The following transcript of Dave Cresswell’s interview on Memories and Music (broadcast October 27, 1975)

was created by Videoplus Transcription Services in 2013.

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00:00:00 Track starts. DON MACMILLAN: Well, folks, we promise you an interesting guest today, a man who has got quite a story to tell, and let's start off by finding-, him telling us what his name is. What is your name, sir? DAVE CRESWELL: Dave Cresswell. DON MACMILLAN: And you've been-, when did you retire, Dave? DAVE CRESWELL: I retired in September of '74. DON MACMILLAN: After how many years with International Nickel? DAVE CRESWELL: Forty years. DON MACMILLAN: Forty years is a fair number, that's the-, what were you doing at the time of your retirement, Dave? DAVE CRESWELL: Well, I was a safety foreman with INCO Construction. DON MACMILLAN: Well, we got that-, and while we're on the general subject, it seems to me that you had one brother who lasted longer even than that, didn't he? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right, I had an older brother who, when he retired, had 50 years service with INCO. DON MACMILLAN: Well, that's what I call a few years. And what about the other brother? DAVE CRESWELL: Well, they all had quite a bit of service, too, I have one brother that was retired in '72 with between 44 and 45 years service. DON MACMILLAN: So what I'm sort of making up my mind is, with the Cresswell's, they add up to about 100 or though years service with the company, eh? DAVE CRESWELL: Well, I think the five of us would have added up to a lot more than that. DON MACMILLAN: Right. Well, very fine. Well, all right, Dave, we like to start at the beginning. Where were you from? Where were you born? DAVE CRESWELL: I was born right in Coniston, in other words, I'm a real native. DON MACMILLAN: You can't get much closer to the action than that, eh? And in what year, Dave? DAVE CRESWELL: I was born 1916 in March. DON MACMILLAN: Well, now, give us a little background on your family. What about your father, was he born at that area? Page 2

DAVE CRESWELL: No, my father came from England in 1907, and along with my mother, they settled in Victoria Mine. DON MACMILLAN: Well, now, that would be interesting. Now, did your father have a trade, or anything like that? DAVE CRESWELL: Yes, he was a blacksmith with the railway in England. DON MACMILLAN: And had he ever told you why he just decided to pick up and head out for Canada? DAVE CRESWELL: Oh, unfortunately, I was never told why, but I suppose it was because life looked a little bit better on this side of the ocean. DON MACMILLAN: Well, that's probably the best reason, eh? We can't argue about that. Took a little courage, though, eh? DAVE CRESWELL: I imagine it did to leave a place like England and come to the back woods of Ontario. DON MACMILLAN: Yeah. DAVE CRESWELL: It must have taken a little courage. DON MACMILLAN: How did he come to pick Coniston? DAVE CRESWELL: Well, actually, they came to Victoria Mine, which was run by Mond Nickel, it was an English firm, and I believe, it was someone there got in touch with him to come out. DON MACMILLAN: Well, that was the beginning of the Cresswell Dynasty here in Coniston, right. DAVE CRESWELL: That's right. DON MACMILLAN: Now, you said he was a blacksmith with the railway before he came over, eh? DAVE CRESWELL: Mm-hmm. DON MACMILLAN: Now, what family did you have over here, Dave? Your-, I mean, in terms of brothers and sisters. DAVE CRESWELL: Oh, I had four brothers and one sister. DON MACMILLAN: Now, where did you fit in, were you the youngest? DAVE CRESWELL: Well, I was the youngest of the group. Page 3

