Yorkton and the rest of the country were still in the grip of World War Two during the week of August 31, 1944. While tragedy from the war affected people near and far, normal life still went on in our rural town. Well, as normal as the situation would allow.
While the war was months from being over, a lot of people could see the finish line. More than that, they were planning what we should do once we crossed the tape.
Charles Clay, an Ottawa-based columnist for the paper voiced concerns about what to do with the tens of millions of displaced people, particularly in Europe, after the war. He said the world would soon be full to overflowing with refugees, in an odd parallel with our current immigration concerns. He suggested Canada should lead the way in welcoming refugees. In a poignant line, he said we musn’t be “indifferent to the pleas of humanity.”
Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King could also see the finish line and he had big plans after the war. In a radio broadcast, he assured Canadians the government had a multi-layer plan for civilians and discharged soldiers. He stressed that all Canadians would enjoy a high standard of living when the bullets stopped flying.
In Yorkton, the horrors and heartbreak of war hit hard. Jack Middleton, a reportedly very popular boy in town, was killed in action in France. He was the 26th Yorkton boy to die during the war.
Yorkton natives Michael Kindrat and Leonard Sanford Jones were wounded in France, but they were expected to recover.
Kamsack suffered its own share of misfortune. A cyclone walloped the town on August 9. Yorkton pitched in, raising over $3,000 as the paper went to presses. The town thanked Yorkton in a letter addressed to the city council.
A radio beam station was planned to built in Yorkton. It was going to be erected for the Trans-Canada airline from Winnipeg to Edmonton. The hope at the time was that this station would make Yorkton a major stopping point.
Of course, the most serious news of the week involved a precious resource: Beer.
Rumours were flying that by Sept. 15, Saskatchewan citizens would be restricted to 12 pints per month. The writer of the article, suitably appalled, suggested Yorktonites drive to Manitoba, where people could enjoy 24 pints a day.
However, he did warn his readers that Manitobans could have so much liquid gold because their beer was inferior to the Saskatchewan stock.
Finally, Yorkton received 3.66 inches of rain on August 25, which, according to the elder inhabitants of the town, was the heaviest downpour in a long time.
