Language selection


Search veterans.gc.ca

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

William Robert Hughes

In memory of:

Pilot Officer William Robert Hughes

August 31, 1941

Military Service


Service Number:

J/5483

Age:

25

Force:

Air Force

Unit:

Royal Canadian Air Force

Division:

412 Sqdn.

Additional Information


Born:

June 7, 1916
Carleton Place, Ontario

Enlistment:

October 11, 1940
Ottawa, Ontario

Son of William James Hughes and Mabel Vaughan (nee Strong) Hughes, of Carleton Place, Ontario. Brother of Freda, Morley and Cyril. The Town of Carleton Place remembered Pilot Officer Hughes by naming a street for him.

Commemorated on Page 33 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 3. 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– Remembered on the pages of the Ottawa Journal. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Grave Marker– Marker stone to P/O W. R. Hughes in Scopwick Church Burial Ground, Lincolnshire, England.  The personal inscription reads: Tranquil you lie your knightly virtue proved your memory hallowed in the land you loved.
  • Scopwick Church Burial Ground
  • Photo of William Robert Hughes– In Memory of the members of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) who went to war and did not return. Submitted for the project, Operation: Picture Me

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.

Date modified: