The Lost Voices of WWII RAF/RCAF Greenwood

For many years I have had an interest in WWI and WWII history; the events, the campaigns, the diplomacy, but with a particular focus on the individuals who took part and the resulting casualties of those conflicts. On occasions my research into those wars, has allowed me to contribute information and written articles to various web-sites and organizations which in the past have included the BBC Peoples War, Veterans Affairs in Ottawa, the Royal British Legion. The extent and reach of resources for this type of activity is widespread; over the years I have developed many contacts from Iceland to Tasmania and more than a few places in between.

I get a huge amount of joy and fulfilment out of doing the type of work; it is avocation I truly love and is often very rewarding for example, when I successfully bridge the decades for someone, with previously unknown details about a long-lost relative who was killed in war.

Last summer, I went to RCAF Greenwood, located in Kings County in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley, to visit their museum and Avro Lancaster bomber from WWII. During that war, Greenwood was used as one of the locations within Canada for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), where they flew a number of aircraft including Hurricanes, Air Speed Oxfords, Bristol Bolingbroke, Ansons, Mosquitos and Lockheed Hudsons. 
On the way out of the museum that day, I picked up an information leaflet about some war graves in nearby Middleton, which named some of those killed in aircraft accidents or other mishaps out of Greenwood during WWII. When I got home, I checked into the 24 names listed and found through reference to various sources that  some errors existed within the details. 
I sent an email to the person named on the leaflet ~ Dianne LeGard ~ with all the corrections together with the relevant back-up data.

Dianne replied and thanked me for the updates and mentioned that she was writing a book about WWII Greenwood, with a focus on the aircraft incidents and resulting casualties. Impressed by my attention to detail during our email exchanges, she asked if I would like to help her with some of the research for the book ~ without any hesitation, I said “yes” …

My task was mainly to research and check the details on some of the many aircraft losses and crashes that took place at Greenwood and link them to the resulting deaths and injuries. During the project, I was able to use many great sources of information including newspaper archives, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Canadian Virtual War Memorial and many more.

The eventual result of much activity during late summer and fall of 2018 was the book ~ “The Lost Voices of WWII RAF/RCAF Greenwood”.

During that period, I was in constant email contact with Dianne, but never actually met her. This was finally put right today when I had the pleasure of meeting her in Bridgetown, in Annapolis County, at a “Celebration of Local Writing” , event where the book was presented.

Prior to going to the event, I took the opportunity to visit the graves of some of the guys who were killed out of Greenwood during WWII. I visited two locations, Old Holy Trinity Cemetery, Middleton, NS and St Lawrence Roman Catholic Cemetery in Kingston, NS. Between the two locations, there are 30 burials made up from the Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. There are no graves from the Royal Canadian Air Force, those casualties were typically returned to their home provinces. 
Where remains were not recovered from accidents, perhaps losses sea, those individuals are commemorated on the Air Forces of the Commonwealth, Ottawa Memorial, Ottawa, Ontario.

In total there were 59 deaths at RAF Greenwood during WWII, by national air force they were ~

Royal Canadian Air Force ~ 23

Royal Air Force ~ 22

Royal Australian Airforce ~ 8

Royal New Zealand Air Force ~ 6

Below are the photos I took today at the war graves in Kingston and Middleton with the poppy I left at each. The names, the nationalities and the ages tell an important part of WWII RAF/RCAF Greenwood story, its location may have been far from the war's frontline, but its sacrifice was just as tragic and ever lasting.

Today, it was a privilege and an honour to be in the presence of those who had travelled so far across the vast oceans of the world, to sadly gave up their unfinished lives so that others could be free …

My thanks to Wayne Thorburne, President Royal Canadian Legion (Branch 24) Bridgewater for the poppies …

Old Holy Trinity Cemetery, Middleton, Nova Scotia

Aircraftman 2nd Class

BADHAM, IVOR GEORGE

Service Number 1279531

Died 21/05/1942

Aged 24

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Son of William and Annie Badham, of Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Flight Sergeant

BELLHOUSE, REGINALD 

Service Number 436712

Died 16/11/1944

Aged 22

Royal Australian Air Force

Son of Frank Gordon and Emily Elizabeth Bellhouse, of Mount Macedon, Victoria, Australia.

Note: the gravestone has his date of death ~ "16th October 1944" ~ this is an error. The Canadian Agency of the CWGC amended their records on 19 March 1986 to reflect the correct date, I can only assume at some point in the future a new gravestone will be installed.

Corporal

BENTLEY, HERBERT

Service Number 1098456

Died 11/10/1942

Aged 37

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Son of Alfred and Martha Ann Bentley, of Todmorden, Lancashire, England; husband of Nellie Bentley, of Todmorden.

Pilot Officer

BLICK, CLAUDE WYNTER ARTHUR

Service Number 411732

Died 25/06/1942

Aged 30

Royal Australian Air Force

Son of Philip Wynter Robinson Blick and Una Ermine Blick, of Manly, New South Wales, Australia.

Aircraftman 2nd Class

BOTCHER, ALBERT JOHN

Service Number 1258409

Died 18/06/1942

Aged 22

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Grandson of Annie Botcher, of Rugby, Warwickshire, England.

Pilot Officer

BROWN, JAMES GERALD

Service Number 163982

Died 20/04/1944

Aged 20

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Son of James and Martha Julia Brown of Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England.

Flying Officer

BRUCE, JOHN CHARLES WILLIAM

Service Number 113844

Died 27/08/1943

Aged 22

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

D F C

Son of Clifford D. Bruce and Betty Bruce, of Bishopston, Bristol, England.

Flying Officer

COLLINS, EDWARD CHARLES JOHN

Service Number 414906

Died 22/08/1944

Aged 24

Royal Australian Air Force

Son of John Lionel Stanley and Myrtle Emily Collins, of Clermont, Queensland, Australia.

Flying Officer

CORCORAN, ROGER LEON

Service Number 431319

Died 16/03/1945

Aged 21

Royal New Zealand Air Force

Son of William Roger and Clarice Patience Corcoran, of Whakatane, Auckland, New Zealand.

Sergeant

GILLESPIE, DOUGLAS CHARLES ANDREW

Service Number 4215123

Died 16/03/1945

Aged 21

Royal New Zealand Air Force

Son of Charles White Gillespie and of Annie Isobel Gillespie (nee Craig), of Mount Eden, Auckland, New Zealand.

Sergeant (Pilot)

HARVEY, KENNETH GEORGE FUGE

Service Number 1604561

Died 27/04/1944

Aged 19

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Son of George Henry and Mary Elizabeth Harvey, of Richmond, Surrey, England.

Pilot Officer

HENLEY, MAURICE ALBERT WILLIAM

Service Number 163984

Died 18/04/1944

Aged 21

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Son of William Thomas Henley and Lily Harriet Henley, of Guildford, Surrey, England.

Flight Sergeant (Pilot)

HOPKINSON, JACK NETTLETON

Service Number 1216355

Died 25/06/1942

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Hopkinson, of Wakefield, Yorkshire, England.

Sergeant

LONGSTAFF, ARNOLD

Service Number 645930

Died 19/04/1943

Aged 23

Royal Air Force

Son of John William and Edith Longstaff, of Fenham, Newcastle-on-Tyne, England.

Leading Aircraftman

PACEY, GEORGE ROBERT

Service Number 1174343

Died 04/04/1944

Aged 37

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Son of Elizabeth Pacey, of Colwick, Nottinghamshire, England.

Pilot Officer

PITTOCK, TREVOR ALFRED

Service Number 153254

Died 17/09/1943

Aged 21

Royal Air Force

Son of Alfred Thomas Pittock and Eliza Pittock, of Manor Park, Essex, England.

Flying Officer

REEDIE, JACK NORMAN

Service Number 429844

Died 24/04/1945

Aged 24

Royal Australian Air Force

Son of Norman James Reedie and Edith Blanche Reedie, of Artarmon, New South Wales, Australia.

Flying Officer

RUTHERFORD, ALLAN JAMES

Service Number 413900

Died 17/09/1943

Aged 25

Royal Australian Air Force

Son of Samuel and Hannah Rutherford, of Lismore, New South Wales, Australia.

Flying Officer

SLAUGHTER, WILLIAM THOMAS

Service Number 434658

Died 22/08/1944

Aged 19

Royal Australian Air Force

Son of Edgar Dalley Slaughter and Ruth Mary Slaughter, of Dalby, Queensland, Australia.

Aircraftman 1st Class

SOMERVILLE, SAMUEL EASTON

Service Number 1678987

Died 09/07/1943

Aged 21

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Son of Samuel and Jean Somerville, of Glasgow, Scotland.

Pilot Officer

TEER, LEONARD HERBERT

Service Number 154644

Died 17/02/1944

Aged 22

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Son of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Campbell Teer, of South Shields, Co. Durham, England.

Warrant Officer

UREN, HAROLD BEAUMONT

Service Number 437175

Died 24/04/1945

Aged 22

Royal Australian Air Force

Son of Richard Henry and Anne Caroline Uren, of Norwood, South Australia.

Flying Officer

WALLS, REX JAMES

Service Number 417133

Died 18/01/1944

Aged 21

Royal New Zealand Air Force

Son of James and Mona Lillian Walls, of New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand.

Sergeant

WILKINS, HENRY LIONEL JOHN

Service Number 568354

Died 11/12/1942

Aged 24

Royal Air Force

Husband of Sheila Iris Grace Wilkins, of Sutton-on-Sea, Lincolnshire, England.

St Lawrence Roman Catholic Cemetery, Kingston, Nova Scotia

Pilot Officer

DE STEENHAULT DE WAERBEEK, ALBERT MARIE LOUIS ADHEMAR

(Belgian National)

Service Number 172212

Died 16/09/1944

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Husband of Audrey De Steenhault De Waerbeek, of Wargrave, Berkshire, England.

Pilot Officer

GAHA, FRANCIS CLIVE

Service Number 420181

Died 18/03/1943

Aged 30

Royal Australian Air Force

Son of Frank and Sarah Gaha; husband of Enid Jean Gaha, of Milson's Point, New South Wales, Australia. B.A. (Sydney).

Squadron Leader

HOWARD, LOUIS ALEXANDER GEORGE

Service Number 39626

Died 03/08/1942

Aged 29

Royal Air Force

Son of Louis Edward Albert and Elizabeth C. Howard, of Highgate, Middlesex, England; husband of Joan Howard, of Rondebosch, Cape Province, South Africa.

Flying Officer

McCANN, HUGH EDWARD

Service Number 149386

Died 20/04/1944

Aged 20

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Son of Hugh and Edith Annie McCann, of Aigburth, Liverpool, England. His brother George also died in service.

Flying Officer

O'HANLON, PATRICK FLOOD

Service Number 165612

Died 16/11/1944

Aged 23

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Son of Patrick Francis and Annie O'Hanlon, of Rumney, Cardiff, Wales.

Flying Officer

WALSH, JOHN DERMOT

Service Number 39116

Died 18/01/1944

Aged 26

Royal New Zealand Air Force

Son of Thomas Dermot Walsh and of Margaret Mary Walsh (nee Shaw), of Hawera, Taranaki, New Zealand.

The following is a photo taken of the rear side of the Cross of Sacrifice at Old Holy Trinity Cemetery, Middleton ~

~ it has the six names of those listed above who are buried at nearby St Lawrence Roman Catholic Cemetery, Kingston. There is one additional name whose grave is no longer at St Lawrence Roman Catholic Cemetery, he is ~

Flight Sergeant

GROENSTEEN, CLAUDE JULIEN VICTOR HILAIRE

Service Number 1299856

Died 16/09/1944

Aged 23

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Son of Mr. and Mrs. H. Groensteen, of Auvillars, Tarn et Garonne, France. His brother Jacques Hilaire Pierre also fell.

According the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records dated 11 February 2004, Claude Julien Victor Hilaire Groensteen is now buried with his brother ~

GROENSTEEN, JACQUES HILAIRE PIERRE

Service Number 1299861

Died 20/04/1945

350 (Belgian) Sqdn.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Chevalier de l'Ordre de Leopold II avec Palmes; Croix de Guerre avec Palmes (Knight of the Order of Leopold II with Palmes; War Cross with Fins).

 ~ at Brussels Town Cemetery ~ Belgian Airmen’s Field of Honour, Belgium.