed in Ottawa. She was released in 1945 with the rank of Leading Aircraft Women. She married Joseph Messner and they raised five children: Michael, Anne, Cathy, Mary and Cecilia. Norma was a long-time employee of the Catholic Family Counselling in Kitchener and after she retired, she enjoyed many years at Rockway Senior Centre. Norma passed away on January 24, 2010 and is buried at Woodland Cemetery in Kitchener. BRENNER, John Edward “Jack” John Edward Brenner, commonly known as Jack, was born in Kitchener, Ontario on November 22, 1919 to Cornelius and Alfreida (Dietrich) Brenner, along with eight siblings: Alice, Paul, Helen, Carl, Oliver, Mary, Norma and Marlene. When he was finished with his education, Jack enjoyed working on vehicle body repair but then he up and joined the World War II effort by signing up with the Regular Force Navy and spent the war years on a destroyer working as a stoker. Sounds like an easy job but some of the ships he was on had a coal fired engines and coal had to be shoveled by hand. At the end of the war, he went back to working in the auto body trade and became a popular auto body repairman at Parkway Ford in the Twin Cities. He married Teresa (Terry) Decosta and was a member of the KW Navy Club and The Royal Canadian Legion Waterloo Branch 530. Jack passed away on October 18, 1986 at the age of 68 and is buried at Woodland Cemetery in Kitchener. John Brenner’s name has been inscribed on plaque #3 of the Waterloo Legion Veteran Wall of Remembrance.
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