Howard Pearson Ralph
Howard Pearson Ralph
Embedded Files
Howard Pearson Ralph was a Canadian flight officer in the second World War. Son of Edna Russel Ralph and William Pearson Ralph, he was born March 4th 1919 in Ottawa Ontario. Throughout his life he lived at 23 Broadway ave in Ottawa. Howard had 4 siblings, they are listed in the photo below.
During his teenage years he studied at Glebe Collegiate Institute in Ottawa. Howard was athletic and known as a quiet and a below average student in secondary education and teachers stated at the time that he lacked confidence in himself. Although it is said Hoaward did not have the best grades throughout his high school career, former principal of Glebe Collegiate A.H McDougall stated he was “Entirely reliable and left the school in good standing”.
He was overall healthy his entire life after overcoming measles as a child. After graduating from highschool in 1937, Howard decided to not go to university and began his career as a banker. He never married nor had any children, it is said he was shy and kept to himself but was a hard worker and friendly. Although not the most social, Howard loved his family very much and especially had a bond with his mother.
When World War 2 began in 1939 Howard did not enlist, however in 1941 he made the brave decision to enlist in the war as a flight officer and kept serving at his job as a banker which overall he was at for four years. Although Howard was a quiet man, he was committed and determined in battle and he was very confident. After serving for about 2 years on October 25 1943, he tragically went missing in action and is presumed to have crashed his plane. In his will he left his entire estate to his mother. Although his body was never recovered his grave is in Alamein memorial.
His skill as a flight officer did not go unrecognized during his time at war. It is said he was a good fit for the military and was a team worker, decisive, cautious and active. Howard got his awarded pilots flying badge November 21st 1941. It is also listed that he was recommended in the service quadrant first as a bomber, 2nd as a fighter and 3rd as a general reconnaissance. Shockingly enough Howard failed his flying navtion test the first time but was still allowed to fly due to lack of flight officers, so it is assumed that he was a self taught flier.
In a letter found in Howards military service record a close friend of his writes to his parents describing the events of his death. His plane took off at 5:50 am on October 25th and when he did not return another aircraft was set out at 9:00 am in search of Howards whereabouts. Not long after a report came in that an aircraft was seen attempting to land on a beach south of the Drome however it crashed and the remains sunk into the sea. All that was found of the wreckage was a singular wheel of the plane. Howard had done a lot of flying in Mogadishu and was said to know the country very well. On the day of his departure it was storming and it's suspected that he got lost in the winds of the storm and his patrol gave out when he was almost at his destination. “I talked a long time with his two corporals, with whom he was of the most happy of terms. I cannot describe to you how overcome they were by this blow, so cruel and sudden.” said C.R Bogie, Howards friend and commanding officer. “As his commanding officer it is my duty to write this letter, but I feel though that it is my privilege as his friend to write and tell you how much I think of him and the promise he showed”. It's clear to see even though Howard was alone at the time of his death, many people on the battlefield were anxiously waiting for Howard's return. A return that would never happen.
Primary Source Documents : https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/1282287?Howard%20Pearson%20Ralph
Canada Virtual War memorial:
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/1282287
Canadian Fallen:
https://canadianfallen.ca/85302/RALPH
Military Service records:
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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