Play on Loss of Flagship Erie in 1941
to be Staged Again on 85th Anniversary 

Story by Gord McNulty
June 2026
There is good news, of particular interest to CAHS members who live in southwestern Ontario. The acclaimed “Lawrence Station” play about the lives altered in 1941 by the crash of an American Airlines DC-3 west of St. Thomas, will be staged in October.
Latest 2026 Lawrence Station Poster.
This year marks the 85th anniversary of the October 30, 1941, loss of the Flagship Erie in a farm field near Lawrence Station. All 17 passengers and three crew members perished when the airliner crashed on a routine flight from Buffalo to Detroit.

As covered in the July 2023 CAHS e-newsletter, the riveting 90-minute play premiered in April of 2023 to critical acclaim.

Previous 2026 Lawrence Station Poster.
This year, it will be staged 29 and 30 October, two shows at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. each day, in Shedden, Ontario, 17 kilometres west of St. Thomas. Fridge Door Live Theatre, the producing company, will stage the production at the Shedden Keystone Complex.

Since drafting this article, additional showings have been added in Strathroy at the Gemini Sportsplex on 31 October (2:00 p.m.) and 1 November (2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.).

The play is locally supported by Southwold and the municipality’s Southwold Township History Committee. Tickets are available online for $20 or $25 at the door.
Playwright Len Cuthbert of Mount Brydges, ON, decided to bring the play back because of strong public interest in the 2023 presentation and the anniversary. This year’s presentation will feature music by Len’s son, Fynn, with different staging and new visual approaches to storytelling.

The show focused on the many lives that were forever changed, those of both the dead and the loved ones they left behind. It is a tribute to the lives lost and the many area residents who, as first responders, desperately tried to assist.

The cause of the tragic crash could not be established in the pre-black box era, as virtually all physical evidence of what might have happened aboard the aircraft was destroyed by the impact and fire. It was then Canada’s worst aviation disaster.
St. Thomas Times-Journal promotion of return of Lawrence Station.
My wife, Angie, and I much enjoyed the play when we saw it in 2023, as did the audience which was impressed and moved by the drama. I recommend it. The play is well worth the drive to Shedden or Strathroy for those who can make it. Online purchase, well in advance, is recommended to ensure a seat.