• Timmins, Ontario

Decorations for Bravery

• Medal of Bravery

  • Awarded on: June 13, 1988
  • Invested on: June 02, 1989

  Johan Ahlstrom, M.B.
  John Hall, M.B.*
  Stanley Louttit, M.B.
  Allan T. Quinn, M.B.
  Medal of Bravery
  
  During the spring break-up of 1986, helicopter pilots Johan Ahlstrom and John Hall, along with pilot Allan Quinn and Stanley Louttit of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, Moose Factory joined efforts to rescue the people of the flooded village of Winisk on Hudson Bay. On May 16, the rapidly rising river overflowed its banks, sending large blocks of ice coursing through the village and causing some of the houses to break off their foundations and begin moving with the strong current. Under extremely poor weather condition, with near zero visibility in fog, Mr. Ahlstrom and Mr. Hall made numerous trips between the village and the airport, transporting the residents to safety. Unable to land in the flooded village, they performed a perilous manoeuvre, placing one helicopter skid on the ice while the other remained in the air above the rushing water. With the assistance of Mr. Quinn and Mr. Louttit, and with the spinning rotor blades often less than a foot from the building, the occupants were then coaxed out of their houses and helped over the chunks of ice and into the helicopters. Although the village of Winisk was destroyed, these men exposed themselves to great danger to ensure that all the villagers were brought to safety.
  
  * This is the second award of a Medal of Bravery to Mr. Hall.

• Medal of Bravery

  • Awarded on: April 21, 1987
  • Invested on: June 26, 1987

  John Hall, M.B.
  Firefighter Joseph Gregory Stojkiewicz, M.B.
  Medal of Bravery
  
  On the afternoon of November 24, 1985, John Hall and Joseph Stojkiewicz saved a man who had fallen through the thin ice of Night Hawk Lake, Ontario. The man had been driving a snowmobile when the ice cracked and he and the machine were submerged. He was approximately 3 kilometres out on the lake and surrounded for about 300 metres by thin ice. An initial rescue attempt on the surface had failed when Mr. Hall arrived in his helicopter, a vehicle not intended for rescue operations. After a preliminary survey, he and Mr. Stojkiewicz proceeded to mount a rescue operation. While Mr. Stojkiewicz stood on the left skid gear of the helicopter, holding onto a seat belt with one hand, Mr. Hall manoeuvred the helicopter down, lowering the skid gear to the surface. The man had been submerged in the cold water for some 2 hours and was too frozen to aid his rescuers. Mr. Stojkiewicz was unable to keep his grip on the man the first time he reached out but, after Mr. Hall lowered the machine further, was able to grasp the man by the wrist and pull him out. He retained this grip for a substantial period while Mr. Hall hovered the machine towards solid ice. It was a delicate and dangerous manoeuvre as the off-balanced helicopter could easily have overturned. Once the man had been secured and placed inside the helicopter, he was flown to nearby Timmins for medical assistance.