Military service
Burial/memorial information
Camille Laflamme, who joined the RCAF in May 1941, was one of the crew of five – pilot, flight engineer, navigator/ bomb aimer, and front and rear gunners – in a two-motor Wellington bomber; he held the position of navigator/bomber. Returning from their fourth bombing mission over Germany, while completing their crossing of the English Channel, they were spotted and shot down by a German fighter plane; their plane lacked the evasion capacity and the power to defend itself against the enemy fighters. Camille’s plane made it to England and crashed near South End on Sea, killing all five. The Wellington bombers – nicknamed “flying coffins” – were replaced one or two months later by the four-engine Avro Lancaster bombers with a crew of seven: pilot, flight engineer, navigator, wireless operator, bomb aimer, and mid and upper gunners.
Camille’s father, after Camille’s death, went to see Air Marshall Bradley, to pull out his other son Jacques Laflamme – Service number R82941 (he had joined the RCAF on February 17 1941) – and transfered him in a passionate posting for twelve months, given that he had the right to do so when a member of the family is killed in action. Camille’s death may have saved Jacques and permitted Jacques to continue his legacy of children and grand-children.
Digital gallery of Flight Sergeant Joseph Yves Camille Charles Laflamme
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Gravestone for J.Y.C.C. Laflamme
Grave of Flt. Sgt. Joseph Laflamme, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England Taken on August 5,2000. Burial with the rest of the crew of Wellington bomber serial no. BJ 894, No. 425 (Alouette) Squadron, RCAF. Note: The photographer is a nephew of Flt. Sgt. Jack Tritt, killed in the same crash. -
Newspaper Clipping
This photo of Sgt. Observer J. Y. Camille Laflamme is from the Nov. 23, 1942 Ottawa Journal. -
Newspaper Clipping
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Memorial Card
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Photo of Camille Laflamme
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Photo of Jacques Laflamme
Jacques Laflamme is seen here paying respects to his brother, Camille. -
Medals
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Photo of Joseph Laflamme
Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me -
Newspaper Clipping
Remembered on the pages of the Ottawa Journal. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me -
Memorial
Flight Sergeant Joseph Yves Camille Charles Laflamme is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
Flight Sergeant Joseph Yves Camille Charles Laflamme is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
Father J P Lardie's comments as inscribed on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Joseph Yves Camille Charles Laflamme
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Joseph Yves Camille Charles Laflamme
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Joseph Yves Camille Charles Laflamme
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Joseph Yves Camille Charles Laflamme
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Joseph Yves Camille Charles Laflamme
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Joseph Yves Camille Charles Laflamme
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Joseph Yves Camille Charles Laflamme
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Joseph Yves Camille Charles Laflamme
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Joseph Yves Camille Charles Laflamme
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 88 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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SOUTHEND-ON-SEA (SUTTON ROAD) CEMETERY Essex, United Kingdom
Historical Information
This cemetery contains 127 Commonwealth burials of the 1914-18 war and 152 burials of the 1939-45 war, including 1 unidentified seaman of the Merchant Navy. In addition there are 4 Foreign National war burials here. There are 2 small Screen Wall memorial panels naming those of the 1914-1918 war whose graves are not marked by headstones.
For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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