Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Thomas Wessel Taylor
In memory of:
Flying Officer Thomas Wessel Taylor
May 13, 1944
Military Service
J/24251
29
Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
426 Squadron
Additional Information
January 30, 1915
Hazelton, British Columbia
He was the second youngest of eight children born to Hugh and Hermina Taylor. His younger brother, Hugh, Jr., also served Canada during the Second World War, fighting overseas with the Canadian Armoured Corps. When Tom was 6, his father, a civil engineer, died of pneumonia, at the age of 47. Tom attended public school and then Baron Byng High School in Prince George, B.C. At school he was a keen athlete, playing basketball and rugby. He also enjoyed hunting and was a King Scout with the Boy Scouts of Canada. Tom lived in B.C. for 25 years, and then he and his family moved to Chisholm, Alberta.
At the time of his enlistment in the RCAF in Edmonton on June 17, 1942, he was a shipper at the Chisholm Mills Saw Plant. He enjoyed working with his hands and had a special talent for home carpentry. Trained as a navigator, Tom received his wings in March 1943 and disembarked in the U.K. the following April. He was the navigator on the mission and was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre 1940 with Palm (Belgium) in July 1948.
Commemorated on Page 459 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.
Burial Information
GERAARDSBERGEN (GRAMMONT) COMMUNAL CEMETERY
Belgium
Joint grave 2.
The town of Geraardsbergen is located south of the town of Aalst on the N42. From the motorway E40/A10, which runs between Oostende and Brussels, turn off at junction 17 onto the N42, direction Geraardsbergen. Follow this road to the town of Geraardsbergen and the junction with the N493. Turn right onto the N493, direction Parike, and the cemetery is along here on the right. The graves are located towards the centre of the cemetery.
Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Digital Collection
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Photo of THOMAS WESSEL TAYLOR – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Notification of death – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Document – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Photo – Post card sent to Tom from his wife and found in his military service file. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Photo – Post card sent to Tom from his wife and found in his military service file. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Correspondence – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Correspondence – Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Newspaper clipping – From the Edmonton Bulletin May 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
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Biography -
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426 Squadron and the Halifax LW682 – 426 Squadron and the Halifax LW 682 -
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Memorial – Flying Officer Thomas Wessel Taylor is commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
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Memorial – Father J P Lardie's comments as inscribed on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
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Memorial – Flying Officer Thomas Wessel Taylor is commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
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