Boucher, Thomas Gerald
Brief History:
Born on September 19, 1915, Thomas Gerald Boucher was the son of Thomas Carroll and Mayme Boucher of Ottawa, Ontario. He had blue eyes, dark hair and had a medium complexion according to his attestation papers. His father, Thomas Carroll, was a Linotype operator by trade; a Linotype operator handled the machine that "cast solid lines from brass dies, or matrices, selected automatically by actuating [turning on] a keyboard" ("Linotype", Dictionary.com) for newspaper printing purposes. However, he became a Staff Sergeant during the First World War and served with the Royal Canadian Medical Corps. Thomas' uncles were NHL Hall of Famers Georges Boucher and Frank Boucher, while other members from his father’s side of the family have played professional hockey for the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers. He attended St. Patrick’s School until 1928 and Glebe Collegiate until 1930, when he transferred to St. Patrick’s College where he received his high school diploma and received the prestigious Doran Trophy, a “trophy awarded to a top student in academics, athletics and leadership” (St. Pat’s Alumni Association), but in 1934 an athletic tournament secured the ringmen of St. Patrick’s College the coveted Doran Trophy (see Figure 1.1). Thomas Gerald enjoyed basketball, hockey, golf, swimming, music and dramatic arts. He also took one year of post-secondary science courses at St. Patrick’s College. Thomas left the college in September 1936 to work as a miner in the Macassa Gold Mines found in north eastern Ontario, but returned back to Ottawa in January to work for Crain Printers Limited as a salesman. He married Phyllis Elta Ashton on December 26, 1936 when he was 21 and she was just 18 years old. They had a son, Thomas Ward Boucher, on the 5th of August 1938. Thomas Gerald Boucher enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force on June 21, 1940.
Figure 1.1 - Ottawa Citizen Article dated March 5, 1934 detailing the
win of St. Patrick's College over other Ottawa-area high schools.
Service Record:
Thomas Gerald Boucher enlisted on June 21, 1940 at the RCAF Recruiting Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. A month later, he was sent off the Manning Depot #1 in Toronto, Ontario, where he was given the rank of Air Craftsman 2nd Class (see Figure 1.2). It seems that he did not follow the traditional training sequence as set by the British Commonwealth Air Training Program (BCATP) and illustrated on page 17 of the book Canadians at War: 1939-1945 by Donald M. Santor, as he first went to Bombing and Gunnery School in Jarvis, Ontario and a month later he was transferred to Initial Training School #2 in Regina, Saskatchewan. At the Initial Training School soldiers learned the basics of war. Two weeks after the required 4 weeks of initial training were over, Thomas received his Leading Aircraftsman rank (equivalent to the rank of Corporal in the Army), and was moved to the Air Observer School in Malton, Ontario. He passed the 12 weeks course and received his Air Observer badge after training on the Fleet Finch or the Tiger Moth (his service record does not indicate which aircraft was used in training); on January 5, 1941 he was Taken off Strength by the Bombing and Gunnery School in Jarvis Ontario. A month later on February 16, 1941 he arrived in Rivers, Manitoba for Air Navigation School as Temporary Sergeant, a program that lasted 4 weeks. Afterwards, he was promoted as Pilot Officer from Temporary Paid Sergeant (see Figure 1.4) with a 10 day leave between March 17, 1941 and March 26, 1941, before coming back to the pool ready to proceed overseas in Debert, Nova Scotia. Even though the Pilots in the Pool have a 25 week course for learning how to navigate the 450 kW North American Harvard, Thomas received his 'Wings' earlier and embarked for overseas deployment on June 6, 1941, less than three months after arriving in Debert; his specific disembarkment location in the UK is not specified. Pilot Officer Boucher must have been an excellent pilot because only after the required 25 weeks of training on the Harvard, did an Officer receive "his 'Wings' [and] was sent to England where he completed his training with 25 hours of combat flying" (Santor 16)
Figure 1.2 - Leading Aircraftsman badge 2nd class - received Figure 1.3 - Air Observer's badge
upon successful completion of Initial Training School
Figure 1.4 - RCAF Sergeant Pilot badge - received upon successful completion
of the Service Flying Training School
Death and Memorial:
Thomas Gerald Boucher was killed in a flying accident on August 11, 1941 at the age of 25, one month short of his 26th birthday. The crash happened during mid-air operations at 22h 40 min near Misson Springs, in the Finningley area of UK where his unit #25 Overseas Training Unit (OTU) was stationed. One reason for the crash might be related to the fact that no matter how skilled a pilot Thomas Boucher was, he did not complete the mandatory 25 week Pilot Officer training course with the Harvard aircraft in Canada. Because the plane went up in flames on impact, partial incineration of his body resulted in immediate death. The Air Ministry arranged for a funeral for him on August 15, 1941 in the Finningley Parish Church at 15 h 00 min. His grave can be found in the Finningley Churchyard Parish extension (Holy Trinity and St.Oswald) in Row A, Grave #3 (Figures 1.9 and 1.10) Because Thomas was training when the crash happened, he did not have to opportunity to take part in any important fights with the RCAF. For his bravery and service to Canada and the Allied Forces, Pilot Officer Boucher received the Memorial Cross, the Defence Medal, the General Service Medal and the Canadian Voluntary Service Medal (Figures 1.5 to 1.8).
