Mystery picture found near site of Canadian plane crash in Wales...who is he?

[Janice M]

Martha

Great Job!!! I would be happy to get in touch with the Burke family for you. Just let me know.

Janice

[PrueM]

Well done Martha!  That's a marathon effort.  What a lot of information you found!
 
Prue

[dennford]

What can I say,
        If we don't find out who the photo' is of, it won't be for lack of trying - you've really worked on this!
                                        Denn

[Caroline_d]

Well done Martha, great details.  Without you taking the time we would never have found all the information you had so thank you.

Regarding Villeneuve, I share your confusion as the Senator does mention his "step-brothers" as being  Jules and Henry with a sister called Claire and  in his article there is a photograph of him and his mother Clara Chartrand, maybe Clara was step-mother to Jules and listed in the notice (and the Villeneuve family web sites) as his natural mother had passed away?  Anyway, I won't digress there...

There is so much info on the files, at least it will encourage anyone else searching family members to go to the Archives to find out further information.

Thanks to everyone for all your hard work...we may never find out who the picture was of but it has been interesting follwing all of the postings and help.


Caroline

[Caroline_d]

Hello again

We wait weeks for some further information and then get great news from Martha and also further information found from McGills.

Details received are as follows was that they had been in contact with the sole surviving sister of William Allison and was planning to pay her a visit in the near future.  They have found out that she is able to identify all the men in the photograph of the crew and apparently has a copy of it with the names and addresses on the back. 

She also confirms that Charles Hamel was the pilot (he had two younger brothers in Montreal who the Allison family used to be in contact with – their names were Louis and Roger). The Allisons also became friends with Charles Hamel’s mother. We also have confirmation that Bill Allison was the bombardier on the fatal flight.

Amazing...we wait weeks for a lead and then two in 24 hours!  Will keep you posted if I have further information.

Caroline

[Janice M]

Caroline

Great Job!!!

All of the work that has been put into this search is absolutely amazing. Although I have had nothing new to add recently, I have checked in constantly.

Thank you Caroline for starting this post. It has been quite an experience being a part of this. 

Let's hope we do learn the name of this young man.

Janice

[Bill Green]

Brilliant work Martha! Now with the latest gen. from McGills,we have definite ID's on all the crew.
I see that DuSablon had siblings, have we any info at all on their ages? I think that if the original photograph resembles anyone, DuSablon would get my vote. From Martha's post about personal effects, he would seem to be the most likely to carry a picture of a younger brother.

[dennford]

Does anyone know, or is it possible to find out if Du Sablon's siblings were ever in the R.A.A.F.?
                                                Denn

[Caroline_d]

Hello

I have an update regarding William Allison:

McGills have visited the sole remaining sibling of seven.  William was the second oldest and she is the youngest.  She has all his letters and also the same photograph of the crew with all their names listed on the back.  McGills have scanned and put the names on the picture, it is a far better quality picture then the one I originally posted.  They also add:

We hope to use the story of Bill Allison and the work of the various volunteer contributors as an example of why McGill (and other universities) should provide their records on the web. The University of Glasgow has led the way with the release of their WW1 files in 2004. We hope that the photo your grandfather found, and the subsequent interest it generated 60 years later will stand as an example of how valuable these stories are to a larger part of the population

His sister has emailed and said she is "Overwhelmed by the reverance that is shown to those men".  Her family stayed in touch with the family of Charles Hamel for a number of years and she has confirmed that the photograph is not Charles or either of his siblings, Roger and Louis.


Caroline