Gordon Steinberg

Gordon Steinberg's parents, Abraham Steinberg and Bella Nagellburg, were both born in Austria in the late 1880s. They married there on November 24, 1913 and soon after emigrated to Toronto, where Gordon was born on October 9, 1914. The family roomed downtown, possibly on Brunswick Avenue north of College and Abraham worked as a peddler.

Abraham and Bella had four more children: Lillian (b. ca. 1916), Bernice (b. 1917), Louis (b. ca. 1921) and Lawrence (b. ca. 1923). As the family grew, the Steinbergs moved to the neighbourhood of Knesseth Israel Synagogue (the Junction Shul) on Maria Street. The synagogue had opened for services in 1913 and a number of the members were cabinet makers employed at the Heintzman & Co. piano factory that was on Keele Street. Much of the synagogue's interior woodwork was carved by these men. Before 1924 when a rabbi began officiating, services were conducted by members of the congregation. Many Jewish families migrated to the neighbourhood and the temple served over two hundred families in the 1920s. It included a Jewish school at 131 and 141 Maria and a mission at 186 Maria. Maria Street had the highest density of Jewish residents in Toronto's west end. Today Knesseth Israel is Toronto's oldest original synagogue that is still in use, although only for High Holiday services, weddings and bar mitzvahs.

Gordon began school in 1920 at Strathcona and the next year Abraham bought 127 Maria Street. He was working as a milkman for Caulfield's Dairy which was at 381 Roncesvalles Avenue. In 1925, Abraham and Bella proudly became naturalized British subjects. In the late 1920s Gordon was a member of the West Toronto Junction Jewish Boys' Club which met in the gym of Humberside Collegiate and when he was twelve, he was involved with building an airworthy Jenny airplane out of a pair which had crashed.

West Toronto Junction Jewish Boys' Club in Humberside Collegiate, ca. 1926-27. Best guess for Gordon is the boy in the sweater vest, third from the right in the second last row. From The Ontario Jewish Archives.

Curtis JN "Jenny" airplane. Photo: George Johnson, Aviation Section, US Army Signal Corps.

Gordon graduated from Strathcona in 1928 and continued to Humberside Collegiate where he was awarded his junior matriculation in 1933. Known to his friends as “Gordie,” he was strictly a “corner lot” athlete, enjoying rugby, baseball, basketball, billiards, swimming and boxing. After graduation he worked as a truck driver for a cartage company until 1937, when he drove with his father for a year for Caulfield's. He then drove for a cartage company that was owned by a man who lived on Humbercrest Boulevard. During these years he also did some factory work and odd jobs.

By 1937, sister Lillian had married and she and her husband were living with the Steinbergs. Gordon eventually had a sweetheart, Ruby Alma Schopf, a girl seven years his junior, who was boarding with a family at 3251 Dundas Street West, near Gilmour.

On January 24, 1940, Gordon applied to join the RCAF after being called up. He admitted to having flown as an airplane passenger several times. The Steinbergs had relatives in Brooklyn, New York, and it is possible that he flew down on commercial aircraft to visit them. As the result of his medical examination, it was found that he was “temporarily unfit for full flying duties.” He was allowed to reapply on June 23. In March Gordon went into hospital to have a hernia operation, which was probably the reason for the deferral of his acceptance into the air force. However, when he reapplied, the application was held up again. An August 20, 1940 memorandum in his service file stated: “While this applicant was born in Canada, both his parents were born in Austria, and it is felt that he is not a desirable candidate for enlistment. The interim report of the Commanding Officer of the Toronto Recruiting Centre does not recommend that this applicant be accepted.” It appears that Gordon was confronted with the RCAF's decision the previous month and engaged a lawyer to prove that he was born in Toronto and that his parents were naturalized British subjects. The RCAF investigation of the Steinbergs concluded they were not a threat and finally on December 8, Gordon signed his enlistment papers. Actor Christopher Plummer's father was his recruiting officer at this time and stated about Gordon's December 18 recruitment interview: “His persistence to overcoming obstacles to enlistment testifies to his keenness.”

