On this date, 1 August 1942, 80 years ago, for Canadian servicemen, the focus of war action was in the air.
35 men serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force lost their lives on the day. Of those 13 were aged 20 years, including the majority of those whose age is not recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. That they lived they would be centenarians this year. The oldest was 29.
Six have no known grave and are commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial. The others are buried in Belgium (7), Germany (12), Netherlands (10).
BLOOMER, GEORGE TAYLOR
LLOYD, CLARENCE FRANKLIN
McLEAN, DAVID GERALD
GIBSON, RODNEY DAVID
MARTIN, ALISTAIR BRUCE
ARMSTRONG, THOMAS JAMES
CLARKE, WILFRED VICTOR
McILVEEN, ARCHIBALD EDWARD
EGAN, EDWARD BYRON
JONES, EDWARD JAMES
HUNKING, ELWIN THOMAS
IRISH, JACK WILLIAM
HANNABY, JOHN
DONAHUE, WALTER VERNARD
VAUTOUR, ALBENI CAMILLE
SZUMLINSKI, CHARLES LEONARD
ANDERSON, EDWARD ALLISON
FORD, GEORGE EDWARD
LAXDAL, HUGH LAWRENCE
CAMPBELL, JAMES BERTRAM
HARVIE, LLOYD GORDON
PENNEY, WILLIAM FRANCIS
KURTZ, DENNIS HAIG
SIMONSON, VERNON LEROY
TREADWELL, WILLIAM HENRY
MURPHY, THOMAS FRANCIS
ROBERTSON, EUGENE GARLAND
WOOF, REGINALD
PRIME, PETER
STEWART, ROBERT REGINALD
HOLMES, WILLIAM EDWARD WALL
WILLOUGHBY, EDWIN BERTRAM
KAUFMAN, WILLIAM JOHN
FROST, WILLIAM DAVID
TAIT, JOHN
Three other Canadian servicemen died on that day.
McKISHNIE, FRANKLIN MURRAY
GREY, HARRY
GALBRAITH, CHARLES MACKINVEN