Cecil Adrian Hale

Cecil A. Hale was born January 2nd 1908, in Ottawa, Ontario. He lived in Ottawa on 247 First Avenue with his two sisters (Mrs. W.H. Grant and Mrs. W.J. Larook) and his parents (Max Emilian Mathew Hale and Mary J. FInley). Hale was a student in Glebe Collegiate and worked as a mechanic. 

Cecil Adrian Hale enrolled in the military  in Ottawa on June 7, 1926 at which time he was 19 years old. He then left three days later on June 10th 1926 and joined the 54th regiment in Sydney, Nova Scotia.  There he worked as a motor mechanic in Sydney from the 10th of June, 1926 - 22nd of April 1940. Being a mechanic was a super important role during the war. They were the ones that repaired the machinery such as land vehicles, aircrafts, ships and submarines. They could be stationed anywhere they could be needed to repair any aircrafts or other machines that needed repairing. Unlike most people in the military, mechanics actually had normal hours. They would work from morning to late afternoon or if they finished early they could go help others. Being a mechanic was Adrian's only role in the military and died before he was able to fight but he still helped the military a lot and did a lot as a mechanic.

On April 22 1940, Hale along with Hugh Powers, Thomas MacLean and Harold Musgrave were struck by a train while driving a car through a blizzard in north Sydney. The car was thrown up in the air and completely destroyed. The accident occurred at 7:40 in the morning, Power, Mclean and Hail were brought to hospital at 9:40, all three unfortunately would later die as a result of their injuries. Musgrave (the driver) was in serious condition when admitted to the hospital though he did survive. The R.C.M.P investigated the crash, but they found the train conductor not to be at fault as it was impossible to see through the snow. Hale’s body was brought to Ottawa where it was buried at the Notre Dame cemetery on Montreal Rd.  

Primary Source Documents : https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2687463?Cecil%20Adrian%20Hale 

'If we do preserve it, we honour them, and when we in our turn pass on, we will know that behind us lives a generation of free men and of free women to be the keepers of this great heritage of ours - Canada.'

- Ian A. McPhee, former student at GCI, 1937.