Found it "The Ernie Simmons Story" huge collection war surplus aicraft & motorcycles

bushwhacker

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Found it "The Ernie Simmons Story" huge collection war surplus aicraft & motorcycles

http://www.spitcrazy.com/Simmons-2.htm

Aylmer ON farmer's huge collection of war surplus aircraft and motorcycles sold after his death in 1970

Thursday, September 3...HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS: 5 brass beds, sideboards, cupboards, chairs, jars, tables, deep freeze, crocks, 57 guns - 15 handguns and 42 rifles and shotguns. 128 cars from the late forties to 60, 15 army trucks and many other items of great interest on the first day.

Friday, September 4...107 motorcycles to choose from, 1917 and up. Harleys, Indians, Hendersons, Royal Enfields and many others and parts. 2 steam engines and parts. 40 tractors and parts. 26 gas engines. 15 Bren gun carriers.

Saturday, September 5...41 antique cars, trucks and parts. 43 aircraft and 30 engines. Also miscellaneous aircraft tires (new and used) and parts.
 
I viewed the collection. One of the guns was an English Pattern Trade Rifle.
A lot of the vehicles were very sad. Grass growing up through them. Rows of units just put out to pasture.
 
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I was there while he was still alive. A friend of mine was interested in motorcycles and he asked if I wanted to go for a ride. He did not mention the aircraft and when I got there I was amazed at the number of them. Three (I think) Swordfish torpedo bombers, Yale trainers and other stuff. The motorcycles seemed to be in a greenhouse if I remember right.
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bushwhacker said:
http://www.spitcrazy.com/Simmons-2.htm

Aylmer ON farmer's huge collection of war surplus aircraft and motorcycles sold after his death in 1970

Thursday, September 3...HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS: 5 brass beds, sideboards, cupboards, chairs, jars, tables, deep freeze, crocks, 57 guns - 15 handguns and 42 rifles and shotguns. 128 cars from the late forties to 60, 15 army trucks and many other items of great interest on the first day.

Friday, September 4...107 motorcycles to choose from, 1917 and up. Harleys, Indians, Hendersons, Royal Enfields and many others and parts. 2 steam engines and parts. 40 tractors and parts. 26 gas engines. 15 Bren gun carriers.

Saturday, September 5...41 antique cars, trucks and parts. 43 aircraft and 30 engines. Also miscellaneous aircraft tires (new and used) and parts.
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I know about this case from my Dad who has since passed on. Ernie's farm was just a short distance outside of Courtland Ontario. I thought that's where the auction was held. Aylmer is a fair distance away from Courtland.

His farm was back a ways from the highway and I don't know what kind of a road there was there leading from No#3.

My Dad was his doctor before Ernie passed on. Someone came to the farm house one night and tied his mother up while Ernie was out doing his rounds. They then tied Ernie up when he came back to the farm house and shot him 6 times. They didn't harm his mother that I know of.

Ernie didn't die from his wounds. He was hospitalized and recovered but later died of pneumonia.

I remember Dad telling me in recent years about the exact circumstances of Ernie's death. The details were quite different from the official version but Dad may have been mixing them up with another case although his memory was generally quite accurate. I have to check that out. He did many suspicious death coroner's calls for the O.P.P. over the years.

Jim.
 
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My late father managed to get 3 Indian motorcycles out of that auction. Canadian Milsurp 1940 Indian Chief and two scouts. When he passed away me and my two brothers each got one. The receipt for the Chief says he paid $20 for it.

I heard that Ernie wasn't fond of the power of 12ga rounds so he used to reload them himself using TNT as propellant. Worked great until he blew up his shot gun.

Don't know if it's true or not but a funny story all the same.

Jeremy
 
wheaty said:
He was using the Swordfish fuselages as chicken coops if I remember correctly...
The wings were piled up behind a building.
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Ernie had 7 Swordfish aircraft, half of those existing at the time. Someone (from Britain I think) bought 2 to attempt to restore into one complete aircraft.

He had several dozen Yale trainers lined up somewhere on the property. There's a write up in the Legion Magazine (and pictures) about the sale published sometime in 1970.
 
One of Ernie's Swordfishes was restored by the Spence family in Ontario and is now in the Vintage Wings collection in Gatineau. Another is on display at the Shearwater Aviation museum in Nova Scotia. I believe the Spence family provided some parts to complete that airplane also. These two are both airworthy although the Shearwater one isn't flown. Not too many Swordfish pilots around Canada these days. Do a google search and you'll find them. It is hard to imagine flying one to attack the Bismark but that is exactly what was done.
 
Magnum PI said:
One of Ernie's Swordfishes was restored by the Spence family in Ontario and is now in the Vintage Wings collection in Gatineau. Another is on display at the Shearwater Aviation museum in Nova Scotia. I believe the Spence family provided some parts to complete that airplane also. These two are both airworthy although the Shearwater one isn't flown. Not too many Swordfish pilots around Canada these days. Do a google search and you'll find them. It is hard to imagine flying one to attack the Bismark but that is exactly what was done.
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If you want suicidal, how about attacking the Scharnhorst & Gniesenau in the English Channel with the Luftwaffe overhead.

A one way trip. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Dash#Swordfish_torpedo_bombers
 
intersting thing about the swordfish was the german gun computers couldnt cope with its slow speed and consistently missed by shooting in front of it. a few stringbag pilots got credit for enemy aircraft by slowing them enough to force a stall in the pursuing aircraft into the ground/sea
 
I remember going to look at a car in southern Saskatchewan around 1994. The farmer had a Hawker Hurricane, a Lysander, and Harvard (might have been a Tiger Moth) if my memory serves.

Wish I would have taken photos....
 
CMichaud said:
I remember going to look at a car in southern Saskatchewan around 1994. The farmer had a Hawker Hurricane, a Lysander, and Harvard (might have been a Tiger Moth) if my memory serves.

Wish I would have taken photos....
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That was likely Harry Whereatt in Assiniboia. He died about a decade ago.
 
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