113 www.on.legion.ca ONTARIO COMMAND BUTLER, Rena Graham Rena was born in Glasgow, Scotland on March 24, 1923. She enlisted in the Air Force in April 1940 and served in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, part of Britain’s Royal Air Force during World War II. She worked at a Ground Controlled Interception (GCI) radar station at Durrington, England. Her role was to detect, locate and track enemy aircraft and provide inland radar coverage of Britain. Based on the tracking they did, British fighters were scrambled from RAF Station Tangmere to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft. Fighter bombers from RAF Ford also responded to their intercept. One of the occupational hazards of working in Durrington was the frequent buzz bombing that occurred. While scary at times, the vast majority of Rena’s memories of war time are fond ones of the great people she worked with. Rena was discharged in April 1945. CAIRNS, John Alexander John was born on September 22, 1921 in Port Elgin, Ontario. He joined the RCAF on October 16, 1941 during World War II and trained at Clinton, ON. He was a Flight Sergeant and was trained to be a Rear Gunner. He served in England with the 427 Lion Squadron. He flew in Wellingtons, Halifax Bombers and near the end of the war was Rear Gunner on the Lancaster “Fannin Fanny”. He flew in many bombing missions from 1943 until his release from the RCAF on August 28, 1945. After the war John came home and worked at Steven Hepner Brush Factory in Port Elgin and RCA in Owen Sound. He played baseball for the Port Elgin Lakesides and the Southampton Fishermen Fastball. He joined the Port Elgin Legion Branch 340 and was a member for 43 years. John married Anne T. Roos on November 20, 1948 in Owen Sound. They had six children. He worked at the Port Elgin Cabinetmakers until retirement in 1987. John passed away on March 20, 1988. BYER, George W. George was born in Port Perry, Ontario on November 6, 1919. Because he wore eyeglasses, he was not accepted into the armed forces so he obtained his Radio Certificate and was hired immediately by Notraship in February 1941. His first Atlantic crossing was in the infamous convoy HX 126. He was Radio Officer on the John P. Pedersen which was torpedoed and sunk on May 20, 1941. Only 16 of the 38 crew members survived. The decimation of Convoy HX 126 convinced the Navy that all convoys would now receive escorts for the full crossing. It was also the impetus for the more rapid decoding of the Enigma messages. After four weeks and four ships, he arrived in Glasgow. Now with the British Wireless Marine Service he sailed on fifteen more ships, but not without incidents. In 1942, the SS Imber was the only survivor in the first two columns of a convoy. George served in England, North Africa, on the Atlantic and the Mediterranean during World War II. He returned to Canada and was discharged in September 1946. He was a member of The Wagner Memorial Legion Branch 526. George passed away on November 23, 1995.
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