Peter Engbrecht

Later life and career

Following the war Engbrecht returned to Canada, though like many World War II veterans he did not find a smooth return to civilian life. Three years later in 1948 he returned to military service as radar technician with the military as a part of NORAD. Engbrecht served a total 28.5 years with the Royal Canadian Air Force and as a master corporal he was honoured by the RCAF Association with a Fly-Past Salute on Parliament Hill on September 28, 1972, the first person of his rank to ever take the salute. At the time of his retirement in 1973 he was the longest-serving NORAD serviceman. He then moved to Beausejour, Manitoba working at the local newspaper the Beausejour Beaver. An award was named in his honour and given annual to the "Airperson of the Year" in Canada, though the award was renamed in 1993 to the Roy Slemon award. His wife died in 1978 and he remarried and moved to Altona, Manitoba, before dying in 1991. He was buried in a cemetery in Boissevain, Manitoba, close to his Manitoba hometown of Whitewater, and his headstone was provided by the Royal Canadian Air Force.