Warren Oliver Slack

Warren Oliver Slack was born May 15,1922 in Brockville, Ontario to Pearl Letitia Metcalfe and David Warren Slack and he had two younger brothers. Raymond Glen Slack went on to serve for the RCCS in England but Billy Slack was too young to serve. At the time of his enlistment, he attended the United Church of Canada, he was single, he was 5 '10” with blue eyes, fair hair and skin, and he was reported to be very proud of his appearance. Warren and his family Lived in Brockville until he started attending Glebe Collegiate Institute in 1935, where he went on to graduate in 1940. Warren was quite athletic, participating in many sports, including hockey, track and field, swimming and baseball. He also played tennis occasionally. The principal of Glebe at the time reported that he was well-liked and was a good student. He was described by his peers to be intelligent, quick to learn, and enthusiastic. Warren had a part time job as a clerk at Bank of Nova Scotia on Bank and Gladstone before volunteering for service.

Warren Slack enlisted in Ottawa, on October 31,1940 for the RCAF. Initially, if enlisted to ground duties, he wished to go into the medical corps, which he had previous experiences with, as he knew first aid, and he had volunteered for St John Ambulance, a volunteer medical group. If not enlisted to ground duties, he wanted to become a fighter pilot. But being a pilot was not the right fit for him. One of the reasons was due to the fact that he needed glasses and suffered from hypermetropia also known as long-sightedness. This condition seemed to hinder him during many of the necessary tests to become a pilot. Nevertheless, he was determined to serve. Eventually he became a bombardier, a crew member who was the person in charge of targeting aerial bombs, which was a very dangerous role. He trained at Victoriaville (PQ), Pendleton (ON), and Portage la Prairie (MB), as a pilot and later a bombardier. He was awarded the Air Bomber and Air Observer badge on March 19, 1943. He attained the rank of Aircraftman, 2nd Class (AC2). Not long after being awarded these badges, Warren left for England on April 14, 1943 traveling from Halifax (NS). Tragically, he never made it to his destination. As a volunteer in World War II, Warren served a total of 904 days in Canada and 6 days overseas.

Warren Slack departed from Halifax on the ship Amerika on his way to Liverpool. On April 22, 1943, the Amerika was torpedoed and sunk by U-306 just south of Cape Farewell close to Greenland. 86 people lost their lives and 54 survived. The personnel on this boat consisted of gunners, crew members and RCAF passengers. This event means that unfortunately Warren Slack was killed before he ever saw action. Warren was reported missing and presumed dead due to enemy action at sea. His body was never recovered. The Royal Canadian Air Force Casualties Officer wrote a letter to Warren’s mother, informing her that he did not have a ‘known’ grave. The RCAF Casualties officer also informed her that Warren's name would be placed on the memorial that was to be constructed in Ottawa. Today his name is inscribed on the Ottawa memorial (panel 2, column 4). His name is also found on page 214 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance

Primary Source Documents : https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2623057?Warren%20Oliver%20Slack

Works Cited

Government of Canada. “Page 214 from book: Second World War.” veterans.gc.ca, Government of Canada, 5 5 2022, https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/books/page?page=214&book=2&sort=pageAsc. Accessed 28 10 2024.

Government of Canada. “Warren Oliver Slack - The Canadian Virtual War Memorial.” Veterans Affairs Canada, Government of Canada, 29 1 2024, https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2623057. Accessed 28 October 2024.

Royal Candian Air Force. “RCAF Stations Info.” RCAF.Info, RCAF, 2021, https://rcaf.info/rcaf-stations/. Accessed 28 October 2024.

“Slack, Warren Oliver.” Government of Canada, Government of Canada, 17 10 2024, https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Home/Record?app=kia&IdNumber=32780&q=warren%20oliver%20slack&ecopy=sww-28659-slack-warren_oliver-j24642. Accessed 28 10 2024.

uboat.net. “Amerika (British Motor merchant) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net.” Uboat.net, uboat.net, 2024, https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/2880.html. Accessed 28 October 2024.

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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