Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Newspaper clipping – From the London Free Press Feb. 1917. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Newspaper clipping – From the Toronto Telegram April 1917. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Photo 2 of James Harold Talbot

Photo of James Harold Talbot – Cadet James Harold Talbot was the first student killed in the history of military aviation in Canada while flight training at Camp Borden, Ontario on Easter Sunday, April 8, 1917. Cadet Talbot died of injuries sustained in a crash of a Curtiss JN-4 trainer aircraft. His airplane is said to have struck the ground with such force that upon impact, the engine separated from the rest of the airframe. The airplane apparently overturned and the student was thrown against the airframe resulting in severe injuries including a fractured skull. Talbot died 12 hours after the crash in a hospital in Barrie, Ontario. He was a member of No. 81 Canadian Reserve Squadron, 42 Wing, Royal Flying Corps.

Memorial – This copy of J. Harold Talbot's entry in a Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario) class book is on display in the Air Force Annex of the CFB Borden Military Museum at Canadian Forces Base Borden, Ontario. (Image taken by Gregory J. Barker of Barrie, Ontario, in 2018.)

Newspaper clipping – A report that appeared in the Barrie Examiner newspaper (Barrie, Ontario), at page 1, on April 12, 1917.

Newspaper Clipping

Talbot Tower – The control tower on the airfield at Canadian Forces Base Borden, Ontario. It is named after Cadet J. Harold Talbot, Royal Flying Corps, the first student to be killed in a flying accident at this airfield. As the first of many, Cadet Talbot symbolizes all those who have been lost over the years in the course of flight training at Borden. (Image taken by Gregory J. Barker of Barrie, Ontario, in 2018.)

Memorial – This plaque is displayed on the outside of Talbot Tower, the control tower on the airfield at Canadian Forces Base Borden, Ontario. (Image taken by Gregory J. Barker of Barrie, Ontario, in 2018.)

Grave Marker