Figure 1.5 - "issued as a memento of personal loss and Figure 1.6 - The Defence Figure 1.7 - The General
sacrifice on the part of widows and mother of Canadian Medal was awarded to Service Medal (or War Medal)
sailors and soldiers who laid down their lives for their country Canadians for six months of was awarded to "all full-time
during the war." (Veterans Affairs Canada) service between September personnel of the armed forces
3rd 1939 and May 8th 1945 and merchant marines for
(Veterans Affairs Canada) serving 28 days between
September 3rd, 1939 and
September 2nd, 1945."
(Veterans Affairs Canada)
Figure 1.8 - The Canadian Volunteer
Service Medal was awarded those
who voluntarily served in Active Service
for 8 months between September 3rd, 1939
and March 1st, 1947.
(Veterans Affairs Canada)
Figure 1.9 - Satellite image of Holy Trinity and St. Oswald Church and its graveyard extension located in
Finningley, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom
Figure 1.10 - Grave of Pilot Officer Thomas Gerald Boucher located in the graveyard of Holy Trinity
and St. Oswald Church (Row A, Grave 3) in Finningley, United Kingdom.
Works Cited
Air Observer's Badge. Digital image. RAF Flying Badges Obsolete. Royal Air Force Organisational History, 16 Apr. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.rafweb.org/Badges3A.htm>.
"Canadian Volunteer Service Medal." Veterans Affairs Canada. 4 Oct. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/cmdp/mainmenu/group04/cvsm>.
"Defence Medal." Veterans Affairs Canada. 4 Oct. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/cmdp/mainmenu/group04/dm>.
Gravemarker. Digital image. Veterans Affaris Canada. 7 Oct. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/virtualmem/photoview/2702942/14029>.
"Linotype." Dictionary.com. Random House Dictionary, 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Linotype>.
"Memorial Crosses - Memorial Cross GVIR." Veterans Affairs Canada. 4 Oct. 2011. Web. 02 May 2012.
<http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/cmdp/mainmenu/group09/mcgrvi>.
"Rank Structure." Royal Canadian Air Force. 3 Apr. 2009. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/v2/hst/page-eng.asp?id=634>.
RCAF Pilot Officer Badge. Digital image. Remembering Remembrance Day. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.personaldigital.ca/rem_day/graphics/rcaf_wings_tn_grdnt.jpg>.
"RCAF RANK INSIGNIA." CANADIAN MILITARY POLICE - VIRTUAL MUSEUM. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://mpmuseum.org/rcafpostrank.html>.
Santor, Donald M. Canadiana Scrapbook: Canadians at War, 1939-1945. Toronto: Prentice-Hall of Canada, 1979. Print.
"St. Patrick's College Ringmen Are Holders of Doran Trophy." Editorial. The Ottawa Evening 5 Mar. 1941, 221st ed.: 7. news.google.com. Ottawa Citizen. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2Dc0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=ePUIAAAAIBAJ&pg=4558,2654732>.
"War Medal (1939-45)." Veterans Affairs Canada. 4 Oct. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/cmdp/mainmenu/group04/wm45>.
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