Len Bechtel, front, is pictured with a portable saw he and other conscientious objectors (COs) designed near Vancouver during the Second World War. As oil supplies dwindled due to the war, this group of workers with mechanical aptitude in the Alternative Service program were pulled aside from forestry work to help supply Vancouverites with wood for the winter. Fellow worker Ray Good described this effort as one of the most rewarding aspects of his service as a CO.
For more historical photos in the Mennonite Archival Image Database, see archives.mhsc.ca.
Related stories:
George Brunk
J.J. Thiessen
Canadian Foodgrains Bank meeting
CO foresters
Mennonite resistance
(Photo: Len Bechtel / Mennonite Archives of Ontario)
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