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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Charles Paul Henderson

In memory of:

Flight Lieutenant Charles Paul Henderson

March 25, 1941
Digby, United Kingdom

Military Service


Service Number:

C/1173

Age:

20

Force:

Air Force

Unit:

Royal Canadian Air Force

Division:

# 401 Ram Squadron

Additional Information


Born:

January 2, 1921
Sudbury, Ontario

Son of Captain Charles Ernest Henderson and Mary Justine Henderson, of Toronto, Ontario.

Commemorated on Page 32 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:

SCOPWICK CHURCH BURIAL GROUND
Lincolnshire, United Kingdom

Grave Reference:

Row 2. Grave 37.

Location:

Digby aerodrome was built towards the end of the First World War and after the war it functioned as a permanent unit of the Royal Air Force. In 1937 it became a member of No 12 Fighter Group in which it remained until the end of the Second World War.

Digby was one of the original sectors of Fighter Command and in the early days of the Second World War was very active in the defence of northern England. No 42 (Fighter) Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force (known as the Red Indian Squadron from the emblem which it carried) was formed there in April 1942. On September 16, 1942, the sector was taken over by the RCAF and until the end of the war was known as Royal Canadian Air Force Station, Digby.

The 37 Canadian airmen buried at Scopwick lost their lives while stationed at Digby. They include an American airman who served with the RCAF, P/O J G Magee, and author of the poem 'High Flight'.

Scopwick Church Burial Ground contains 50 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War and five German war graves. The graves form a plot in the top half of the burial ground. The Cross of Sacrifice in the corner of the plot was unveiled by the Air Member, Canadian Joint Staff on June 1, 1950.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Star March 1941. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Star March 1941. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of Charles Paul Henderson
  • Group Photo– Graduating class
  • Photo of Charles Paul Henderson– Paul Henderson was one of the first five provisional pilots who was trained by a woman flying instructor, Helen Harrison. Miss Helen Harrison, who helped train the Dominion's aviators, is shown with one of 
her pupils, Paul Henderson, in a dual-control plane at the Kitchener-Waterloo Flying Club in 
Ontario
  • Newspaper Clipping– Memorialized on the pages of the Globe and Mail. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Medals– Born in Sudbury on Jan. 2, 1921 his father was Capt. Charles Henderson, M.C., who served with the 102nd Battalion in World War I. As soon as he completed his matriculation at Northern Vocational School in June of 1939, he applied for the RCAF. He was called up two days before Britain declared war. He was the youngest pilot in Canada's first fighter squadron. It was a flying accident that took his life at age 20 in Britain.
  • Scopwick Church Burial Ground
  • Grave Marker– Marker stone to Flt Lt C. P. Henderson in Scopwick Church Burial Ground, Lincolnshire, England.  The personal inscription reads: Son of Captain & Mrs C. E. Henderson, Toronto, Canada.  May his soul rest in peace.

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

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