Cap badge, etc. for R.C.A.F. Hospital Assistants

[Andy J2022]

Hi pkincaid,
As you are most probably aware the difference between the RAF and RCAF cap badge is slight - just the C entwined in the initials in the centre, so very difficult to see which it might have been from the photo alone. If you have some of his official documentation, does this not say which service he was in? His service number, if you know it, may also provide a clue.

[pkincaid]

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.

[tonepad]

The circular badge on the lower sleeve is attached to a band which goes around the sleeve.
This badge is not aligned vertically underneath the LAC and Eagle badges.

The circular badge is possibly a Nurse Training School lapel badge:

https://www.britishmilitarybadges.co.uk/products/ww2-nurse-training-school-royal-air-force-raf-enamel-and-gilt-lapel-badge.html


Tony

[Andy J2022]

On the forearn badge, my guess would be some sort of trade qualification. The RAF didn't really go in for formation tactical flashes on airmen's uniforms, unlike the USAF.  As for his sub unit at Goose Bay, this is most likely to have been Admin Wing, which would have contained personnel such as medics, cooks, clerks and gound transport elements etc.

[pkincaid]

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.

[Rosinish]

It may be worth getting in touch here...

https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/americans-in-the-royal-air-force/eagle-squadrons/more-eagles/

Annie

[pkincaid]

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!

[pkincaid]

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.