Heaslip (Strathdee), Bessie

Service highlights

  • Name: Bessie Aileen (Strathdee) Heaslip
  • Service: Second World War
  • Branch: Royal Canadian Air Force, Women’s Division
  • Enlisted: November 1941
  • Trade: Cook
  • Training: Toronto, Ontario; cookery course at Mac Hall (Guelph, Ontario)
  • Postings: No. 5 Service Flying Training School (Brantford, Ontario); No. 6 Repair Depot (Trenton, Ontario)
  • Married during service: to LAC Charles Heaslip (after his posting changed)
  • Postwar: Moved in 1945 to the Heaslip family farm near Indian Head, Saskatchewan
  • Legion: Long-time member of Indian Head Legion (Branch 114)
  • Lived: 1920–2011

A Life and Service, Remembered

Bessie Aileen Strathdee grew up in St. Marys and came of age as the war reshaped what young people expected from life. Like a lot of women at the time, she didn’t step forward alone she stepped forward with her friends after working a Girls camp together. As she remembered it: “And the girls, they were all joining the [Royal Canadian] Air Force. And so we went into Collingwood and we all joined up.” It’s an ordinary-sounding moment, but it captures the real way service often began: a group decision, a shared ride into town, and a commitment that suddenly made the world much bigger.

She enlisted in November 1941 and entered a world that was disciplined, fast-paced, and full of new routines. She was willing to do the unglamorous, essential work that kept stations running and aircrew training moving.

One small detail she later shared about her experience was they set to give needles out and she quickly learned she fainted at the sight of blood. It is the kind of moment people remember for life, and it quietly explains a lot. Service did not have to look like nursing to be meaningful. For Bessie, it meant choosing a role she could do well, then doing it where it mattered. As a cook in the RCAF Women’s Division, she became part of the system that fed and supported thousands of people training, repairing, flying, and preparing for operations.

Her service took her through training and postings in Ontario, including Brantford and Trenton. It was also where she met Leading Aircraftman Charles Heaslip. Even their relationship and marriage carries the stamp of wartime rules and realities. They could not marry and stay at the same posting. So while things were serious with the couple, they lived together until his posting changed, and when that finally happened they were married right on the station. They were also remembered as the first couple there to be married in uniform, a small, proud first in the middle of years shaped by sacrifice and strict schedules.

After the war, she carried that same steady devotion into civilian life. In 1945 she moved west to the Heaslip family farm near Indian Head, Saskatchewan, and stayed closely tied to the veteran community for decades through the Royal Canadian Legion.

Postings and roles

  • Enlisted: November 1941
  • Training: Toronto, Ontario
  • Cookery course: Mac Hall, Guelph, Ontario
  • Posted: No. 5 Service Flying Training School, Brantford, Ontario
  • Posted: No. 6 Repair Depot, Trenton, Ontario
  • Married while serving: on-station wedding after posting change, married in uniform
  • Postwar: Relocated in 1945 to the Heaslip family farm near Indian Head, Saskatchewan
  • Legion service: Long-time member of Indian Head Legion (Branch 114)

Learn More

The Canadian Encyclopedia
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mpsb-bessie-aileen-red-heaslip-strathdee

Saskatchewan Command of The Royal Canadian Legion, 9th edition of the Military Service Recognition Book, Pg 143
https://www.sasklegion.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/SKCL15r.pdf
https://townofindianhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Cemetery-Master-List.pdf