DON MACMILLAN: Uh-huh. Now, you were telling me, Dave, that you kind of liked it around Coniston in those days, it was a little greener, it got not so good, but it's coming back again now. Is that a true statement? DAVE CRESWELL: Well, that's true, when I was growing up in Coniston it was a lot greener than it is today, in other words, you could pick blueberries right in the town, or whatever. And things like partridge, and rabbits, and all these sort of things abounded around the area. Unfortunately, they did deteriorate, and thankfully, it's coming back now, people are looking after their property a little better. They're sowing grass. DON MACMILLAN: The grass will grow, and same with… DAVE CRESWELL: They're sowing grass, and gardens, and flowers, and… DON MACMILLAN: Marvellous, it's going to look great again. DAVE CRESWELL: It is, it's looking better every day. DON MACMILLAN: Very fine. Now, again, as we were getting ready for our little show, you commented you'd heard this program before and some of the people had talked about their teachers, and that you had fond memories of a Mr. Kidd, is that true? DAVE CRESWELL: That's true, he was principal in the public school when I was going there, and I think most fond memories of him have to do with his interest in sports, particularly, baseball. And all the boys in the school had to play baseball, and I think through this, there were some pretty fair ball players came out of there. DON MACMILLAN: Now, speaking of ball players, we compared some notes and you brought up Phil Marchildon, is that right? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right, I recall when Phil used to play for Creighton, he was a that Creighton had brought in from Penetang in the days when baseball was baseball in this area. DON MACMILLAN: Right. Now, again-, now wait a minute. We were talking about this last World Series a while ago, and I just remembered, there was a pitcher for Boston named Cleveland, , wasn't that the name? DAVE CRESWELL: That's the fellow, yeah. Page 4

DON MACMILLAN: And what did they say, he was the first Canadian… DAVE CRESWELL: Well, he said that he was the first Canadian to ever start a game in a World Series. Now, Marchildon went on the play in the with Philadelphia Athletics, and I don’t really recall whether he ever got into a World Series, but I do recall that he won 20 games one year, and… DON MACMILLAN: Which is not bad. DAVE CRESWELL: It was pretty fair. DON MACMILLAN: Yeah, I'll settle for that. The other Canadian, and I think he was from-, it's not here, but-, it's , played for the old New York Yankees. Now, where was he from? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right, he came from Huntsville. DON MACMILLAN: From Huntsville, eh? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right, yeah. DON MACMILLAN: Twinkletoes, wasn't it? DAVE CRESWELL: That's what they used to call him, he played centre field, I believe. DON MACMILLAN: That's right. You got a couple of old ball fans here together, we'll get some of these things going, eh. DAVE CRESWELL: First thing you know, we'll be playing ball again. DON MACMILLAN: We'll be out there telling everybody how good we used to be, eh? Well, now, but getting back now, away from ball just for the moment, we've got you finishing public school and high school in Coniston. DAVE CRESWELL: That's right. DON MACMILLAN: And then you went to work, is that correct, sir? DAVE CRESWELL: That's true, I went to work with… DON MACMILLAN: With INCO? DAVE CRESWELL: …International Nickel in Coniston. DON MACMILLAN: In Coniston, at about what year, would that be '34 or thereabout? DAVE CRESWELL: That was in 1934, right. DON MACMILLAN: Oh, yeah. Now, as we've been talking here, it has occurred to me that, I guess, you would go to work because as your father had died at age of Page 5

five, the brothers in the family would have to sort of pitch in and keep the family stuck together, eh? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right, and they all did their job as required. But of course, after the depression started to lift in 1934, things did get a little bit easier. DON MACMILLAN: But you, as most good sons do, have fond memories of your mother, who died at the ripe old age of 78 or thereabouts, right, eh? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right, yeah. DON MACMILLAN: Now, there was some other sports that were pretty popular around town about those years, about the middle '30's, where were these games played, Stanley Stadium? DAVE CRESWELL: Yes, they-, this was the only covered stadium in the area, was Stanley Stadium, and this is when the hockey teams used to bring in the fans, at Stanley Stadium. DON MACMILLAN: That's where Johnny McCreedy played about that year, eh, around that time? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right, McCreedy, and Kowcinak came from the west and they played in this area. DON MACMILLAN: And was it Duchak that played centre… DAVE CRESWELL: I believe it was Duchak that played centre for that line. DON MACMILLAN: Yeah, that was a good line. DAVE CRESWELL: It was. One of the best. DON MACMILLAN: But which-, it was Kirkland Land won the Allan Cup. DAVE CRESWELL: Well, I believe Kirkland Lake won it one year, and then the Frood Tigers won it the-, I believe it was the following year, they went out west and beat the best in the west. DON MACMILLAN: Spoken like a true easterner. Now, I gather, Dave, that you played a little ball yourself, and you mentioned some names like-, was it Argyle Eastwood? DAVE CRESWELL: Well, this was hockey, this was… DON MACMILLAN: Hockey you played? Page 6

DAVE CRESWELL: Yeah, that's right, yeah. Well, I played ball, too, a little bit. Hockey seemed to be my game more than baseball. DON MACMILLAN: I'll bet-, was it Vasal was the other fellow? DAVE CRESWELL: Vasal, yeah, oh yeah, he's still around, but… DON MACMILLAN: Well, we said now that we'd mention him and I was going to ask you if they were as good as you or not. DAVE CRESWELL: Well, that's kind of putting me on the spot, but let's say they weren't any better. DON MACMILLAN: Okay. So here then we have you with INCO, through '30 up to about war time, and then in '41 did you not join the RCAF air crew? DAVE CRESWELL: I joined the RCAF in March, '41 and… DON MACMILLAN: But you didn't stay air crew, what did you… DAVE CRESWELL: No, I didn’t stay air crew, because my idea was to get overseas as quickly as possible, and they advertised, or just shortly after, that they needed people to take training as radar men. So I got in touch with the air force and they were very agreeable, they wanted me right away. So I ended up in Saint-Hubert, just outside of Montreal, for my basic training, and then I took a radio course at McGill University during the summer, and once this was completed, in September, I was on my way across the water. DON MACMILLAN: How did you get over there, on what? DAVE CRESWELL: I would say it's sort of a tub. However, we managed to get there after 14 days on the water. DON MACMILLAN: Was this in convoy? DAVE CRESWELL: This was in convoy most of the way, about half way over, for some reason or other, the convoy split up. We were having a bad storm, at the time, and this may have had something to do with it. So we looked into Liverpool on our own. DON MACMILLAN: You were pretty lucky… DAVE CRESWELL: We were lucky. DON MACMILLAN: …shaky do, I guess, eh. DAVE CRESWELL: That's right. We were very fortunate. Page 7

DON MACMILLAN: I guess you had some uneasy moments aboard the (inaudible), eh? DAVE CRESWELL: We had some uneasy moments, we got into Liverpool, of course, we couldn’t get off the boat that night. And what happened? Old Jay was over that night with a raid the first night we were there. DON MACMILLAN: To welcome you, eh? DAVE CRESWELL: Sort of welcome us, yes. DON MACMILLAN: Well, that'll make you feel at home. Well, I'll be darned. But then from Liverpool you got posted to where? This may be… DAVE CRESWELL: Well, we went down to Bournemouth for interviews, and more or less get our land legs, and from there, we decided where we would go. And at that time, a group of us were posted to a station called Cranwell for further training in radar. And from there, we were posted to squadrons. DON MACMILLAN: And you went to 209, did you not? DAVE CRESWELL: Well, I went to 219, an RAF squadron. DON MACMILLAN: Where was this, the one near Tangmere? DAVE CRESWELL: This was at Tangmere right on the south coast. DON MACMILLAN: Now, I guess, you'll say it's not any secret any more now, I mean, they-, I know it isn't any secret, because there's been a book out put on it. What were some of your duties over there? DAVE CRESWELL: Well, our main duties was to service the radar equipment. At the beginning of the war, at least at this time, it wasn't the best, and they did have a lot of faults with it. So we were kept pretty busy servicing the equipment that was mounted in the aircraft. DON MACMILLAN: Well, now, you'd have a little-, you'd be pretty handy at this, you were pretty good with this type of thing, weren't you? DAVE CRESWELL: Well, I used to think I was. However, the training that we had really made it a lot easier. I mean, the… DON MACMILLAN: But what I'm sort of getting at is, that the equipment in the night fighters would be to identify enemy aircraft, right, at night. DAVE CRESWELL: This is true, this-, the-, there was a special piece of equipment mounted in the aircraft, through which our night fighters were able to identify whether Page 8

