Hi, I have attached a photograph of my mothers cousin WW2 RCAF Pilot William (Bill) Fowler (and his sister Carole) that was taken circa 1945/46 “on his return home from the war” (his mothers words on the rear of the photograph) at their then home at Michel, British Columbia, Canada (an old coal mining settlement in the Crows Nest Pass of the Rocky Mountains that is now abandoned with the population relocated to nearby Sparwood in the 1960’s). I know no other details about Bill and appreciate this is probably a long shot but can anyone assist me with any information/advice with a view to attempting to obtain details of his wartime service with RCAF (I know from now deceased uncles that he visited his cousins in England circa 1943-1944) and the possibility of obtaining his service record from Canada? Are there any ex service organisations that might be able to assist? Thanks. Steve Y.
Steve, To obtain his service records, please visit Library and Archives Canada> www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/services/index-e.html Good luck with your research. I am sure one of the other forum members will be along shortly.
ADMIN Can you please change the title of this thread for me to "Fl Lt William James (Bill) Fowler RCAF - 263 Squadron RAF (Typhoon) 1944/45" and move it to the War In the Air subforum. As a result of some excellent detective work by forum member Alieneyes aka Dave I have traced this long lost cousin of my mother (albeit he passed away in Calgary Alberta in 1986). I will post more once the title is changed. Thanks Steve Y
Hi, just to elaborate on the above short post. Forum member Alieneyes (Dave) has managed to identify my mothers cousin. He found - 1. An article in the Toronto Star from March 1945 mentioning Bill attached below. 2. A Picture on Flicka of all 263 Squadron pilots, including Bill, with a Typhoon aircraft dated about June 1944 3. An article about Bill on the Military Museums of Calgary online Mural of Honour site - he is #209 out of a list of 240 veterans. His entry was sponsored by his widow in 2006 as Bill died in 1986. He was an aspiring athlete hoping to compete in the 1940 Olympics before war broke out. He arrived to England in 1943 nd flew over 100 missions in 1944/45. I am extremely grateful to Dave for discovering all this information as I have been googling variations of Bill Fowler RCAF Michel BC to no avail for several years past. The curator of the Mural of Honour is going to contact Bill's surviving family on my behalf. Having absolutely no idea of RAF matters I have spent the past couple of days looking at various internet articles about 263 Squadron and have noticed several mentions of Bill in the Operational record books which have been transcribed by a Laurie B. I would appreciate any more information members may be able provide about 263 Squadron. Does anyone know whether Bill's RCAF commission would be listed in the London Gazette? Dave found me a link to the Canada Gazette but its online records only commence in 1998. I will consider applying for his RCAF papers from Library & Archives Canada in Ottowa once I have, hopefully, spoken to Bill's relatives. Thanks once again to Dave. Steve
Does anyone know whether Bill's RCAF commission would be listed in the London Gazette? Definitely not, Steve. Failing the Canada Gazette the only way I know of learning the date of commissioning is via the Record of Service Airman in each RCAF jacket. Regards, Dave
Thanks Dave. I'll wait for contact from the family before I do anything. The curator in Calgary was quite positive about making contact - once she cleared the backlog on her desk that has accumuilated over the Remembrance Day period! regards, Steve
Hello, My name is Anne Gafiuk and I created www.thetyphoonproject.org. I would like your permission to add the photo of Bill and his sister to his page. Please contact me via anne@thetyphoonproject.org. I also have found the attached files. I have additional files if you are interested. I am at present working on a book about the men and women who served during WWII from the Elk Valley and will be including Bill Fowler. I hope to have the book ready for early November 2023. Anne
Hi Anne, Good to hear from you. The power of the internet after 11 years eh? I have a number of short newspaper articles mentioning Bill Fowler by name from the Michel/Natal news that I turned up in The Lethbridge News via the Google news archive some years ago - I presume your articles from the same source? I haven’t seen the group photo previously. I made contact via The Military Museum with Bill’s daughter Patti in late 2012 and my wife and I visited family in Calgary in summer 2013. Patti took us on a road trip through the Crowsnest Pass as far as Fernie, where my relatives originally settled, and on to what is left of Michel to visit my great aunt’s (Bill’s mother) grave. She let me have copies of other photographs of her Dad and I remain in contact with Patti and her cousins (children of Bill’s sister Carole shown in the photo I posted on the forum). Patti is active in a Calgary based military charity. I will let her know about your enquiry and share your email with her as I think she will be better placed to discuss matters with you. You may not be aware that Bill features on the Mural of Honour at The Military Museum in Calgary Mural of Honour - Mural of Honour Mural of Honour - 209 Bill Fowler I have no objection to the use of the photo but I will leave the final decision to Patti. I’ll communicate with you further by email. Best Wishes Steve
