A happy-go-lucky guy!
Those were the words that quickly came to Carl Walsh’s mind when asked about how he remembered his cousin George Bellows.
Both Walsh and Bellows are natives of Boswarlos; however, the latter moved to Corner Brook with his parents George and Priscilla (Childs) Bellows at a fairly young age.
As a veteran of the Second World War, Bellows will now be better remembered as a grave marker was put on his final resting place at St. James Anglican Church Cemetery in Port au Port East on Oct. 25.
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Walsh is appreciative to Bill O’Gorman, author of “Lest We Forget, The Life and Times of Veterans from the Port au Port Peninsula - WW1” and “Lest We Forget, The Life and Times of Veterans from the Port au Port Peninsula - WW2 and The Korean War” for his efforts in getting the grave marker in place.
O’Gorman said the grave marker was provided through the Last Post Fund, which provides these headstones for war veterans who are verified and certified as such.
He said this marks the 20th headstone that he has worked on and was successful in having put into place for forgotten soldiers through the Last Post Fund. Most of them were for soldiers from the Port au Port Peninsula who served.
According to O’Gorman, Bellows was 19 years of age in 1939 when he joined the crew of a Corner Brook paper carrier and quickly made friends with Russell Musseau, who was also on the boat bound for England.
War broke out while they were en route and both enlisted into the military after arriving in England, Bellows decided to join the Royal Artillery Grenadier in London because he didn’t like the strict regulations while on the ship.
Musseau, his friend, enlisted as well but went a different route and continued sailing. He wasn’t as lucky as Bellows, being on two ships “The Nerrisa” and “The Celtic Star” when they were torpedoed. He survived both attacks and retired from the military in 1967 after serving on 32 ships.
Bellows later became an ordinary seaman in the Merchant Navy and sailed all over the world, including in Africa.
Walsh said after the war his cousin, who he described as a big fellow, worked in different places and always had an entrepreneurial spirit and loved to sells things.
While working with his brother Jim Bellows at City Motors in Corner Brook, they both went to Windsor, ON and each drove a grader back to Corner Brook. Then while working for a City Motors service centre in Labrador he also ran a canteen.
He lived in Lindsey, ON for a time, where he drove a school bus.
Walsh said after he moved from Alberta, Bellows and several of his friends would come to visit him in Boswarlos, making it fitting his final resting place is nearby.
Bellows died at a veteran’s facility in Corner Brook in 2005 at the age of 85 years.