they were chasing an enemy aircraft, or one of their own. Of course, when you're flying at night, you can't see any markings on them, so you don't know whether they're-, who they are. DON MACMILLAN: That figures. DAVE CRESWELL: But it worked very well, and… DON MACMILLAN: I think that's fairly well known, the name of that, I think, was IFF, is that right? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right, this was called IFF, in other words, Identification Friend from Foe. DON MACMILLAN: Well, now, tell us some of the places that you were, you served, or some of the squadrons you were on, or bases you were at in England. DAVE CRESWELL: Well, we moved around considerably. We went from Tangmere up into the northern part of England at Northumberland, and we were there for quite a while. Then they decided they were going to form Canadian night fighter squadrons, and I was posted from there to Ayr in Scotland, where 410 Canadian squadron was being formed. And I stayed with them for the rest of the war. DON MACMILLAN: I wonder if there's any 410 people listening? There just might be, eh, they're-, if so, I hope they (inaudible). DAVE CRESWELL: There is a possibility. I'm not sure though, I couldn’t say for sure. DON MACMILLAN: Yeah, never been any reunions or anything in this area, eh? DAVE CRESWELL: No, there hasn't been any. DON MACMILLAN: Too bad, in a way, you know, of course, that's a long time ago now, eh? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right, yeah. DON MACMILLAN: Nobody's quite as young as they were. DAVE CRESWELL: Well, this may be one reason why, you know, reunions have sort of gone by the board. There's so many missing and they're scattered so far. DON MACMILLAN: Right. All right, but if there's any-, I guess, you'd like to hear from anybody at 410. DAVE CRESWELL: I certainly would, I would very much like to hear from anyone. DON MACMILLAN: Well, where can they write you? Page 9

DAVE CRESWELL: Well, they can write me to my address, at 62 1st Avenue in Coniston. DON MACMILLAN: Right, I hope you hear from somebody about that, Dave. DAVE CRESWELL: Thank you. DON MACMILLAN: Now, you were then posted, after the landings on the continents, you got over to France, is that correct? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right, yeah, we managed to get over where the action was, and I was posted to a place called Amiens in northern France. As a matter of fact, I was on the advance party and we were fortunate enough to fly over. Some of the other fellows had to come by boat. I understand that crossing the channel was not the best things. DON MACMILLAN: It's a little rough, I've heard, yes. DAVE CRESWELL: Little rough, right. Although, we got into France, and that fall, I don’t know whether it was to welcome the Canadians or not, but we had quite a bit of snow. DON MACMILLAN: I recall that fall, and you were living in tents, too, right? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right, we were living in tents, unheated. DON MACMILLAN: It seems to me, also, that if you put one tent on top of the other it made a little warmer, I don’t know whether you tried that or not. DAVE CRESWELL: Well, we used to have different ways of heating it, but it was still pretty cold. DON MACMILLAN: It was. So-, but you weren't on the continent when the war ended? DAVE CRESWELL: No, I wasn’t on the continent when the war ended, I was posted back to England on the 1st of January in '45. DON MACMILLAN: This, I guess, was because-, well, this of course was before-, the war in the far east was still going on at this time, eh? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right, the war in the far east was still going on, at the time. DON MACMILLAN: However, the-, something the-, I won't say another war started, but you met somebody in England around about this time, right? DAVE CRESWELL: Well, I-, a little bit earlier than that, in '42, actually, I met someone from London, and very happy to say I married her. Page 10

