DAVID JOHN HODGSON
David John Hodgson
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Born: Enlisted: Date: Service No.: Tour: Rank: Discharge: |
Grafton, Ontario The Royal Canadian Air Force January 7, 1941 J/89633 UK, Germany Pilot Officer December 13, 1945
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David John Hodgson was born in Granton, Ontario, a small farming community outside of London, in 1920. He enlisted in the RCAF in January 1941. He attended #3 Bomber and Gunnery training school in MacDonald, Manitoba from September 1943 to October 1943. He attained a gunnery rate of 83% and completed 24 1/2 hours of flight training time with over 5100 rounds fired. He was then assigned overseas in January, 1944, and started air craft orientation training on the Wellington Bomber. Assigned to 429 Squadron, Leeming under Flying Officer Neilly, with his first flight on May 21, 1944. First official bombing operation was on May 27, 1944 (night time) target at “Bourg Leopold”. He was a tail gunner on a Halifax Bomber. His last bombing operation with Neilly was on November 2, 1944; a night time bombing run over “Dusseldorf Rhur”. His final bombing operation he filled in for a gunner who was ill, for a total of 33 ops, with over 164 hours of air time and a total service flying time of 405 hours. After his last flight he was made a Pilot Officer. In May of 1945 he was sent to Shrewsbury in Shropshire to teach gunnery. He returned home to Canada June 15, 1945. Homeward Bound, as he remembers in his log. While he was at Leeming Air Drome he met my mother, Joyce, she was an electrician for the Air Ministry. They were married in April 1945. After the war they came to Windsor to live and raise a family. Submitted by daughter, Angela Grondin |
Photo taken upon return to Canada by sister Ruth
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David and Joyce Hodgson
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