World War II: Ten local young men who died while in uniform – The Second Group

As we head into this Remembrance day and look at the number of Canadian young men who were lost in service and buried in distant grave sites, the numbers are simply staggering.

This is the second group of five of ten local young Port Elgin men who never returned home.

Norman Gilbert Hettrick: Norm was born in Cargill on May 14, 1914. The family moved to Port Elgin before he went to school. He graduated from Grade 12 and went to work in a local hardware store doing tin smithing and selling. On June 20, 1940, he enlisted in the Canadian Air Force. His training took him to Regina, Windsor, Camp Borden and finally to Trenton were on January 24, 1941, he was made an Airman Pilot and promoted to the rank of Flight Sergeant. On March 1st, he left for England. There, he joined the Royal Air Force at the base in Wittering, on the south coast of England not far from Portsmouth. From this base the RAF was engaging the German Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz of 1940-41. Norman was a member of the crew of a Wellington Bomber. The aircraft was a twin engine medium size bomber with a crew of six, consisting of pilot, radio operator, navigator/bomb aimer, observer/nose gunner, tail gunner and waist gunner. It was on November 26, 1941, that Norman and his five fellow crew members failed to return from a bombing mission. The report reads, “Missing, Nov. 26, 1941. Operational Flying battle, Wellington full bomber equip; overseas cont. Europe. RAF 214 Sqd. Presumed Dead”. The aircraft and the dead were never found. Norm and the crew of the Wellington they were flying are remembered on the Runnymede Memorial in Englefield Green in Surrey England. This large memorial garden has the names of 20, 456 members of the Commonwealth Air Forces listed. In all cases they have no other known grave. Norm is named on Panel 60. There are 3,031 Canadians named on the panels throughout the garden.

Lloyd Sylvester Ernst:  Lloyd was born in Kenaston Saskatchewan on Dec. 4, 1921. His father was an Evangelical minister. They moved to Port Elgin when he was quite young, and he received his education here finishing High School where he received his Senior Matriculation. He worked at Mackenzie Dairy before venturing to Toronto, where he worked as a restaurant waiter before enlisting in the RCAF on Nov. 20, 1940. He was readily accepted by the recruitment officer who wrote that he was “clean cut, above average intelligence and very self-confident”. Over the next eight months he received training and graduated on August 8, 1941, when he passed Air Observers School. He arrived in England on February 9, 1942. Lloyd then attended Officer Training School until June 26th when he joined the 78th Royal Air Force Squadron. The Squadron was flying the large four-engine Handley Paige Halifax Bombers. They flew bombing mission overseas, mostly over Germany from their base in Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire. During the war more than 1,200 Halifax Bombers were lost during bombing missions. It was on September 25, 1942, that the Halifax Bomber of Lloyd and its other crew members did not return and were declared missing. He was only 20 years of age.

Two days later they were reported as “presumed dead”. Like Norman Hettrick, Lloyd is memorialized on the Runnymede Memorial in Englefield Green in Surrey. There are 20,456 members of Commonwealth Aircrews remembered there who have no known graves. Included are 3,031 Canadians. Lloyd’s name is listed on Panel 103 in the beautiful garden area.

John Francis Muir: John was born in Port Elgin on July 21, 1925, to Robert and Margaret Wilson Muir. On January 13, 1943, and not yet 18, while still in High School, he enlisted in the RCAF. His training took him to London, Toronto, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Portage la Prairie. He was promoted to Flight Sergeant on Feb.11, 1944 and arrived in England on the 25th. He was assigned to the Royal Air Force Base at Forres in Kinloss Scotland. There, he became a member of the crew of a Whitley V twin engine heavy bomber. Training continued and on July 24, 1944, he completed his Air Bomber training and was given the rank of Flying Officer. The Whitley crew consisted of 5 members: pilot, navigator, nose gunner/bomb aimer, wireless operator and rear gunner. John served as the nose gunner/bomb aimer.

On October 2, 1944, their Whitley V was scheduled to do a non-operational night training mission. Flight Sergeant Henry was at the controls when they took off at 1955 hours. In less than one minute after takeoff and less than ¾ of mile from the end of the runway, the plane crashed and burst into flames. Other airmen close by rushed to the scene and pulled out two dead airmen before the flames kept them away. All five in the crew died. A full hearing was held, and it was determined that the accident was the result of pilot error. The plane was not in the proper gear for takeoff and power was limited and led to the crash. Nineteen-year-old John Muir is buried in the Kinloss Abbey Burial Ground in Row C, Grave 70. Two of his Flight mates are buried in Graves 68 and 69 next to John. There are 73 Commonwealth Airmen buried there including 27 Canadians. John is also remembered on his parents’ gravestone in Sanctuary Park in Port Elgin.

Frederick Leroy Vaupel:  Fred was born in Aylesbury Saskatchewan on September 12, 1912, to Ernest and Nancy. He, his brother Raymond, sisters Erna and Lenore and their parents arrived in Port Elgin in 1932. He enlisted in the R.C.A.F. in 1940 and had extensive training in single seat aircraft as part of the 414 Squadron. They arrived in England in August of 1941 and flew out of a variety of airfields during the war. It was not until June-July of 1942 that the Squadron became operational. They took part in the Dieppe raid on August 19th flying their Mustangs for the first time against German FW 190’s. Here they claimed their first victory with the Mustang. After Dieppe they carried out low level reconnaissance missions, ground attack missions over France and low-level interception patrols along the English coast. Flying out of Middle Wallop, North of Southampton England, on June 17, 1943, Fred Vaupel was detailed to carry out a patrol over the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Spain in his single seat Mustang Aircraft. He never returned. He was decaled missing on operational duty and a short time later was declared presumed dead. He is memorialized on the Runnymede Memorial in Englefield Surrey England. Here is also the site of the memorializing of two other Port Elgin aircrew members, Norman Hettrick and Lloyd Ernst. Fred has his name on Panel 175 in the beautiful gardens were there are 20,456 Commonwealth Air crew members memorialized as not having any other known grave.

Raymond Ernest Vaupel: Ray was the younger brother of Fred and he was also born on March 31, 1917 in Aylesbury Saskatchewan arriving in Port Elgin in 1932. He graduated from High School in 1935 and went to work at the Port Elgin Times. On Nov. 19, 1940 he enlisted in the RCAF. His training took him to Toronto, Picton, Rockcliffe, Mount Hope and Dunnville. On July 4, 1941, he was commissioned as a flying officer. Later in 1941, he arrived in England and, soon after, he arrived in North Africa as the only Canadian on a Bomber with a five-man crew. Much of the fighting was going on in Northern Libya around the port of Tobruk. On July 31, 1942, Ray and his crew were detailed to carry out a night bombing mission of the Tobruk Harbour. He was the second pilot on the flight and they did not return. There were conflicting reports that all five had perished and then another report that only Ray and one other had been killed. There is no known grave for Ray. He is memorialized on the Alamein Memorial in Egypt. There are 11,870 recognized there that have no other known grave site. There are 213 Canadians recognized there. Ray’s name appears on Panel 263.

We Will Remember Them

Researched by G. William Streeter