Jack Walter Hoad

Jack Hoad was born December 2, 1922 in Toronto. His parents, Walter Alexander and Kate Ethel Beck married in Toronto on April 14, 1914. They were both born in 1888 in England, Walter in East Molesey on the western edge of London to a cab driver and Kate in Oxford. She was the only daughter of a widower who worked as a domestic gardener. Walter came to Canada in 1912 and Kate claimed she arrived in 1914. The couple may have known each other in England. Walter was a plumber. In 1915 they had a son, Roy Alexander and to make room for their growing family, the next year they bought 24 Norway Avenue.

Jack started at Norway in 1928. In 1932 he was sick for three months with typhoid fever. He graduated in 1936 and completed two years at Malvern Collegiate before transferring to Central Tech for their Aircraft Mechanics course. He played a bit of rugby and hockey.

Upon graduation in 1940 he was hired at De Havilland Aircraft, working with sheet metal and assembling aircraft, including plexiglass assembly. During this time he took flying lessons and on May 2, 1942 was awarded his pilot's licence. He enlisted in the RCAF on August 11, 1942, wanting to be a pilot. He had approximately 30 hours solo flying and 14 hours dual. The RCAF had rigorous testing to determine the stream to which each recruit would be assigned, whether pilot, navigator or ground crew, etc. Jack was deemed pilot material, with one assessment stating “Definitely. Can't understand why not compared to some who are recommended.” For the next 16 months, Jack was stationed near Lake Erie, in Oshawa, Camp Borden and Trenton. He improved his flying skills on various training aircraft including Tiger Moths, Harvards and Cornells.

On June 23, 1943, he married Paulene Ruth Black, a Beach girl a year his junior. They were at Malvern together during Jack's second year, but whether they actually met there is unknown. She left Malvern early and worked in a bank. They married in her parent's house on Wineva Avenue and had a short honeymoon as Jack had to report back to Oshawa a few days later.

Paulene Black in Grade 11, Malvern Muse yearbook 1940.

At Trenton in October, Jack became a flight instructor, training future pilots.

Jack, circa 1943. From The Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

In December, Jack was assigned to No. 8 Service Flying Training School in Moncton, New Brunswick. A month later the school was re-located to Weyburn, Saskatchewan and Paulene joined her husband out west, living close to the air base.

By mid-1944, it was obvious that German air power had been significantly weakened and the RCAF began to scale back recruitment of new pilots. No. 8 school was to be closed in late June. On June 6, 1944, Jack was transferred to No. 18 Service Flying Training School at Gimli, Manitoba where they flew Harvard trainers, Jack's favourite plane. He had 659 flying hours when he arrived and in the next four and a half months he accumulated 135 more. The other flight instructors found Jack to be friendly and he was highly regarded among them. Paulene lived in Sandy Hook, a couple of miles south of the base. In September Jack was given leave for a two week holiday.

Harvard Trainers. Canadian Aviation and Space Museum photo.

On October 27, 1944, Jack had flown for an hour an a half in the morning. He was training James R. R. Lawlor, a 24 year old pilot from Manitoba. Lawlor had approximately 1000 hours of flying experience, having served a tour of duty flying Lockheed Hudson bombers out of Gibraltar on anti-submarine patrol. After completing that tour of duty in June 1943, he became an instructor in England for a year. He came back to Canada and requested leave to take a job as a commercial pilot for Trans Canada Airlines (the precursor to Air Canada). Lawlor was at Gimli for testing for his civilian job.

Jack and Lawlor took off at 1330 hrs to practise spins “under the hood,” which is flying using instruments only and wearing a visor over the eyes so that only the instrument panel can be seen. Jack was piloting the flight. At 1410 hrs the plane entered a spin from which Jack couldn't recover. The two men were killed on impact.

Paulene brought her husband's body back to Toronto where he had a full air force funeral. He is buried in St. John's Norway Cemetery, about 300 metres from Norway school.

Jack's grave, St. John's Norway Cemetery. From The Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Walter passed away in 1962 and Kate followed the next year. Paulene married again, to Robert J. Flanagan, a watchmaker. She died in 2022 in her 100th year.