Documenting the WWII Fallen of Toronto's Elementary Schools
John Haig Broad
Jack Broad was born in Dundas, Ontario on September 5, 1922, the first child of Earl Hilton Broad and Beatrice May Adair. Although Beatrice was born in London, Ontario, her family was residing in Dundas at the time. Hilton Broad had been born in Southampton, Ontario, a port town on Lake Huron, to an English immigrant who worked as a train conductor.
When Jack was a toddler, the family moved to Toronto and his father worked as a salesman for various companies, including women's hosiery. They lived in Mimico, welcoming children Dorothy Marie Beatrice in 1924 and Robert Alfred Hilton in 1925. In 1928 they became the first owners of 33 Kings Lynn Road in the Kingsway Park development. Until the early 1930s, the street was called Berry Avenue. Jack's youngest sibling was born in 1930, a sister named Patricia Jane.
Jack began school at Lambton Mills in 1928. It was also known as Lambton-Kingsway at the time and the name remained fluid until the late 1950s. Jack graduated Grade 8 in 1936 and continued to Etobicoke High School. In his reference letter for Jack's RCAF enlistment, the principal, A. W. Wallace, described Jack as an “outstanding athlete” in basketball, rugby, gymnastics and track and field. In May 1939 at the school's annual track and field day, Jack tied for the intermediate championship. He set a new school record of 10.6 seconds for the 100 yard dash, won the intermediate shot put and the intermediate 220 yard dash.
He left school in 1941 with his Junior Matriculation and had two credits towards his Senior Matriculation. On April 28, 1941, Jack started as a junior clerk in the purchasing department of Imperial Oil which was located at 56 Church Street downtown and he took a night school course in Accounting. When it was announced that RCAF enlistment would be expanded to all men, not just university graduates and licenced pilots, Jack joined the air force on January 21, 1942.
Like all Toronto area recruits, he spent six weeks at the Exhibition grounds taking basic training. On March 25, he was sent to the Technical Training School in St. Thomas, Ontario. This was the facility where RCAF ground crew were trained in aircraft mechanics. It is unlikely that Jack was immediately streamed into the program and probably was a guard or clerical help until his next training course began. He had two infractions for being away without leave, on April 28 and May 7. He appears to have been late returning to base, possibly due to poor train connections, if he had been on leave in Toronto.
On June 9, he returned to Toronto to No. 6 Initial Training School, where recruits spent several weeks taking theory courses like Navigation and Meteorology. The course was given in a Toronto Board of Education facility and some of the men would be winnowed out of the pilot program to other occupations like navigator or gunner. Jack spent time in hospital from July 3 to 13, although there is no medical record in his service file as to the reason. Jack made the cut at the end of the course on July 31 and was given leave from August 1 to 14.
He continued at No. 12 Elementary Flying Training School in Goderich, Ontario on August 16. The airfield, north of the town, now Goderich Municipal Airport, was situated right beside Lake Huron. The students were multinational – including Canadians, there were Royal Air Force trainees from Britain, along with Australian and New Zealand air force men. Jack and the other trainees were given 50 hours of basic flying instruction in a Tiger Moth trainer. By the end of the course, Jack was able to solo for over 38 hours during daylight, but for only 15 minutes at night. It had been determined at a medical examination in June that his night vision was below average. From September 10 to 16, Jack spent some more time in hospital, aliment unknown. He graduated from the course on November 6, with decent results. His instructor felt that he “could develop into an above average pilot. Possible instructor material.”
De Havilland Tiger Moth trainer. Canadian Forces photo.
The next stop for Jack on the Commonwealth Air Training Plan was south, to No. 14 Service Flying Training School in Aylmer, Ontario on November 22. This program was 16 weeks long. In the first half of the course, the students were part of an intermediate training squadron, then did six weeks of advanced training and two weeks of Bombing and Gunnery school. The base flew Harvard trainers, a plane that helped pilots transition from the Tiger Moth bi-planes to the operational fighters like the Spitfire and Hurricane.
Jack won his pilot's wings on March 19, 1943. His instructor felt that he was an above average pilot with “natural skill and instrument flying” and was given embarkation leave. He returned to his family in Toronto and then reported to Halifax on April 3, to await a ship to Britain. In mid-May, he departed Canada and arrived in Britain on May 24.
All RCAF members arriving in Britain first reported to the Personnel Reception Centre in Bournemouth, England to await their assignment. While in Bournemouth, the lure of London called to all the airmen as most of them had never been far from their home towns before. In his pay book, Jack had noted the address of the Canadian Hospitality Centre near Piccadilly. His travels made him AWOL again for a day at the end of May and he forfeited a day's pay.
Jack was assigned to No. 7 Advanced Flying Unit for pilots on June 15. It was located at RAF Peterborough, in Cambridgeshire, about 225 kilometres north of London. It was here that Jack knew for sure that he would be a fighter pilot as the unit was flying Hurricanes, the workhorse Allied fighter plane. The course at Peterborough was to acclimatize the pilots to the Hurricane, wartime flying conditions like avoiding barrage balloons and flying in British weather, among other differences from their overseas training. By the time he left the unit in August, Jack had taken three cross country solo flights and his instructor described him as “very keen and intelligent” and “an average night pilot... should be able to fly operation types after dusk landings.” He had flown over 5 hours solo at night.
Hawker Hurricane, 1942. Imperial War Museum photo.
Once the Peterborough course ended, Jack was given a lengthy leave until his next posting. On September 19, he was promoted to Flight Sergeant and two days later he began the course at No. 55 Operational Training Unit (OTU), which was based at RAF Annan, in Dumfrieshire, Scotland, not far from the English border. At the time, the unit was flying Miles Masters, a two seat training plane, and Hawker Typhoons.
Jack served with the unit when he was attached to RAF Woodvale, near Liverpool, England, on November 11. A week later, he was attached to RAF Great Orton, near Carlisle, England and not far from RAF Annan. He was given leave from December 12 but was recalled 16 days early , on December 27, to join No. 1 Tactical Exercise Unit (TEU). It was located at RAF Tealing, about 10 kilometres north of Dundee, on Scotland's east coast. The unit flew Hurricanes, but began to take possession of Spitfires in February, 1944. Jack was sent to Glasgow for a training course from January 18 to 20, 1944. On the first of March, he was transferred to No. 4 Tactical Exercise Unit. No. 55 OTU at Annan had been disbanded and was redesignated as a TEU, flying Hurricanes. Jack's training continued, including air target shooting, low level bombing and night exercises.
On March 18, he was made a Warrant Officer. On March 20, Jack took up Canadian built Hurricane AF 970 on a night flying exercise. When near Castle Carrock 8 kilometres west of Carlisle, he dove out of a low cloud and was killed instantly when he flew into the side of a hill.
Jack was given a full military funeral two days later at Blacon Cemetery near Liverpool. He is buried in the cemetery's RAF plot. His parents continued to live at 33 Kings Lynn until 1960 when they moved to Burlington. Earl passed away in 1977 and Beatrice survived him until 1994.