The First and Second World Wars provide stories of strength and endurance, but also contribute to a wider history of sport. An interesting photograph from 1943 in the Manitoba curling museum collection shows Howard “Howie” Wood Jr. (pictured on the right) curling outside while he was in Aberdeen, Scotland. Wood was overseas during the Second World War, and it seems he and his fellow soldiers decided to curl on an outdoor rink. This could have taken place near the Aberdeen Airport, also known as Dyce. In October 1939, one month after the war started, a Royal Air Force station was established there. Considering Wood served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, it is reasonable to assume this base is close to where the curling took place.
Howie Wood Jr., son of Howard “Pappy” Wood Sr., was a Granite Curling Club member for a large portion of his life. Highlights of his curling career include winning the 1940 Macdonald’s Brier with his father. As a Manitoba champion, he played for the Macdonald’s Brier Tankard again in 1957 (see photo below), and the 1970 Canadian Senior Men’s Championship (see photo below).
Since the First World War, soldiers have played sports at home and overseas, as it was considered to boost morale, comradery, and physical fitness. Many know of the Christmas Truce in 1914, where British and German troops unofficially held a temporary truce. They met, took photographs, and played some football games. Common sports overall included baseball, soccer (more widely known as football overseas), and hockey. However, curling overseas during the Second World War is significantly less well known. It would have been a challenge to play the closer soldiers got to the front lines, as transporting curling rocks and brooms would not have been a priority. But that didn’t stop some soldiers from curling during their time away from the front lines.
An interesting detail in the photograph is that the back of the photograph has a stamp for Aberdeen Journals Ltd., whose roots can be traced back to 1743, when the city’s first weekly news sheet was published. They became known as Aberdeen Journals Ltd. in 1928 after the company was liquidated after being subsidised by Allied Newspapers Limited. This photograph was likely taken by someone who worked for the newspaper, as it was published on December
24th, 1943. The short piece provides extraordinary context for the photograph in our collection, revealing that the curling took place in December of 1943, and that the previously unknown man to the left of Howie Wood is Mr. Ian Cameron from West Cults. This article also confirms the curling took place at the outdoor West Cults curling pond, approximately a 20 minute drive from
the airport base.
Also, Howie Wood is standing on a crampet, used by curlers for stability on the ice as they threw from a standing position. This was most likely Wood’s first time curling with such a crampet, as it was not commonly used in Manitoba at that time. So, this picture not only contributes to the history of curling, but to the history of the Second World War, and recreational activities.
Canadian soldiers’ contributions to curling overseas did not stop with the end of the Second World War. They played a significant part in establishing the sport in British Occupied Germany. Courtesy of a blog post by Bob Cowan, former editor of the Scottish Curler Magazine, curling equipment such as shoes and stones were donated by various clubs. Also, a makeshift curling rink was built in the Oldenburg airport in 1946 by men in the Canadian Occupational Force. For more information, check out Cowan’s blog.
This one of a kind photograph, along with the others mentioned can be found on our Musetoba website.
By Angela Bullee, MCHoF&M 2025 student museum assistant
