Hamilton’s Lanc salutes a ‘Lancaster Lady’

John and Sylvia sit under an umbrella and wait for the Lancaster.BARRY GRAY/THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR

Sylvia Cook squinted into the harsh late morning sun.

Overhead, Hamilton’s most famous plane, the Lancaster, circled, as pilot and Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum CEO Dave Rohrer tipped his wings to acknowledge one the aircraft’s biggest fans.

A fitting tribute for a ‘Lancaster Lady.’

Cook, born in London in 1948, mercifully missed the seemingly endless bombings that took place during the Second World War, but also the daily flights of Lancaster bombers as Allied crews risked their lives to reclaim the skies.

Her mother, Vera, and her friends would wave hankies and scarves at the pilots as they thundered overhead, a show of support for missions that often failed to return.

Over the years, Cook heard those stories and kept them close to her heart.

From her Mountain home, every time she heard the familiar sound of our plane — ironically nicknamed VERA — she would run outside and wave, continuing a tradition born decades earlier.

In 2014, Hamilton’s Lancaster crossed the ocean for a tour of the UK. As it left, Sylvia was there, front row, with friends and family, now dubbed ‘The Lancaster Ladies’. Still waving, and remembering.

Since then, Cook has been diagnosed with dementia. She was moved into St. Peter’s Residence at Chedoke on the west Mountain in January of this year, as her condition worsened.

In March, COVID-19 arrived, effectively ending access for her family.

The weeks and months that followed have been a test for husband John and daughter Sam, but on this day, standing outside at long last, their world seemed a little brighter.

The Lancaster flies over Hamilton. BARRY GRAY/THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR