Pa g e 2 8 · F ebruary 2 0 0 2 · oakville rem em bered Some o f th e heroes... FLYING OFFICER EDWARD LYNTON DAVIES (continued from p a g e 18) LIEUT. DONALD E . LEAVER LORNE SCOTS REGIMENT Curtiss Wright, Donlee Nuclear and again with Orenda. FLYING OFFICER GORDON LEONARD ing in Edmonton, Alberta and received his Air Gunner's Wings in MacDonald, Manitoba in January of 1944. He then went to Trois Riviere, Quebec for further training before going overseas in April 1944. He was soon assigned to the #619 Squadron of the R.A.F. and began his training with a crew of seven on a Stirling bomber. In August while flying over the English Channel on a training flight all four engines failed, and their pilot made a perfect forced landing on the water between two cargo carriers. The bomber floated long enough for the crew to take to their rubber dinghy and were picked up within 20 minutes by an Ontario lake freighter which was 4,000 miles from home. In the process, Gordon suffered a back injury. This crew flew a total of 45 flights over Germany in a Lancaster bomber over the next year. Gordon was suc cessful in destroying one Nazi plane, a Junkers 88. When the war was over, his crew were assigned to the task of sailing across to Europe to pick up Prisoners of War and bring them home. He finally returned to Oakville in January of 1946, and was reunited with his bride-to-be, Myrtle Post. They married in 1947 and had one son. They have been members of St. John's for most of their lives. Following the war, Gordon start ed ahis own plumbing business and later on, he worked for Union Gas. He also joined the Lome Scots Reserves, became a Major for B Company in Oakville. He continued in this Reserve for 15 years. FLYING OFFICER KENNETH C. NEEDHAM Manitoba he was posted to Hagersville, Ontario to instruct stu dent pilots on Harvard and Anson II aircraft until December 1944. He then instructed pilots returning from active service in instrument flying on Anson V's and Beechcraft 18's until September 1945. He returned to Sarnia in October 1945 where he was demobilized with the rank of Flying Officer. After a brief period of employ ment with Polymer Corp., he joined the staff of the City of Sarnia. In 1956, Ken moved to Oakville to take up the position of Town Manager with the Town of Oakville where he remained until retirement in 1984. Ken'married Betty Scarrow in February of 1944. They have three children, a daughter and two sons, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren. They have been members of St. John's United Church since 1956 where Ken has served on the Board of Stewards and the Board of Trustees. LIEUT. JOHN BLAKELOCK, R.C.N. successful in sinking an Italian Uboat off the Irish Coast. After two years on the H.M.C.S. Ottawa he served for a year on the H.M.C.S. Niagara, after which he returned to Picton, N.S. where his ship was being refitted. While there, he met his future wife, Helen MacKay, in May of 1942. He was then transferred to the west coast to Esquimault where he joined the H.M.C.S. Prince David which was an L.S.L (Landing Ship Infantry). In December of 1943, they left the west coast, sailed through the Panama Canal and up the east coast of the U.S. where they picked up American Naval personnel and took them to Britain. On D-Day, the Prince David transported the Chaudier Regiment across the English Channel to Juno Beach (Bemiere-Sur-Mer). They unloaded the troops on to smaller craft which could take them ashore, then they anchored about four miles off shore and waited to transport the wounded back to England. There were 50 L.S.I. ships in this operation and it had been predicted that 50% would be sunk, but all came back safely. Following D-Day, the Prince David went on duty in the Mediterranean. The ship hit a mine near Greece, but was not badly dam aged. The ship was repaired and they returned to Canada in April 1945. John married Helen in May 1943. They have six children, eleven grand children and two great-grandchildren. He has been a member of St. John's United Church since birth and Helen joined when she moved here after the war. Flying Officer Edward Lynton Davies Bom in Humberstone, Ontario (now Port Colbome), Lynton was accepted in 1938 as part of a group of nine applicants into a Short Service Commission through the British Embassy in Ottawa. This consisted of four years active and six years reserve in the Royal Air Force. This small group of nine men were sent to Desford, Leicestershire for flying training which lasted for two months. This was followed by six months of advanced training on twin engine Ansons at Grantham, Lincolnshire. He was then