Evans, Leading Aircraftman Norman Garfield

Service highlights

  • Service number: R116889
  • Born 8 November 1919 in Blanshard Township, raised near Prospect Hill
  • Student at St. Marys Collegiate Institute and worked locally as a truck driver in construction
  • Enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force on 14 August 1941
  • Posted as an RCAF driver and later served at Torbay, Newfoundland and at 16 Service Flying Training School in Hagersville, Ontario
  • Died 12 August 1945
  • Buried at London (Forest Lawn) Memorial Gardens
  • Commemorated on the cenotaph at Rannoch

A Life and Service Remembered

Norman Garfield Evans was born in Blanshard Township on 8 November 1919, about a mile north of Prospect Hill. He grew up with school, work, and responsibility arriving early. He attended Fish Creek school as a boy, then St. Marys Collegiate Institute through his teen years, before stepping into working life. He drove truck for construction and, by the time he enlisted, was living in London and building his days around practical work and steady routines.

On 14 August 1941, Norman enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in London. He trained in Toronto, then at RCAF Station Trenton as an RCAF driver, followed by routine postings that had him moving wherever he was needed. In late 1941 he went to wireless school in Guelph, and in 1942 he was posted to Torbay, near St. John’s, at a time when the air war and the Atlantic war made even the far edges of Canada feel close to danger. About fifteen months later he transferred to 16 Service Flying Training School at Hagersville.

Flying was not just something around him, it was something he wanted for himself. While at Hagersville, he took private flying lessons and earned his private pilot’s licence. His goal was to build enough hours for a commercial certificate, so he rented small aircraft when he could. A newspaper piece written after his death described him as a former member of the London Flying Club from the pre war days at the Lambeth field, someone who kept coming back to flying when he had the chance.

On Sunday afternoon, 12 August 1945, he rented a Tiger Moth and flew out from the Crumlin area to visit family at their London Township farm. His sister ran out to wave as she saw his plane approach, she describes smoke coming from his motor while he attempted to land, he pulled up at the last moment, lost speed, stalled, and crashed. The aircraft burst into flames on impact. His sister, Jean, and her husband, Stuart, had been watching as the tragedy unfolded. His sister tried to pull him from the wreckage but found rescue had become impossible, Jean was dragged clear by her husband, yet she kept trying with her bare hands to brush flames from her brother’s hair. The story is difficult to read because it is so immediate, not a battlefield far away, but a family standing close enough to see and feel what they could not change.

Norman was buried in London at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens. He was survived by his father, Thomas Earl Evans, two brothers, and two sisters, including Jean Sceli. He was predeceased by his mother, Jennie Russell Evans. His name is also remembered on the cenotaph at Rannoch, bringing him back into the local roll of people whose lives were shaped and, in his case, ended by the long reach of wartime service.

Major battles and operations

  • Home front RCAF service as a driver, postings supporting training and operations in Canada
  • Posting to RCAF Station Torbay, Newfoundland, during wartime Atlantic air activity
  • Service with 16 Service Flying Training School at Hagersville, supporting the training system that kept aircrew flowing to the front
  • Civilian flying, building hours toward commercial qualification
  • Fatal flying accident, 12 August 1945, during a visit to family in London Township

Learn More

https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/719802
https://caspir.warplane.com/personnel/unit-search/p/600006026
https://aircrewremembered.com/AircrewDeaths39-47/?s=14000&q=1945-01-05&qand=&exc1=&exc2=&search_type=&search_only=&o=DateOfDeath
https://canadiansatarms.ca/canada-e/
The Fallen by Richard Holt, R116889 Leading Aircraftman N.G. Evans, pg 100