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The Donald Lee Collection
of 1/72 Scale Model Aircraft
Donald
Jerome Lee was born August 4, 1925 in St. Stephen, New Brunswick. He
joined the Royal Canadian Air Force before his 18th birthday and eventually
rose to the rank of staff sergeant. He
earned his wings as a pilot and, in response to need, remustered as a
flight engineer. He served to the end of the war as a flight engineer in
Catalina (Canso) flying boats out of Shearwater, escorting convoys and
doing submarine hunting. After the war, Don entered the civil service of
the Province of New Brunswick. He was at various times the Chief Driver
Examiner for the province, the co-director of the province's
Bicentennial Commission, and the Administrative Director for several
departments, including Labor, Social Services, and Treasury Board. After
retirement in 1985, Don and his wife Lois moved to St. Andrews where he
served on Town Council and was an active member of the Royal Canadian
Legion. He passed away on January
15, 1995.
Don was an inveterate model builder, building radio-controlled wooden
aircraft, hand-crafted wooden ship models, and a very large collection
of 1/72 scale model aircraft from the Second World War.
Don's ship models included a group of World War II vintage warships that
carried Maritime names (e.g. HMCS Restigouche, Sackville, St. Croix,
etc.). These were constructed completely from scratch, even down to the
handcarved basswood hulls. They now reside in the Maritime Museum of the
Atlantic in Halifax. Models of the ferries that served the island of
Grand Manan in the Bay of Fundy can be found in the museum on the
island, and a miniature of the famous St. Andrews Blockhouse (made from wood salvaged
from the burned blockhouse itself) is on display in the Charlotte County Museum in St. Stephen, N..B.
The collection of several hundred 1/72 scale model aircraft was perhaps
Don's biggest accomplishment,
built over a 30-year period beginning in 1958. The aircraft all date
from the period of World War II: some in service before the War and then
in it, some remaining in service for some time afterward. They represent
a host of air forces, including those of Great Britain, the U.S.,
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Poland, Japan, China. The
starting point for most of the models were plastic kits gathered from
sources around the world; however, the kits were heavily modified. Based
on painstaking research, each model represents a single actual aircraft
at a particular point in its service life. Don gathered detailed
military and civilian information on the aircraft to the point where
creating each aircraft was as much a historical exercise as an effort in
craftsmanship. Missing or inaccurate parts were built and replaced,
needed paints were mixed and markings were accurately recreated.
On
Don's death, Lois donated the bulk of the aircraft collection to the
Greenwood Military Aviation Museum. The naval aircraft can be found in
the museum on the Shearwater Air Base -- including a replica of the
Canso flying boat on which Don served.
Page 6.1.008 Rev. 16 Feb 2007
Greenwood Military
Aviation Museum http://gmam.ca/
earned his wings as a pilot and, in response to need, remustered as a
flight engineer. He served to the end of the war as a flight engineer in
Catalina (Canso) flying boats out of Shearwater, escorting convoys and
doing submarine hunting. After the war, Don entered the civil service of
the Province of New Brunswick. He was at various times the Chief Driver
Examiner for the province, the co-director of the province's
Bicentennial Commission, and the Administrative Director for several
departments, including Labor, Social Services, and Treasury Board. After
retirement in 1985, Don and his wife Lois moved to St. Andrews where he
served on Town Council and was an active member of the Royal Canadian
Legion. He passed away on January
15, 1995.
accomplishment,
built over a 30-year period beginning in 1958. The aircraft all date
from the period of World War II: some in service before the War and then
in it, some remaining in service for some time afterward. They represent
a host of air forces, including those of Great Britain, the U.S.,
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Poland, Japan, China. The
starting point for most of the models were plastic kits gathered from
sources around the world; however, the kits were heavily modified. Based
on painstaking research, each model represents a single actual aircraft
at a particular point in its service life. Don gathered detailed
military and civilian information on the aircraft to the point where
creating each aircraft was as much a historical exercise as an effort in
craftsmanship. Missing or inaccurate parts were built and replaced,
needed paints were mixed and markings were accurately recreated.