assigned to #512 Squadron of Coastal Command, a pre-war City of Aberdeen Auxiliary Squadron, conducting operations over the North Sea and the Atlantic north and west of Scotland. In between these operations, Lynton flew a transport aircraft which ferried airmen and supplies to Sumburgh, Shetlands. In 1941, he was among a small group of pilots, who were sent to Tacoma, Washington to pick up fi n s (Flying Fortresses) and fly them back to England. This group also picked up Lockheed Hudsons from Montreal. These aircraft were ferried by Ferry Command and later used for Coastal Command. Lynton then became an instructor in the formation of a new Hudson Operational Training Unit and sever al months later, he was posted to #502 Squadron, flying Whitleys out of Northern Ireland and later, St. Eval, Cornwall.. His flying career stopped abruptly when he had major surgery and was sent back to Canada on a Medical Discharge in time for Christmas in 1942. However, with special medical permission from the Department of Transport he was a test pilot for Fleet Aircraft on Cornells during the sum mer of 1943, and on DeHavilland Mosquitoes during the summers of 1944 and 1945. In 1943, Lynton entered the University of Toronto and graduated in 1947 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering. He took post-graduate studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland in 1949-50. Employment followed with the National Research Council, Orenda Division Hawker Siddley, Canadian Lieut. Donald E . Leaver Lome Scots Regiment Don was bom on his father's farm at the Town Line, Oakville. He joined the Lome Scots Militia B Company in 1940, and in November 1942, he joined active service. He was sent to Trois Riviere, Quebec for a threemonth infantry officer training course. In 1943, he trained new recruits at Newmarket then took a battle train ing course at Camp Borden. On July 17, he was shipped to the U.K. as a First Lieutenant. He spent the next year taking various courses and train ing schemes in southern England. On July 17, 1944 he was sent to France and joined the Algonquin Regiment, 4th Canadian Armored Division as Platoon Commander. For the next three months, his pla toon moved through France, Belgium and Holland, encountering heavy resistance from the Germans while crossing a double canal near Muirkerke and in the woods near Antwerp. In an attempt to clear the town of Eschen in Holland, Don was hit on his arm with a piece of shrapnel, severing the nerves as it passed through. He was taken to a British run hospital in Antwerp, but was soon transferred to a Canadian Army Hospital in England. While recovering, he married his English bride, Eileen Walsh, in January 1945. In February he was brought back to Toronto where he spent the next three months in hospi tal having surgery to repair and reha bilitate his arm. Eileen joined him in Canada in June of 1945. Don and Eileen took over theiamily farm in 1946 and had two children, a son and a daughter. He bought a grist mill on Old Mill Road in 1959, then opened a garden centre on Cross Avenue in 1963, which he continued running until he retired in 1986. Don has been an active member of St John's since the 1950's in the posi tion of Clerk of Session, Recording Steward, President of the Men's Club, on the executive of the Couples' Club and one of the founding members of the Lunch Bucket Club. Lieut. John Blakelock, R.C.N. John, who is a native of Oakville, joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1936 and went to Britain for training with the Royal Navy. When War broke out in September 1939, he went to sea on the British destroyer H.M.S. Montrose, convoying sup plies to the British Expeditionary Force in France. In April 1940, he came back to Canada and joined the H.M.C.S. Ottawa. For three years, he was on North Atlantic convoy duty. Shortly after the fall of France, his ship was Flying Officer Kenneth C. Needham Bom in Miami, Manitoba, Ken was raised in Sarnia, Ontario. He enlist ed in the R.C.A.F. in February, 1942. He began his train ing in Toronto at #6 I.T.S., then took Elementary Flying Training at Sky Harbour, Goderich, Ontario, followed by Service Flying Training (pilot) at Centralia Ontario. Ken graduated with Wings and Commission in April 1943. After Instructor Training at Rivers, Lakeshore Road East at Trafalgar Road looking east. The first underground conversion program completed. Flying Officer Gordon Leonard Bom in Listowel and raised in Oakville, Ontario, Gordon joined the Air Force in 1943. He took his train- (1972) iS e ro in ^ & a/u> t//e< S/nc& /y 0 7 OAKVILLE HYDRO www.oakvillehydro.com