Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - pkincaid

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 ... 35
1
World War Two / Re: Cap badge, etc. for R.C.A.F. Hospital Assistants
« on: Friday 09 September 22 22:42 BST (UK)  »
I forgot to add one of the few things my father ever said about his service during the war.  It may have a bearing on things.  He noted that two pilots (one American) got in a big fight over who was the better pilot.  Afterwards (it may have been the next day as my recollection on the timing is vague) the opportunity arose where they both got access to planes and they got in a dog fight over the base.  They shot/took each other down and both were killed.  Certainly not your usual war story given in history books.

2
World War Two / Re: Cap badge, etc. for R.C.A.F. Hospital Assistants
« on: Friday 09 September 22 22:36 BST (UK)  »
I found the old letter my dad wrote to my mother a few months before they married in which he refers to the plane crash he was in during the war - that I referred to in a prior post here.  The letter was dated 10 May 1955.  In it he writes:

"I am nervous - I was in a plane crash during the war.  I was one of the lucky ones.  I was badly hurt, in a way I never got over it, as I am still very nervous, perhaps Shirley can tell you a bit what I was like after I came home for awhile.  Me I try to forget all the horror I saw, but I like a veteran you see things so horrible it hard to forget and to horrible to talk about."

Shirley was a sister.  This sounds a lot like there were a number of fatalities.  Looking a crashes in Goose Bay during the war (that I noted in a prior post here) the most likely candidate was the one in November as he started having continual problems needing hospitalization starting in December.  However, the one month gap is a problem.  The amount of fatalities in the crash of the previous July would be more traumatic, but that leaves an even bigger gap.

So my hope is that a reader of this thread would be familiar with the history of RCAF Goose Bay to solve this mystery for me and my family.  Was there a plane crash in December?  Perhaps local records or newspaper clipping refer to it.  My father was clearly traumatized by it.  I found an early 1950s writeup about him and he had redacted what was said about his war service.  To the point of being completely unreadable.

I appreciate this forums help and patience with this post.  Perhaps someday a researcher will come along and at least appreciate this family lore/tibit of this fatal and mysterious plane crash apparently at RCAF Goose Bay.

Thanks!

3
World War One / Re: WWI medal eligibility for late recruits
« on: Friday 02 September 22 13:30 BST (UK)  »
Hollander: I did research before bothering people here with my question and had read the information at the links you kindly added here.  To me I read that only those Candians who deployed to a theater of war were entitled.  However, I previously understood that a particular soldier had received the Volunteer Medal even though their service record indicated that they never got to deploy overseas (perhaps because they had received injuries following training).  Hence, my question to see if there were exceptional circumstances.  I guess the answer is no service in a hostile area (theater of war) then no medal.

4
World War One / WWI medal eligibility for late recruits
« on: Friday 02 September 22 01:12 BST (UK)  »
I suspect this has been asked before but I could not find an answer using the search engine.

Is it correct to say that a Canadian soldier would not have been eligible for the British War Medal or Victory medal if they did not deploy overseas to one of the theaters of war.  For example, a person who joined the forces and received training, etc. but did not deploy before the war ended (perhaps due to injuries) would not have received any medals.  Correct?

5
World War Two / Re: Internal name for War Medal 1939-1945
« on: Thursday 01 September 22 13:05 BST (UK)  »
As a final comment, this thread has revealed that WSB 150190 would be War Service Badge with serial/issue number 150190 and the wording 'PENALTY FOR MISUSE 500 DOLLARS OR SIX MONTHS IMPRISONMENT' engraved on the back.

Thanks for the contributors here for solving this question for me.

6
World War Two / Re: Cap badge, etc. for R.C.A.F. Hospital Assistants
« on: Wednesday 31 August 22 20:03 BST (UK)  »
Thank you for your comments Andy J2022.  Especially about the Admin Wing.

He was always referred to as a Hospital Assistant.  The course he graduated from was a Hospital Assistant's course.  I always understood that it was distinctive from a nurse.  What his duties were I have not figured out.  I understood that he assisted surgeons at times (I recall hearing that he did some stitching) and thought about medical school post war, but he said that his hands were not steady enough to be a surgeon.  I suspect part of his role was also requisitioning and maintaining hospital inventory as he had General Store Clerk experience pre-war.  His father was a member of the 8th Ambulance Brigade of the Canadian Army Medical Corps in World War I.  So he appears to have been trying to follow in his footsteps in terms of military service.

7
World War Two / Re: Cap badge, etc. for R.C.A.F. Hospital Assistants
« on: Wednesday 31 August 22 16:30 BST (UK)  »
Papers all relate to RCAF.  The shoulder patch is a new twist but I have to assume that RAF and RCAF shoulder patches were interchangeable and this occurred because he was stationed in Goose Bay.  Were the forearm patches related to his trade or what unit he was under?

I see no indication of him being under a particular wing or squadron.  After his training I only see him just assigned to station hospitals at Yarmouth, Goose Bay and Dartmouth as well as a reference to Temporary 'duty beyond Canada.'  The latter may just relate to being in Goose Bay.

Outside this plane crash mystery I would say his service was unremarkable.  Regardless, he came away with some ptsd, a head wound, seizures and suffered for several years after with ulcers.  He went on to have a respectable career in education and filled many top positions in local community services and church organizations.  He was the most honorable person I've ever known - being a mostly quiet stoic person of deep faith.  This mystery plane crash had a profound affect on his life - hence my desire to learn as much as I can about his service.

8
World War Two / Re: Cap badge, etc. for R.C.A.F. Hospital Assistants
« on: Wednesday 31 August 22 15:49 BST (UK)  »
Scratch my last post.  That's not the forearm patch.  The following is a new scan of the picture of the forearm patch as well as the cap and shoulder patches.

9
World War Two / Re: Cap badge, etc. for R.C.A.F. Hospital Assistants
« on: Wednesday 31 August 22 14:09 BST (UK)  »
In light of new info, I now suspect that patch on his forearm was the following found at https://www.cdnmilitarycollectors.com/t3228-2-rcaf-goose-bay-patch-1943.

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 ... 35