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Ancestry Solutions'
Ancestral Collectives
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 1922 - 1943 (20 years)
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| Name |
James Edgar DENSTEDT |
| Born |
9 Mar 1922 |
| Gender |
Male |
| _UID |
E798F018D28FE14299DE805A12D15EB14E8D |
| Died |
1943 |
Camp Petewawa Ont.  |
| Person ID |
I3069 |
Chamberlain Family |
| Last Modified |
1 Dec 2017 |
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| Notes |
- Sixty-eight years ago, Sergeant James Edgar Denstedt kissed his wife, Dorothy, and one-month-old baby daughter goodbye, slung his military backpack and left for the Petawawa ranges. They never saw him alive again.
The next day, an officer and chaplain showed up at the doorstep of their Petawawa Village home. They brought news that every army wife feared -her husband had been killed. It was a devastating blow. After all, Jim was preparing for the war in Europe. His work had some element of risk to it, but, surely it was much safer than dodging the bombs and bullets of a war zone.
During the evening of Aug. 23, 1943, Sergeant Denstedt lost his life while his unit was deployed on a training exercise. His death was
attributed to a broken neck. However, the puzzling circumstances surrounding the young soldier's final moments have haunted his family ever since.
James Denstedt was originally a native of Listowel, Ontario, a small industrial town north of Kitchener. When the Second World War broke out, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Artillery. After completing depot, he was assigned to the Canadian Artillery Training Centre A-2 (CATC) at Camp Petawawa. Here he met and fell in love with Dorothy Blimkie, the daughter of Martin and Bertha Blimkie, of Petawawa Township. The couple wed on Sept. 19, 1942, five days after Dorothy's sister, Anne, had married Christopher Corrigan. Their only child, Judy, was born the following summer.
Petawawa Military Camp was one of Canada's key military bases during the war. In May, 1940, two CATC's were established followed by an engineer training centre. It's estimated 12,000 troops were stationed at Petawawa at any one time with the peak reaching 20,000 in 1943. With so many soldiers, it grew into a sprawling facility for an active force. H-huts replaced the tent lines in the winter. Dormitories, mess halls and canteens were built, followed quickly by roads, telephone and water infrastructure.
Much like its militia beginnings, the priority for Camp Petawawa remained the artillery. Gunners occasionally broke camp and rolled their howitzers to positions throughout the vast ranges. While artillery detachments sharpened their gun drills and forward observation officers, they also needed to vigorously train their drivers for the eventual incursion into German-occupied Europe.
CATC A-2 ordered their gunners on convoys during the last week of August, 1943. As was the climate this time of year, the brutally hot summer days gave way to frosty evenings. The drivers were being tested under day and night conditions.
In the late afternoon of Aug. 23, Sergeant Denstedt jumped on his motorcycle and drove into camp. Earlier in the day, one of the convoy's trucks had developed engine trouble and was withdrawn to the motor pool. The sergeant was going to check up on the repairs.
He reported to the unit orderly room at 5 p.m. Having received an update on the truck, Denstedt left. That was the last anyone saw of him. Later in the bivouac, his men noted that their sergeant had not yet returned and it was getting dark.
They suspected a thunderstorm that passed over the area earlier that evening may have held him up. The battery commander did not appear worried. It was entirely possible that Denstedt had gone home to have supper with his family. Although it was disobeying orders, the officer believed the new father simply wanted to see his daughter.
The next morning at around 8:30 a.m., soldiers patrolling along the Ottawa River made a shocking discovery. On a sandy trail, they found the body of Sergeant Denstedt lodged underneath his motorcycle.
After Ontario Provincial Police constables and coroner J.C. Bradley conducted their investigation, they concluded the 21-year-old soldier had broken his neck. Bradley found the paddle of the bike across the neck, but his head had also been badly crushed. The coroner estimated the time of death was the evening before.
But what caused the accident? Police suspected the conditions of the trail, composed of the notoriously soft Petawawa sand, cause the sergeant to lose control of his bike. Another theory proposed that he was struck by lightning during the previous night's storm. It was curious, however, that no burn marks were on the bike or his body.
His widow, Dorothy Flowers, passed away a few years ago at age 87. However, she once advanced her own theory in an interview she gave to her nephew, Dennis Corrigan. A few summers after the fatal accident, she recalled sitting with friends on the veranda at the Berger farm in Petawawa Township when a thunderstorm erupted above.
Plowing a nearby field was a young farm hand with a team of horses. Suddenly a lightning bolt blew the boy and the horses off their feet. They ran to grab the boy, who had been knocked unconscious. Both horses failed to get up.
"The boy came through. He was alright. Both the horses were dead and yet there was not a mark on them," Dorothy explained, clearly retelling the story like it was yesterday. "Not a mark on the ground. Not a burn mark. Not a thing on them."
When she saw that, Dorothy remembered what the coroner had suspected: "After I saw that I wondered if Jim had hit the loose sand because his neck was broken. I wondered was it that? Could it have been lightning?"
Dorothy explained that Jim had not planned to come home that evening. His unit told her they expected him back at the bivouac at around 9 p.m.
"As far as I was concerned, I knew he was out on night manoeuvres," she recalled. "When he didn't come on account of the storm, they thought he stayed at home which made a lot of sense. Good Lord only knows."
Today, his daughter, Judy, lives in Belleville. Being only a month old at the time of his death, she has no memories of her father. His personal effects, such as his birth certificate and medals, are precious links to him. She has relied on stories passed down by the family. One such story was the evening they drove to the movie theatre. Judy was with them. Dorothy recalled that all her father wanted to do was hold his daughter. Jim then revealed that he may not have much time as it appeared his unit was being shipped overseas shortly.
Judy was also aware that some of the soldiers under her father's charge were inmates from Kingston Penitentiary. They had been released from custody if they agreed to serve in the military and fight overseas. A friend had cautioned Jim to never turn his back on them, as some were violent criminals. However, military officials or the family have never suspected foul play, and that the soldier's death was as a result of an accident.
The wake for Sergeant Denstedt was held at the Blimkie farm in Petawawa Township. On Aug. 26, a funeral with full military honours took place at the Church of the Holy Name in Pembroke. He was interred at the Roman Catholic cemetery.
Like so many brave Canadians, Sergeant James Denstedt left his hometown to serve the cause of freedom. This very young man trained for war but fell victim to an accident before even stepping on a troop train. He left behind a child who didn't have a chance to know him. His widow, Dorothy, never forgot Jim and kept memories of him alive for their daughter and future generations. The lost sergeant is part of the rich history of a Camp Petawawa which sent thousands to free an enslaved continent. Whether they fought and died in Europe or were killed training for the great expedition, none of them should ever be forgotten.
Columnist's note: I wish to thank Dennis Corrigan for providing me with the research on his uncle, Jim Denstedt, and sharing the remarkable testimonials from his late aunt, Dorothy.
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