The visit

David Brand, second from left, and Nick Brand, right, took a photo with Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger, second from right, outside the Brands' Blackwaterfoot Lodge after an unlikely meeting. (Submitted by David Brand)

David Brand, second from left, and Nick Brand, right, took a photo with Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger, second from right, outside the Brands' Blackwaterfoot Lodge after an unlikely meeting. (Submitted by David Brand)

David and Nick Brand are two of McCutcheon's grandchildren. The brothers run the Blackwaterfoot Lodge, a small hotel and pub in Blackwaterfoot, a farming community of about 500 people on Scotland's Isle of Arran.

They knew the basics about their grandfather from what their mother shared, details like his name, how he died, where he was from.

But she didn't talk about him much, and they didn't ask many questions.

To them, McCutcheon was a legend, his full story blurred by time and distance.

"It was a pretty difficult thing for my mom," David Brand said. "We'd heard some basic details growing up. My mom and dad went up [to Alert] in 1980 for the 30th anniversary. I heard stories about that, but we didn’t know a lot."

CFS Alert, the northernmost military outpost in Canada, is 2,000 kilometres from Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut.

CFS Alert, the northernmost military outpost in Canada, is 2,000 kilometres from Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut.

Earlier this summer, another Canadian walked into their pub: Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger, the commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

"It was an absolute chance encounter, a bit of serendipity, I suppose," Meinzinger said. "My cousin knew the lads. He'd been down to the hotel many times. It's only about 100 metres from his house and he wanted to introduce me to them."

The four got to talking; small talk mostly, about how improbable it was to see other Canadians in the small village.

Just as Meinzinger was about to leave, David Brand asked him if he’d ever been to Alert. He told Meinzinger about his grandfather, James McCutcheon, who was killed in the Lancaster crash.

"As soon as I mentioned my grandfather, [Meinzinger] said that the Canadian Air Force is thankful for everything the fallen guys have done and [they] make an effort to preserve those memories," Brand said.

Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger commands the Royal Canadian Air Force. He's one of the few people with the power to help the Brands get to Alert. (Guillaume Lafreniere/CBC)

Lt.-Gen. Al Meinzinger commands the Royal Canadian Air Force. He's one of the few people with the power to help the Brands get to Alert. (Guillaume Lafreniere/CBC)

The brothers asked if Meinzinger could get them a photo of the cemetery, so they could see for themselves where McCutcheon was buried.

Meinzinger, one of the few people in the world who could arrange such a photo, said he’d do his best.

"It was the least I could do," Meinzinger said. "Their grandfather was on a mission. He was assigned to do that resupply mission on the Lancaster. He was doing his duty and gave his life to Canada wearing an RCAF uniform."

Meinzinger knew his deputy was heading up to Alert in August and assigned him to take a few photos of the crosses and the memorial nearby.

In the meantime, he wanted to learn exactly what happened to McCutcheon and the others aboard Lancaster 965.