On January 28, 1965, around 2:30 a.m., a man bombed three American warplanes being retrofitted at an airport in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.CBC News Edmonton's terrorist attack: the 1965 airport bombing, Jan. 26, 2014
Background The United States Air Force had flown 112 aircraft to the Edmonton Industrial Airport, where they were to be repaired by Northwest Industries.
Although initial reports pointed out that 15 of the planes had run spy missions over post-revolutionary China,Edmonton Journal, "Jan. 28, 1965: Edmonton man charged with murder, sabotage", January 28, 2015 the attack was said to be in protest of the Vietnam War.Edmonton Disaster Timetable City of Edmonton It is believed to have been one of the first attacks ever motivated by the involvement of the U.S. in the Vietnam War.Ross, Jeffrey Ian. "Violence in Canada", 2004. p. 300
Attack Hubach overcame and bound and gagged security guard Threnton James Richardson. When Richardson freed himself and tried to signal an alarm, Hubach shot and killed him with a rifle.Maryland Morning Herald, "Guard killed in Canadian sabotage try", January 29, 1965 In a statement made to the police, Hubach said he had not wanted to kill Richardson, but that he was left with no choice and that the ends justified the means.
The perpetrator's bombs destroyed two F-84 jets and heavily damaged a third.San Antonio Express, "US Jets Blasted in Canada", January 29, 1965
Following the attack, police arrested an unemployed German immigrant, Harry Waldeman Freidrich Hubach, and charged him with the murder of the security guard.Los Angeles Times, 3 US jets dynamited, guard slain in Canada , January 29, 1965.Oxnard 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 Edmonton 1965 airport bombing: the untold story, Jan. 28, 2014 It is unclear what happened to him afterwards, albeit there are records of a man with the same name and age as Hubach dying at a hospital in Kingston, Ontario on June 14, 1982, at the age of 53. It is unclear whether he was still in prison at the time of his death.
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