Billie Dawe (June 8, 1924 – May 20, 2013) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

amateur

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player. He was a member of the 1950 World Champion team, the Edmonton Mercurys (the Mercs), and captained that team to a gold medal at the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 6. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 195 ...

Early life

Dawe was born in

Cochrane, Alberta Cochrane ( ) is a town in the Calgary Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. The town is located west of the Calgary city limits along Highway 1A. Cochrane is one of the fastest-growing communities in Canada, and with a population of 32,199 ...

, but lived most of his life in Edmonton. His mother, Hilda, was a British

war bride War brides are women who married military personnel from other countries in times of war or during military occupations, a practice that occurred in great frequency during World War I and World War II. Among the largest and best documented examp ...

of his father, Bill, who met her while he was serving in the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry division ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The hockey-playing Dawe would meet his own wife, Lee, in

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada, while training to be a pilot for the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

RCAF Station Gimli RCAF Station Gimli was an air station of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) located near Gimli, Manitoba, Canada. World War II (1943–1945) On September 6, 1943, the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan established No. 18 Service Flying Tr ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Career

In 1949, Dawe joined the Edmonton Mercurys, a newly formed intermediate

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

-A ice hockey team in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. Dawe played with the Mercurys when they took part in exhibition games in Ayr, Scotland in 1950, and later helped them to win the

1950 World Ice Hockey Championships The 17th Ice Hockey World Championships and 28th European Championships were held from 13 to 22 March 1950 in London, England. Canada, represented by the Edmonton Mercurys, won its 13th World Championship. Highest ranking European team Switzerla ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Two years later, Dawe was team captain when the Mercs won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

at the

/1952 World Championship in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Dawe tied for second in team scoring, with 6 goals and 6 assists during 8 games, as the Mercurys outscored their opponents 71-14 en route to the gold medal. Dawe retired from hockey following the 1952 Olympics, going to work at the Edmonton Waterloo Mercury car dealership, sponsor of the Edmonton Mercurys hockey team, for a number of decades. Dawe became parts manager at the dealership and a partner in the firm, along with four other Mercurys teammate, including eventual principal owner

Al Purvis Allan Ruggles Purvis (January 9, 1929 – August 13, 2009) was a Canadian ice hockey player who played with the Edmonton Mercurys, a team which represented Canada and won a gold medal at the 1950 World Ice Hockey Championships and also won a gold ...

. He continued to be involved in sports, serving as president of the Canadian Athletic Club, coaching Little League baseball, and participating in

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

. Canada did not win the ice hockey Olympic gold medal again for 50 years following the win by the Mercurys. Dawe and a number of the surviving Mercury players were invited to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

in 2002 to watch – then help

Team Canada Canadian National Team or Team Canada may refer to: Canada at multi-sport events * Canada at the Olympics * Canada at the Paralympics * Canada at the Commonwealth Games * Canada at the Pan American Games Canada's national sport teams * Canada me ...

celebrate – their next gold medal win. Dawe, as part of the 1952 Olympic/World Champion Edmonton Mercurys, was inducted to the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 1968. The 1952 Mercurys, including Dawe, was inducted to the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 2002 - the same year that Team Canada finally broke its 50-year gold medal drought. Dawe, as part of the 1950 World Champion version of the Mercs, was inducted to the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. Dawe died in Edmonton on May 20, 2013, at age 88.

References

External links

*
"William ''(sic)'' Dawe"
''databaseOlympics.com'' *Edmonton Mercurys page fro

s 2002 Winter Olympics page
"Edmonton Mercurys"
''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. * via Legacy.com (family placed obituary) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dawe, Billie 1924 births 2013 deaths Canadian ice hockey left wingers Ice hockey people from Alberta Ice hockey players at the 1952 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Canada Olympic ice hockey players for Canada Olympic medalists in ice hockey People from Cochrane, Alberta

Early life

Career

See also

References

External links