In January 1941 Gordon was sent to Picton for his basic training and by February he was in St. Hubert, Quebec, south of Montreal, guarding the airplane hangars while he awaited the start of his initial training. He spent a month in Montreal at the wireless school, probably also on guard duty, and his initial training eventually began on May 3 in Montreal. By the end of the initial training, recruits were selected for the pilot stream or were sent to the wireless/air gunner/navigator programs. Gordon was delighted to be chosen as a pilot. He was given leave from June 21 to July 1, returning to Toronto, before he boarded a train west to Regina where he would receive 50 hours of basic flying lessons in Tiger Moth biplanes. Gordon passed the course and was sent to the Service Flying Training School in Yorkton, Saskatchewan on August 21. Gordon's instructors determined he had exceptional abilities and he trained to be a fighter pilot. As the end of the course neared and he knew he would soon be shipped overseas, Gordon asked his girlfriend Ruby to marry him. Once she said yes, on November 1 he applied for permission from the RCAF to marry. It was granted and after Gordon graduated with his pilot's wings on November 8, he returned to Toronto for his embarkation leave. He and Ruby married on November 12. He had to report to Halifax on November 24, so the couple had a short honeymoon before saying good-bye at Union Station.

Gordon sailed sometime around December 7 and hopefully was able to celebrate Hanukkah onboard with the other Jewish servicemen. He arrived in Britain in less than two weeks and reported to the Personnel Reception Centre in Bournemouth. He would be a Canadian flying in the RAF and on January 5, 1942 he was sent to No. 59 Operational Training Unit at what is today's Edinburgh Airport in Scotland. The pilots trained in the Hawker Hurricane, the workhorse of the RAF fighter planes, although overshadowed in fame by the Spitfire. Along with learning to fly the Hurricane, training included navigation and gunnery lessons. When he completed the course in mid-April, he was sent to the Middle East on April 26 to the No. 22 Personnel Transit Centre. It is unknown what Gordon's role was during these months although the North African campaign was in full swing.

Hawker Hurricane belonging to No. 213 Squadron, North Africa, late 1942. From www.historyofwar.org.

He joined 244 Wing Flight on November 7 and then No. 213 Squadron on December 29. The squadron was flying Hurricanes as part of the Desert Air Force, mostly providing convoy escort over the Mediterranean. The unit had seen action at Dunkirk and during the Battle of Britain before moving to North Africa. At the end of 1942, the North African campaign was ongoing. In November Operation TORCH had landed American troops on the north African coast as the British pushed west from Egypt.

Gordon had several weeks' leave before joining Squadron 213 in January 1943. His Jewish faith was strong and he often visited Palestine during his leaves. Joining the unit at the same time was a new commanding officer, Squadron Leader Vernon Crompton “Woody” Woodward, a Canadian from Victoria, British Columbia. He had been decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service over Libya in 1940. He is tied as Canada's second highest scoring pilot of World War II, with 18 destroyed, 4 shared destroyed, 2 unconfirmed, 3 probables and 11 damaged. In August, he would have a bar added to his DFC, when he left the squadron. He, Gordon and Louis Geoffrion from Montreal were the only Canadian pilots in the squadron at the time.

The three Canadians in Squadron 213. The Toronto Star, August 14, 1943.

The squadron had just moved west to Misurata, Libya, 200 kilometres east of Tripoli. Gordon flew his first convoy patrol on January 24, protecting an Allied naval convoy transporting supplies. The Hurricane pilots kept watch for U-boats and enemy aircraft, usually flying protection for two hours before being relieved by other RAF planes, either from Squadron 213 or other squadrons. This was strictly daytime work, although night flying practice took place. In February, the squadron was promised the more agile Spitfire plane, although it was over a year before the Spitfires arrived. Compared to other fighter squadrons in the RAF at the time, the 213 was a quiet one. Their main task was patrolling convoys with the occasional scramble when an enemy aircraft was spotted. The airfield was in the desert, so blowing sand could get in the aircraft engines and the occasional sandstorm caused the squadron to stay grounded for a day or two. The squadron had a winning soccer team and played matches against other units posted nearby.

