Bill Halperin was born on October 26, 1915. His father Solomon Halperin was born in 1880 in Antonine, a small Ukrainian village. He was a bright man who would have been an actuary (insurance statistician) if Jewish students had been allowed into that course at that time. In his early twenties, he left Ukraine for England. On the ship, he met Fanny Lundy from Gorodok, Ukraine. They wrote to each other and later met again in Montreal, where Solomon had settled, eventually marrying there in 1905. They had a son, Benjamin in 1907.

 

The next year the family was living in Toronto at 145 Sumach Street in Regent Park and Solomon was a grocer. By 1913 Solomon had become an insurance agent living on Ontario Street and the family had a son Israel, born in 1911 and a daughter Clara, born the next year. With Bill’s arrival, the family was complete and they remained in Regent Park until the early 1920s, when they moved to 44 Columbine Avenue. Bill attended Norway from Grade 1, but he was very bright and skipped a few grades, graduating in 1927 when he was 11. At a Norway Home and School club meeting in March 1927, he won an oratory contest.

 

Bill started Malvern that September and did very well in Maths and Sciences. His achievements were not a surprise because his siblings were highly accomplished people. Benjamin was a violinist and ultimately a member of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Clara became one of the first female lawyers in Ontario. If Bill was following in anyone’s footsteps, it would have been his brother Israel’s. After graduating from Malvern, winning the Math and Science prizes, Israel attended Victoria College, University of Toronto on a scholarship, winning the Math and Physics prizes every year until he got his B.A. in 1932. Two years later he was awarded his Master’s Degree and went to Princeton for his PhD. He ultimately became an esteemed mathematician at Queen’s University.

In Grade 13, Bill shared the 1932 Malvern Physics prize and entered the Math and Physics program at Victoria College. He was awarded his B.A. in 1936 with a gold medal. He had been lecturing in Maths. On October 22, 1936 he married Kathleen Patricia Dixon, known as Kay, and adopted her Anglican faith. He continued teaching in the Math department. The next year Bill got his Master’s Degree and accepted a position at St. John’s College, University of Manitoba in Winnipeg teaching Math and Physics.

In Winnipeg in February 1939 Bill and Kay had a daughter, Margaret. When war was declared in September, Bill continued teaching. Kay was soon pregnant again and gave birth to another daughter, Carolynne, in October 1940. In June, Bill had applied to the RCAF for aircrew, but returned immediately to request administrative duties. Because he was only 24, this request was delayed. Bill was finally contacted and during the Christmas break, he enlisted in the RCAF, to be an instructor. He stated that he liked to swim, play tennis and squash. Bill was made an officer within three weeks.

By March, Kay had moved back to Toronto with her daughters. Bill was taking the Air Navigation Instructors course in Rivers, Manitoba and completed it in April, 1941. He next spent a year in London, Ontario teaching eight week courses in Navigation.

In February 1942, Bill filled out a form indicating that he didn’t wish to return to his job in Manitoba after the war. He expressed an interest in farming, although he’d only had 6 weeks’ agricultural experience in Manitoba.

Bill was finally posted to Malton Airport (now Pearson) in Toronto at the beginning of June 1942 and continued teaching the eight week Navigation course. He remained at Malton until

October 1943 and was able to live with his family at 192 Winnett Avenue near Vaughan Road and Oakwood Avenue.

Whether Bill actively transferred or was posted to Montreal is unknown. He was assigned to the training command in Montreal as Special Air Crew. The Montreal division was responsible for the RCAF training plan for Quebec and the Maritimes. Bill was assigned to Ferry Command, the group of airmen and women who ferried aircraft from North American factories to Britain and the various theatres of war.