On January 28, 1965 around 2:30 a.m., a man bombed three American warplanes being
retrofit
Retrofitting is the addition of new technology or features to older systems. Retrofits can happen for a number of reasons, for example with big capital expenditures like naval vessels, military equipment or manufacturing plants, businesses or go ...
ted at an airport in
Edmonton, Alberta
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 anchor ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
CBC News
CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...
br>Edmonton's terrorist attack: the 1965 airport bombing
Jan. 26, 2014
Background
The
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
had flown 112 aircraft to the
Edmonton Industrial Airport
Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA), also called Blatchford Field as well as Edmonton Municipal Airport, was an airport within the city of Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada.
It was bordered by Alberta Highway 16, Yellowhead Trail to the north, King ...
, where they were to be repaired by
Northwest Industries
SPAR Aerospace was a Canadian aerospace company. It produced equipment for the Canadian Space Agency to be used in cooperation with NASA's Space Shuttle program, most notably the Canadarm, a remote manipulator system.
The company went through a s ...
.
Although initial reports pointed out that 15 of the planes had run spy missions over post-Revolution China,
['']Edmonton Journal
The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network.
History
The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as ...
''
"Jan. 28, 1965: Edmonton man charged with murder, sabotage"
January 28, 2015 the attack was said to be in protest of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
[Edmonton Disaster Timetable](_blank)
City of Edmonton It is believed to have been one of the first attacks ever citing the involvement of the
U.S. in the Vietnam War as its motive.
Attack
A security guard, Threnton James Richardson, was bound, gagged, and then shot with a rifle, when the perpetrator entered the airport.
Two
F-84
The Republic F-84 Thunderjet was an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 first flew in 1946. Although it entered service in 1947, the Thu ...
jets were destroyed, and a third heavily damaged by the bombing.
Following the attack, an unemployed German immigrant, Harry Waldeman Freidrich Hubach, was arrested by police and charged with the murder of the security guard.
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
3 US jets dynamited, guard slain in Canada
January 29, 1965.[ Press Courier, "US jets blown up, immigrant charged with killing guard", January 29, 1965.]
Hubach was found guilty and sentenced to hang. But upon appeal and a new trial he pleaded guilty to non-capital murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
CBC News
CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...
br>Edmonton 1965 airport bombing: the untold story
Jan. 28, 2014 Released, he turned his life around, married and ran a successful business, finally dying around 2005 in
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...
.
References
{{coord, 53, 34, 19, N, 113, 31, 10, W, region:CA-AB, display=title
1965 murders in Canada
Acts of sabotage
Canada–United States relations
Crime in Edmonton
Deaths by firearm in Alberta
Far-left politics in Canada
Far-left terrorism
History of Edmonton
Improvised explosive device bombings in Canada
Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War
Terrorist incidents in Canada in the 1960s
Terrorist incidents in North America in 1965