As reported in the squadron's records on May 28, Flight Sergeant “G. Steinberg received the news that he had been commissioned and suitable measures were taken to congratulate him.”

At the end of July, the squadron moved to Idku, Egypt, located 40 kilometres east of Alexandria and all the pilots were given leave until August 7. When they returned, most of the work was the protection of convoys entering and leaving Alexandria and the Suez Canal. In mid-September the unit moved to Paphos, Cypress. The men thought that they were being moved to take part in a mysterious operation, but the convoy patrols continued and included sweeps, where the squadron would fly over the ocean and the Greek coast, watching for enemy submarines and identifying vessels.

On the morning of September 26, a squadron pilot had to bale out of his Hurricane due to a glycol leak. The pilot lost his dingy, but Gordon circled the man and dropped his. The airman was soon picked up by a rescue boat and was no worse for wear. On October 30, Louis Geoffrion also baled out. He was safely retrieved by the French navy and since it was his birthday, he was feted by the seamen. Prior to this event, on October 18, several of the squadron's pilots shot down an enemy Ju 88 fast bomber. Gordon was not involved, but many of the pilots signed up for volunteer scramble duty afterwards.

Gordon and his Hurricane emblazoned with the Star of David. From Canadian Jews in World War II, Part II: Casualties, compiled by David Rome for the Canadian Jewish Congress, Montreal, 1948.

Gordon flew many different Hurricanes, but one he piloted, number unknown, was painted with the Star of David. He was warned by the squadron's intelligence officer not to fly with the symbol, for his safety if he landed in enemy territory or was captured by the enemy. He ignored the entreaties and continued to fly the aircraft proudly.

The squadron was given clay pigeons for target practice and the men started shooting quail for the mess tables. They were given two days off for Christmas and Boxing Day. There had not been much flying from the middle of December due to the rainy season. On January 23, 1944, Gordon flew from Egypt with the squadron's mail, possibly returning after his leave. The unit moved back to Idku on February 2 and after only flying one convoy patrol in January, Gordon flew four in February. His experience was respected and on February 10 he flew to instruct a South African Air Force squadron on “the finer points of drogue firing.” A drogue is a cloth trailer target, attached behind a plane by wires and dragged for shooting practice.

Squadron 213's pilots, Christmas 1943. Best guess for Gordon is the man fifth from the right in the back row. From FlyPast Magazine, no 175, 1995.

On February 13, eight of the promised Spitfires finally arrived for the squadron. After the squadron record referred to the Hurricane as the 'hansom cab of the air,” it was like Christmas morning for the men. Practice flights began for a few of the pilots.

On February 17, Gordon took off for convoy patrol at 0935 hrs with Flight Sergeant S. G. Pickford as his number two. An hour later they were patrolling ten miles north of the convoy when Gordon changed course and headed back towards the convoy. At 1045 hrs, approximately five miles from the convoy, his engine stalled and black smoke shot out of the plane. Gordon radioed to Pickford that he was going to bale out. He was 50 miles northwest of Alexandria. As he parachuted to the sea, the crew of a Greek destroyer spotted the parachute and immediately went at top speed to him. Ten minutes later he was found clinging to his yellow dinghy, but as the lifeboat approached him, he immediately disappeared under the rough sea. The sailors tried to rescue him to no avail and divers were sent to search for him. He was later recovered with his parachute still attached. It was surmised that he had lost strength as the lifeboat approached or that his parachute became entangled below the ship, pulling him under.

His body was taken aboard the destroyer where the crew unsuccessfully tried to revive him. He was buried at sea later that day. Gordon's death was the first loss for Squadron 213 since November 1942. It had been his 86th operational mission with the squadron, although it may have been his 92nd overall. His name is engraved on the Alamein Memorial in Egypt.

Ruby had moved to a room at 22 Bank Street, near Dundas and Dufferin streets. She remained there until the end of the war. Bella died in 1961. The next year Abraham sold 127 Maria Street. He passed away in 1967.