DON MACMILLAN: All right. Now, I-, this will bring back memories to some former air force types, I think. Did you not-, did you say that you and a friend accepted an invitation to sort of be house guests somewhere? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right. DON MACMILLAN: Down in the south of England, what was that story? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right. In London itself… DON MACMILLAN: It was in London, eh? DAVE CRESWELL: Yeah, during the war, English families would notify different stations that they would be willing to take a couple of Canadian airmen for a weekend, or for a few days, give them a little home life, and so we accepted, and very glad to do so. DON MACMILLAN: Now, the first night you met a charming young lady, but nothing happened, but that second night the bells rang or something? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right. DON MACMILLAN: So it worked out? DAVE CRESWELL: This is what they say, the bells rang, and the stars flew. DON MACMILLAN: What was the-, what was her name then? DAVE CRESWELL: Her name was Grace Watts. DON MACMILLAN: Ah, indeed. What was she-, was she in the service? DAVE CRESWELL: No, she was working in an office in London, at the time. DON MACMILLAN: Okay. So we have you married then, sir, and in England, and the war in the far east still on. So then I guess, they decided they were going to have you help in the war on the far east, is that correct? DAVE CRESWELL: Well, that seemed to be the idea, that when we shipped out from England back to Canada, I was slated to go to BC, to a station in BC, en route to the far east. But during the crossing, this was changed and I was supposed to report to an air force base in Nova Scotia. Now, when we got into Quebec City and disembarked, we were taken to the air force station at Lachine, and there, the commanding officer spoke to all the airmen in a hangar and notified us that we were heading for Toronto, to number one Page 11

manning depot for discharge. And I believe that the roof of the hangar raised about three feet. DON MACMILLAN: I can believe it. I can remember those days. All right, sir, so then you would come back to Coniston, correct? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right, I came back to Coniston, and back with INCO. DON MACMILLAN: Back with INCO. But your wife did not come over immediately, eh, when did your wife get over? DAVE CRESWELL: No, she came over in March of '46. DON MACMILLAN: It would be quite a change coming from London to Coniston, I guess. DAVE CRESWELL: Yes, I think it was. It must have been a big change, for sure, and I'm glad to say that, eventually, my wife did acclimatize herself and now likes it quite well. DON MACMILLAN: That's what I gather, that she's with you and on-, and this is a beautiful country around here, let's… DAVE CRESWELL: Well, that's… DON MACMILLAN: Ask anybody, you don’t have to get… DAVE CRESWELL: That's right. DON MACMILLAN: …far out of town before you're into some pretty nice country. DAVE CRESWELL: That's right. Well, we've travelled quite a bit, particularly down east and all part of Ontario, and we like Ontario, I think we'll stay. DON MACMILLAN: Well, now, a little thought here, we were discussing maybe that you might, this winter, have a look at Florida, is that correct, sir? DAVE CRESWELL: Yes, we feel that it's time for us to have a little look for Florida in the winter time, get away from some of the snow and ice. So I hope things pan out and we do get down there. DON MACMILLAN: Well, I liked your comments, I'm only discussing this because there are other people who may be considering it, that you weren't going to go down too far south in Florida, you-, if you go, you'll probably be up around Panama City or something? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right, we plan to go to that area, mainly because it is more like our climate here, apparently, in late spring and early fall. Page 12

DON MACMILLAN: Well, now, Dave, the-, I don’t think I asked you about your other family. You have-, wife brought a young daughter with you, and since then, you've had two more daughters, correct? DAVE CRESWELL: That's right, we've had two more daughters, and… DON MACMILLAN: Where are they now? What are their names, or what are they doing? DAVE CRESWELL: Well, the oldest daughter, Lynn, was born in England, and she is married and teaching in the area. And my second daughter, Valerie, is teaching music in London. And my youngest daughter, Allison, is a graduate nurse, nursing at Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto. DON MACMILLAN: Well, that's a fine family. And the-, I think, as we discussed earlier, the Cresswells, yourself and two brothers, contributed more than a hundred years to-, service to INCO, is that correct? DAVE CRESWELL: Yes, I think so, yes. DON MACMILLAN: Would it be a fair statement, sir, to say that INCO had been reasonably good to the Cresswell clan, then? DAVE CRESWELL: Well, I think on the whole, we have no complaints whatsoever. I mean, no doubt you have your ups and downs and all this sort of thing, but on the whole, I would say INCO has been very good to us. DON MACMILLAN: Well, that's nice to have you say so. Well, friends, our guest today has been Mr. Dave Cresswell, who retired in September 1974 after 40 years with INCO, at which time, he was a safety foreman with INCO Construction. Dave, it's been a pleasure and a privilege to have you as our guest on Memories and Music. DAVE CRESWELL: I want to thank you very much for the opportunity. 00:22:51 Track ends.