Thomas H. Caulkin
Thomas H. Caulkin
Embedded Files
Thomas Henry Caulkin was born on October 20, 1920, in Ottawa, Ontario. He grew up in a family with strong ties to public service, as his father was a superintendent in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The family lived at 150 Argyle Avenue, Ottawa. Thomas attended Lisgar Collegiate Institute, where he achieved his Junior Matriculation and partially completed his Senior Matriculation by 1939. He then took a course in Aeronautics at Ottawa Technical School from 1939 to 1940, which most likely inspired him to join the AirForce. Thomas’s hobbies were skiing, badminton, tennis, and swimming. Thomas stood at 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighed 155 pounds, and had a medium complexion, brown eyes, and dark hair.
Thomas first attempted to join the Royal Canadian Air Force on November 28, 1939 while in school. His application had been denied , but his consistency paid off the second time. His decision to join the RCAF may have been motivated by the influence of wartime propaganda, his father's career in the RCMP or just for the adventures. In his time in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, which trained aircrew away from combat zones. Thomas was sharp and demonstrated strong leadership traits, which made him ready for commission.
Thomas went through extensive training to become a pilot, by starting with a seven week initial training course, followed by seven weeks of elementary flying training. He continued his training at the Service Flying Training School, where he logged significant flying hours in both single-engine and multi-engine aircraft Including Harvard and Yale aircrafts (66 hours total). He got better as a pilot little by little, and he was recommended for more training as a flying instructor due to his skills and determination.
Sadly, Thomas's life ended on January 8, 1942, when he died in a flying accident with a Crane aircraft during training. The crash occurred near Dauphin, Manitoba. At the time of his death, Thomas held the rank of Pilot Officer, and he had accumulated considerable flying experience across different aircraft types. His burial took place in Victoria, British Columbia, at the Royal Oak Burial Park. Thomas Henry Caulkin made a significant sacrifice like many young men in his generation. Though he never fought in battle, his commitment to the RCAF and his role in training are remembered as part of the efforts made by Canadian airmen during the war.
Temporary grave marker – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
Temporary grave marker – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
Attestation paper – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
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.
Lisgar Collegiate Institute
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
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