Remembrance Day snuck up on me this year. Many of our normal activities have gone by the way side in this strange time, so I suppose that isn't much of a surprise. As I am about to start a series of posts about the Chambers family, the veteran I wish to focus on this year is Harold Strange Chambers.
When the First World War started, Harold was a recent immigrant to Canada. Like so many other men from the British Isles, he volunteered for WWI. But his story doesn't involve time in mud filled trenches on the front lines in Europe, he remained in Canada for a stint with the Royal Flying Corps which became the Royal Air Force of Canada. He was in the service from 12 October, 1917 to 28 March, 1919 but the details of what he did while in the service are not clear. He was assigned to the 43rd Wing and appears to have served in Ontario, as he attested and was discharged in Toronto.
While in the air force, he married and that was duly noted in his records. But the information was very limited, unlike the soldier's records which are available for those who served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. There were no medical details included in the RFC or RAFC records available. Medical records would be of particular interest as they might show evidence of that other pandemic that affected the world in 1918 to 1919 which has now become if increased interest.
Sources:
National Archives of Canada, Client Services and Communications Branch, WWI Air Force record of 151183, Harold Strange Chambers
The National Archives, Kew, England AIR79/1366 #151183 Harold Strange Chambers
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