RCA Association Membership Cards

The intent of the RCA Membership Cards was to provide a sense of identity with the Association, to highlight some of the benefits of membership and to remind our members of some of the Gunners that have served before us. 
An interesting story came up with the introduction of the trial release with the Vancouver Artillery Association (VAA). Bob Chown is a long serving member of the VAA. While never having been a Gunner, he joins us as a "Friend of the Regiment." As such, he reviewed our list of deceased Gunners and could not find a connection with any of those that were currently listed. We searched through Library and Archives and found a long forgotten gunner by the name of Lieutenant Henry Bruce Chown. As we delved into his military we discovered that he was the recipient of a Military Cross for bravery. Further search revealed that after the war he returned to his medical studies, became a doctor and founded the Winnipeg Rh Laboratory in 1944. According to the Manitoba Historical Society, "His laboratory discovered the mechanism of Rh haemolytic disease, its management, and its ultimate prevention, perhaps the most outstanding medical discovery ever made in Manitoba." For that feat he was inducted into the Order of Canada. Lieutenant Henry Bruce Chown, OC, MC a Canadian Gunner that we should not forget. A bit of a final twist to this story is that our Bob Chown knew Dr Chown as his great-uncle but did not know that he had been a Gunner.

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