Another Fallen Aviator Taken FAR Too Young: A Memorial Day Story

Greetings Me Droogs N Droogettes!
A rather somber day here at Casa El Grande Campesino, as it is Memorial Day. A day that is supposed to be a somber reflection on the memories of those who paid the Ultimate Sacrifice for their Country(ies).

The last time we talked about a MIA/KIA was my Uncle 2nd L.T. Cornelius Francis O'Leary. The story of my work and research is HERE. One of r/ourguys O2 (as in the symbol for Oxygen) hit me up via DM askin g if I could find out some stuff about his Uncle Bruce who also was a KIA in WW2. Seems he died before O2 was born, and he wanted to know what I could find.

So O2 gave me his Uncle's full name and D.O.B. and I was off to the races. It was a good thing in that me bein g fresh off of one 'hunt' I had no issue 'shifting fire' in going and finding out a LOT of info on his Uncle Bruce

Now, please allow me to introduce the Guest of Honor for today's write-up: Flight Sergeant Bruce E. Greenhalgh

A rather dapper young man.
In fact so young, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force on June 30, 1943 as he was only 17 years, 10 months old. Apparently he was afraid he, like many others his age, was going miss out on the war.

He was born (according to the records) August 11, 1925. He lived with his father Edward in Niagara Falls N.Y. which explains the ease in which he was able to cross the border to enlist. Now an interesting factoid came up while perusing Bruce's personnel jacket. His mother Elizabeth had a different address in the file. When O2 started going through the documents, he was highly surprised as it seems that after Uncle Bruce died, his father just faaaded away in the memory of the family.

His Grandmother and the rest of the family had said that her first husband Edward had 'died' whereas the record shows they were divorced. I figure that since Uncle Bruce didn't make it home and had been living with Dad, it was easier and more 'socially acceptable' for Grandma to have been a 'widower' than a divorcee. Even O2 was really surprised by this revelation.

The other surprise was that the 'Family Legend' of Uncle Bruce was that he was so good at aerial gunnery that he had been asked to stay on as an instructor. The record on the other hand:

"...there is room for improvement." and "...Not recommended for a commission." and lastly "Not suitable at all" to be an instructor...

It is what it is...

After his training Young Bruce packed his gear and hit dirt in England April 2, 1944. He got settled in and on May 2, 1944, he was transferred to the 22 O.T.U. which was the No.22 Operational Training Unit (OTU) and was a Bomber Command unit that trained aircrew for World War II at RAF Wellesbourne Mountford in Warwickshire, England from 1941 to 1945. Bruce got trained up in being an aerial gunner on a Vickers Wellington bomber:

His training began on May 3rd, 1944, and ran until August 10th, 1944. He got a couple of days off, and then on August 23rd, 1944 after completing his transition to being a fully qualified Aerial Gunner, they transferred him again to 61 Base in Yorkshire England. He was at one of four training bases in Yorkshire that all fell under the Command of No. 6 Bomber Group, Royal Canadian Air Force.

This is where he trained up and learned the ins-and-outs of the Biggest and Baddest Bomber the Brits and Canoeheads had, The Avro Lancaster:

This was the heavy-heavy of WW2, designed to haul the MASSIVE 12,000 Pound "Tallboy" and the 22,000 Pound "Grand Slam" 'Earthquake Bombs'. Mostly used in night bombing, it also was used for daylight precision bombing.

Bruce graduated and left the 61 Base on or around October 2, 1944. He was assigned to the No. 419 Bomber Squadron formed at RAF Mildenhall, England in 1941 as part of No. 3 Group, Bomber Command.

Now from MY reading of his 'jacket' he didn't have any other flights except for his training missions. His flying record shows (that I can find) no combat runs until what I -think- was his first and only combat flight on October 28th, 1944. This was part of "Bomber" Harris's Cologne Raids in October of 1944. The 6th Bomber Group and all attached units took massive casualties during this time, where the odds were One in Forty that your plane was going to get shot down. Those odds sound pretty good, until you realize that they were sending up 120+ planes on these raids, and at least 3 of them weren't coming back.

Bruce's plane was one of those that didn't make it.

It got shot down on October 28th 1944. His initial interment was in Germany near Cologne:

Which after the war ended, he was formally interred in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery just outside of Koln (der Cherman spelling):

He was posthumously promoted from Technical Sgt. to Flight Sgt. on the same day.

Now, as with Uncle Connie (my Great Uncle) There was some confusion as to whether or not Bruce had actually been KIA'd. The file I found had the scanned actual letters from his father Edward, written to Casualty Command that -someone- in a POW camp in Germany had written him, and said that Bruce was alive but comatose. I won't put the letters up, as they're sort of heart-wrenching... a divorced father hoping against hope that his only son might still be alive.

I have to hand it to the Canucks man... they researched it.
Dug deep to find out.
Diligently.

ALL the letters back and forth between Casualty Command and Edward, trying to figure out if Bruce was actually dead or not? Back in WW2 they were a little too trusting as now? This positively reeks of scumbag-opportunism trying to give false hope. If Dad hadn't reached out to Casualty Command, I just know the next letter would have been to the idea of "Bruce needs money" or some such evil shytte... But at least they final 'closed the case' so to speak, and after that, Edward s-l-o-w-l-y faded out into obscurity...

But Never Forget:

Fl/Sgt. Bruce Edward Greenhalgh
19 Years, 2 Months, and 17 Days Old...
Far too Young.
A Tragedy.
Lost Dreams.
Lost Futures.
Remember those who will never grow old.
Honor them, and their memory.
They deserve nothing less.

More Later
Big Country