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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Walter George Bond

In memory of:

Flight Sergeant Walter George Bond

June 19, 1945
Sandoway, Myanmar

Military Service


Service Number:

R/260658

Age:

21

Force:

Air Force

Unit:

Royal Canadian Air Force

Division:

358 (R.A.F.) Sqdn

Citation(s):

1939-45 Star, Burma Star, War Medal 1939-45, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp. Posthumously awarded RCAF Operational Wings in recognition of gallant service in action against the enemy, 19 March 1947.

Additional Information


Born:

February 25, 1924
Dysart, Saskatchewan

Enlistment:

July 2, 1943
Edmonton, Alberta

Son of Walter and Edith (née Bolingbroke) Bond, of Grande Prairie, Alberta. Brother of Captain (Pilot) Thomas Carlisle Bond, Donald Gordon, Edith Hazel, Myrtle Munro and Mildred Aida. Flight Sergeant Bond enjoyed hockey, baseball, softball, swimming and football. Walter`s father also served in the First World War as Corporal.

Commemorated on Page 497 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:

SINGAPORE MEMORIAL
Singapore

Grave Reference:

Column 458.

Location:

In the Far East at Singapore, the SINGAPORE MEMORIAL bears, on its columns, the names of over 24,000 soldiers and airmen of the British Commonwealth and Empire who have no known grave. The airmen whose names are inscribed on the Memorial died during operations over the whole of southern and eastern Asia and the surrounding seas and oceans. The SINGAPORE MEMORIAL stands in Kranji War Cemetery. The central avenue of the Cemetery rises gently from the Stone of Remembrance near the entrance, to the Cross of Sacrifice beyond which flights of steps lead to a terrace on top of a hill, on which the Memorial stands. Twelve wide columns bear the name panels and support a flat roof, which gives protection to the inscribed names and shade and shelter to the visitor. Rising through the roof in the centre, to a height of 24 metres, is a great pylon surmounted by a star. On a curved panel at the foot of this pylon are inscribed in English these words:
1939 - 1945 On the walls of this memorial are recorded the names of twenty-four thousand soldiers and airmen of many races united in service to the British Crown who gave their lives in Malaya and neighbouring lands and seas in the air over Southern and Eastern Asia and the Pacific but to whom the fortune of war denied the customary rites accorded to their comrades in death. Kranji War Cemetery is 22 kilometres north of the city of Singapore, on the north side of Singapore Island overlooking the Straits of Johore. It is just off the Singapore-Johore road (Woodlands road) at milestone 13 1/2 and there is a short approach road from the main road. The Cemetery is known locally as Kranji Memorial.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Photo of WALTER GEORGE BOND– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • RAF Liberator Plane– Walter¿s B-24 Liberator, coded EW124, was similar to this RAF 159 Squadron model, seen taking off from its Digri, India base in 1944.
  • Group Photo– This photo shows Walter Bond, the five other Canadians who died with him in Burma, and four other then-crewmates during Liberator training in British Columbia, circa early 1945.   It was sent to the mother of Ernie Elford, who died with Walter, by the mother of their skipper, Arthur Anderson.  The caption on the back reads as follows: 'Front row: Ernie Elford, Alfie Maxwell, George Bond, Bill Vaudner.  Back row: Jack [no last name], my son Arthur Anderson, Ingy [no last name], Allan Silverthorn, Lloyd [no last name], Jim [no last name]'.  

Walter, Elford, Maxwell, Vaudner, Anderson, and Silverthorn, plus two Englishmen not in the photo (Albert Robertson and Ken Storrar) were killed on an RAF 358 Squadron Special Duties operation destined for Siam on 19 June 1945.  Their missing Liberator, plus four sets of unidentified remains, were discovered later in 1945 on the slope of a remote mountain in western Burma.  The four bodies were buried at the crash site in November 1945, but sadly they were never moved to a war cemetery at a later date.  All eight crewmen are still officially missing.
  • Photo of Walter Bond– Taken in British Columbia during Liberator crew training, circa early 1945.

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

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