Gregory Ross Bourdon

Gregory Ross Bourdon was born on May 4, 1922 in Ottawa Ontario. Son of Zepherin Bourdon (father) and Doris Kathleen Gregory (mother). He had blue eyes, brown hair, good vision, healthy teeth, good hearing, and no abnormalities as described by his recruitment officer. He was a member of the United Church. Bourdon grew up in Ottawa and lived at 257 Carling Avenue. He attended Borden Public school from 1927 to 1933, Glashan Public School from 1933 to 1935 and Glebe Collegiate from 1935 to 1940. After graduating from Glebe Collegiate in 1940 he became a Laboratory Assistant for the Department of Pensions and National Health in Ottawa.

Bourdon's interests were hockey, cricket, tennis, and photography. He was also very interested in model airplanes which likely influenced him to become a pilot when he joined the war forces. (Bourdon, Barbara. Personal Interview, October 2012). After working for roughly one year until 1941 Bourdon was accepted to the Royal Canadian Air Force. He trained to become a pilot in Ontario. After his pilot training he was sent overseas to Europe. On September 23, 2943 Bourdon and 6 other planes were sent on a mission to bomb on the German city of Mannheim, but the 7 planes went missing the same night. The planes had been shot down by German FLAK. The exact cause of death was uncertain. Bourdon was never married and had no children.

Gregory Bourdon enlisted in the R.C.A.F. on September 3, 1941 at the R.C.A.F. Recruiting Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. Bourdon went to the R.C.A.F. with no debt, indictable offenses, or flying experience. The officer who inspected him said that Bourdon is a "nice type of youth. Clean cut and alert. Good air crew material with preferences to be pilot". His training started in Ontario. He went through many different locations such as: Toronto, Malton and Brantford and was given various missions to do and flew a variety of planes, changing quite regularly. He flew the Tiger Moth, Anson, Link E, Anson II, and Oxford planes during his training. Once Bourdon was sent overseas he flew an Avro Lancaster MK. III. Bourdon did not take part in any large battles or dog fights as a pilot, he did bombing runs and reconnaissance missions.

Gregory was a Pilot Officer of the 57th squadron overseas for the RCAF Bomber Command. He regularly flew a Lancaster plane while he was in Bomber Command. He had a total of 15 bombing operational flights during his overseas career. His air force number was R125752, and his official number was J/1864. The Avro Lancaster plane he flew was serial number was JA875.

As part of the R.C.A.F. Bomber Command you were constantly moved around to different bases quite frequently to do different tasks. Bomber Command is a military unit of an air force used for strategic bombing runs usually at night. Bomber Command also did reconnaissance missions to scout the land and enemy. Sleeping was different because you slept at different times of day seeing as your bombing runs were during the night most often and you were moved around to different bases often. Bomber Command was usualy not in the heat of the fight or in many major battle scene they are usually used before the battle to weaken the enemy.

Gregory Bourdon's death occurred on September 23rd, 1943. Bourdon was on a mission in Germany to bomb the city of Mannheim. It was a night raid and radio silence was required after take off so they had no means of communication whether they were successful or not. They encountered some FLAK resistance and were shot down and crashed in Worms Stadtteil Weinsheim on September 16th. It is still unknown how the exact death of Bourdon occurred. The plane crash could have killed him or he could have been shot by a German soldier. Bourdon's parents received a Golden Signet ring that belonged to Gregory many months after he was killed.

Bourdon's Medals at death were:

39-45 Star
A/C Europe Star
Defence Medal
General Sergeant Medal
Two C.V.S.M medals

Gregory Bourdon's initial burial is at the Weinsheim communal Cemetery in Germany. His final resting place is the British Commonwealth Cemetery at Durnbach, Bavaria south of Munich and his grave is 2.K.14. (Bourdon, Barbara. E-mail May 2012)

Primary Source Documents : https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2079829

Works Cited

"The War Graves. Photographic Project." Bourdon, Gregory Ross. 2012. Web of Knowlegde. April 29, 2012.

"Ottawa Citizen." Google News. Friday June 2, 1944. Google. Saturday 28, 2012.

"Online War Memorial, Gregory Ross Bourdon." Canada At War. undefined. . Saturday 28, 2012. <http://www.canadaatwar.ca/memorial/world-war-ii/120909/pilot-officer-gregory-ross-bourdon/>.

"Bomber Command ." Wikipedia. Wikipedia Contributors, n.d. Web. 5 May 2012.

"RAF BOMBER COMMAND." RAF BOMBER COMMAND IN WW2. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2012.

edited by Bianca Wrenko-Ulm on March 13, 2015.

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