ROBERT TILTON HEENEY
ROBERT TILTON HEENEY
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Robert Tilton Heeney was born on October 23, 1920 in Ottawa, Ontario. He lived at 7 Hawthorne Avenue with his older brother Cecil George, and his father Robert John Heeney, who worked for the RCMP and his mother Margaret Heeney (born MacFarlane). He attended Lisgar Collegiate Institute from 1934 to 1941. Robert enjoyed many sports such as paddling, tennis, hockey and was “well prominent in football and skiing circles”. He was 5'7, with a medium complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair. When he was 20 years old, he joined the Air Force.
In 1941, Robert enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. His decision to join the Air Force may have been influenced by many things. He may have thought that being a pilot would be more fun than an office job, and planes were a new technology then - everyone wanted to fly one. Propaganda encouraging young Canadians to enlist may have been a reason to enlist. He most likely was influenced by his older brother Cecil enlisting in the RCAF before him. Robert's enlistment was shortly after the Battle of Britain in 1940. Robert was described in his interview as being “very bright, willing and determined to make the grade as an aircrew member”, and was best fitted to be a pilot or observer. From May 1941 to March of 1942, he trained to be a pilot. While in pilot training the family was notified of Cecil’s death in December 1941. In January of 1942 he was charged with “negligently damaging one of His Majesty’s aircraft” due to careless “taxying”. However, this did not damage his career as Robert was also described as a “keen and aggressive pilot” and due to his aptitude for aerobatics and dog fighting he was made a fighter pilot. In March 1942 he went overseas.
Robert flew a Spitfire fighter plane. He was mostly attached to the 521st Squadron stationed in England, with service in a few other squadrons as well. On August 9 1943, on operations flying over France, he reported his engine had cut out and he was going to bail out. Robert is buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, in Pas de Calais, France. His family lost both of their sons in the war, making the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Robet and Cecil’s mother would be the Silver Cross Mother at the 1954 National Remembrance Ceremony in Ottawa.
Newspaper Clipping – Remembered on the pages of the Ottawa Journal. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
Newspaper clipping – Margaret Heeney was the Silver Cross Mother in 1954. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
Memorial – Flying Officer ROBERT TILTON HEENEY died on August 9, 1943 and was buried at BOULOGNE EASTERN CEMETERY, Pas de Calais, France. There is an inscription to his memory, and the memory of his brother, Corporal CECIL GEORGE HEENEY, Royal Canadian Air Force, on the family grave marker in Pinecrest Cemetery, Ottawa, Ontario. Cecil died on December 29, 1941 and is commemorated OTTAWA MEMORIAL, Ottawa, Ontario as he has no known grave.
Newspaper Clipping – From the Ottawa Citizen. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me
Newspaper Clipping – From the Ottawa Citizen. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me
Memorial – Flying Officer ROBERT TILTON HEENEY and his brother Corporal CECIL GEORGE HEENEY are two of the seven men, all serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force, who were killed in the Second World War, who are commemorated on this plaque in Knox Presbyterian Church in Ottawa, Ontario.
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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