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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

James William Paul Skidmore

In memory of:

Flying Officer James William Paul Skidmore

December 29, 1941

Military Service


Service Number:

J/5105

Age:

23

Force:

Air Force

Unit:

Royal Canadian Air Force

Division:

10 Sqdn.

Additional Information


Son of J. W. Paul Skidmore and Gerda Skidmore; husband of Audrey Georgena Skidmore, of Saint John, New Brunswick.

Commemorated on Page 44 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:

OTTAWA MEMORIAL
Ontario, Canada

Grave Reference:

Panel 1. Column 2.

Location:

The Ottawa Memorial stands on the north-eastern point of Green Island in the City of Ottawa. Overlooking the northern branch of the Twin Falls of the Rideau River, it commands a panoramic view of the Ottawa River and the Gatineau Hills beyond. The Memorial commemorates those of the Air Forces of the British Commonwealth who lost their lives while serving in units operating from bases in Canada, the British West Indies and the United States of America, or while training in Canada and the U.S.A., and who have no known graves. The main feature of the Ottawa Memorial is a sculptured terrestrial globe in bronze, 3 metres in diameter, on a base formed by three bronze beavers rising from the centre of an ornamental pool. The globe, of open lattice-work corresponding to the lines of latitude and longitude, on which the land masses are super imposed in low relief, is crowned by the Air Forces emblem of a bronze eagle with outspread wings. Two curved screen walls faced in limestone, bearing cast bronze panels on which the names appear, face inwards towards the globe. They are placed slightly off centre to allow a clear view through the Ottawa Memorial from the central steps on Sussex Drive and from the wide pathway. Two Air Force crest exist in the paving between the screen walls. A dedicatory inscription, in English on one screen wall and in French on the other, is incised in the stonework between the bronze name panels, which reads as follows:
1939 - 1945
In honoured memory of the men and women of the air forces of the British Commonwealth and Empire who gave their lives in Canada, in the United States of America and neighbouring lands and who have no known grave.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Newspaper Clipping– Memorialized on the pages of the Globe and Mail. Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Star January 1942. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper clipping– From the Toronto Telegram January 1942. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Memorial– Ottawa Memorial … In honoured memory of the men and women of the Air Forces of the British Commonwealth and Empire who gave their lives in Canada, in the United States of America and in neighbouring lands and seas and who  have no known grave. Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens October 2023.
  • Memorial– Flying Officer James William Paul Skidmore as commemorated on the Ottawa Memorial, Ottawa, ON. Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens October 2023.
  • Inscription– Flying Officer JAMES WILLIAM PAUL SKIDMORE, Pilot Officer ALBERT WILLIAM RUNTE, Pilot Officer KENNETH GEORGE SCHAEFER, Flight Sergeant ARTHUR  CHAPMAN, Corporal CECIL GEORGE HEENEY and Leading Aircraftman JOHN SYDNEY LEGON were presumed to have died on December 29, 1941, the day their aircraft went missing in Newfoundland.  They are commemorated on these panels of the Ottawa Memorial, which contain the names of 30 members of the RCAF who died in 1941 and have no known grave.
  • Newspaper clipping– Flying Officer JAMES WILLIAM PAUL SKIDMORE, Pilot Officer ALBERT WILLIAM RUNTE, Pilot Officer KENNETH GEORGE SCHAEFER, Flight Sergeant ARTHUR  CHAPMAN, Corporal CECIL GEORGE HEENEY and Leading Aircraftman JOHN SYDNEY LEGON  were listed as ¿Missing in Active Service¿ in Canada in the 151st Casualty List of the Royal Canadian  Air Force published in the Globe & Mail on January 3, 1942, three days after their aircraft went missing.
  • Newspaper clipping– Flying Officer JAMES WILLIAM PAUL SKIDMORE, Pilot Officer ALBERT WILLIAM RUNTE, Pilot Officer KENNETH GEORGE SCHAEFER, Flight Sergeant ARTHUR  CHAPMAN, and Leading Aircraftman JOHN SYDNEY LEGON were reported 'previously reported missing in Newfoundland now presumed dead', in the  336th Casualty List of the Royal Canadian Air Force published in the Globe & Mail on August 7, 1942. The name of Corporal CECIL GEORGE HEENEY who died along with these men, is missing from this list.
  • Ottawa Memorial
  • Inscription– Dedicatory inscription at the Ottawa Memorial
  • Photo of JAMES WILLIAM PAUL SKIDMORE– 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.

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