Charles John Frederick McCrum
Charles John Frederick McCrum
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Charles John Frederick McCrum was born on June 30th 1920 at Iron Hill Quebec and lived in 30 Melgund, Ottawa, Ontario. At the age of 19 he decided to fight in WW1 where he served in the air force as a sergeant, even with no previous experience, training, or flying history. He served in the air force as a sergeant. Outside of the war his record states that Charles had an athletic physique. He played numerous sports such as rugby, skating, hockey, and swimming. He also enjoyed model air-crafts as a hobby. His record states that he was tall, standing at 6’0ft. He had brown hair, blue eyes, a mole on his lip, and a scar on his left thigh. He is described as self possessed, mature, and pleasant. His style was described as tasteful, clean, and neat. He would smoke 10 - 15 cigarettes a day and have a moderate beer. He was not married, and had no kids. He had two younger brothers Robert Andrew McCrum and Lesli Ulric McCrum. His mom was Mabel Isabelle McCrum and his dad was Harmon Ulric.
At the time of his enlistment, August 21, 1940 Charles John Fredrick McCrum was not working. Charles had attended Ottawa Technical for three years after attending Glebe Collegiate for two years. He was enlisted into the Royal Canadian Air Force and got an Air Gunners Badge. Charles took off as Wireless Operator/Air Gunner of an aircraft on an operational flight over the southern section of the North Sea on the night of Friday, 10th October, 1911. On this night, Charles and the crew he was with went missing. In the letter declaring him as missing, Charles was referred to as above average as a Wireless Operator/ Air Gunner. Just like many other brave soldiers, Charles enlisted because he wanted to serve his country and fight for freedom. He was a good candidate because he was an age appropriate male who was in good health.
At the age of 21 Charles John Fredrick McCrum went missing after air operations overseas on October 10th 1941. With no indications of being alive, he was reported dead. He is honored at Runny Air Force Memorial (Surry, United Kingdom).
The biographies appearing on this website have been written by students, roughly the same age as the soldiers they are studying, using primary source evidence from Library and Archives Canada, in addition to primary source documents from The Virtual War Memorial on veterans.ca. We welcome any corrections or additions you may have to these biographies.
'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.
Glebe Collegiate Institute
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
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