Description
In May of 1936, Bunny threw the javelin a mighty 163 feet, a record that lasted into the Fifties. In August of the same year at the Maritime Junior Track and Field Championships in Halifax, he heaved the spear 145 ft. 5¼ in. to best the previous record set in 1928. At the same meet, to show his versatility, he also placed second in the running broad jump.
Bunny then set off with his athletic abilities to Acadia University until the outbreak of World War II in 1939 when he enlisted as a bomber pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force. In March of 1944, his Halifax bomber was shot down over Germany but Bunny resurfaced a few months later in a German POW camp from which he was liberated with the war’s end in 1945.
Bunny worked as a building inspector for the city of Toronto until his retirement. Throughout his life he enjoyed the outdoors, especially swimming, camping, fishing and boating near his cabin by Algonquin Park.
Roland “Bunny” Barteaux passed away due to cancer in 1982.