Military Service Recognition Book

59 www.on.legion.ca ONTARIO COMMAND BOWERS, John Laishley “Jack” Jack was born in Ripley, Ontario on May 5, 1921. He enlisted in the Air Force on April 10, 1942 during World War II with 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron and with 426 Squadron Coastal Command piloting the Sunderland, which was one of the biggest things in the air. The Short S.25 Sunderland was a British flying boat patrol bomber developed for the Royal Air Force (RAF) by Short Brothers. The Sunderland was a huge plane with three pilots and a large crew. It flew very long missions tracking German U-boats (submarines). Coastal Command was instrumental in pushing the U-boats away from the huge convoys bringing material and men to Europe during the height of the war with Germany and Italy. Squadron 426 was critical to the outcome of the war. James May wrote in one of his books that he considered the Sunderland one of the greatest planes of World War II. He was discharged in 1946. Jack passed away on February 3, 2012. BOWLER, Geoffrey M. Geoffrey was born in Rotherham, England on February 28, 1944. He enlisted in the Air Force on May 16, 1962. He served in England, Continental Europe, Cyprus, Libya and Scotland. He was a member of RAF Leuchars Mountain Rescue team in Scotland and two years at El Adem, Libya. He was discharged on May 16, 1971. Geoffrey is a member of the Beaver Valley Legion Branch 281 in Clarksburg, Ontario. BOWES, Clarence Leslie Clarence was born on March 13, 1893 in Castlederg, Ontario. In 1915, he joined the Army and was sent overseas on the Empress of Britain arriving there in 1916. He served in the 126th Peel Battalion in England and France during World War I. He returned to Canada and was discharged on July 4, 1919. He then moved to Chicago and passed away there on June 8, 1921. He is buried in Bolton, Ontario.

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