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Pilot Class Graduates In Ceremony at Barrie

Barrie, Aug. 20, 1941 (Special) — With an exceptionally large crowd of relatives and friends in attendance, members of the latest class of young pilots to graduate from No. 1 Service Flying Training School, Camp Borden, received their wings at an interesting ceremony tonight.
A large proportion of the graduating class came from Ontario centers.
The presentation of wings was made by Squadron Leader A.V. Ashdown, Chief Accounting Officer, Camp Borden, assisted by Group Capt. R. S. Grandy, O.B.E., Commandant, and F/L S.F. Douglass, Adjutant. The ceremony took place on the tarmac in the hangar area, near the control tower. The band of the Westminster Regiment played.
Following the presentation Squadron Leader Ashdown addressed the young pilots.
"The awarding of these badges here today marks the culmination of a carefully planned course which you all have completed in a creditable manner," he said.
"Shortly, you will enter more intensively into the training for the object for which you entered the service — to defeat and destroy our common enemy, an enemy as cunning and resourceful as he is barbarous and ruthless. This task will require all the energy you possess.

Traditions Safe
"We feel that the glorious traditions of our service are safe in your hands, and that you as individuals will add to the splendid record of the British airmen in this conflict. We wish you all success and good luck."
As the parade marched off, the salute was taken by Group Captain Grandy, after which there was a demonstration of flying, and friends were allowed to make an inspection.
J.A. Shanks, 240 King Street, Kingston, headed the large class of graduates.
Among others who received their wings were two members of Camp Borden R.C.A.F. baseball team — J.R. (Jimmie) Shanks, Cameron Street, Sarnia, former star halfback of Sarnia Imperials football team and all-Canadian halfback, and William Thomas Bent, Glenwhite, West Virginia. Another graduate was Harvey George Funkhouser, Port Colborne, No. 1 Squadron track and field champion at a recent meet.

Ontario Graduates Include
Toronto boys awarded their wings included: Lloyd Ernest Pears, 253 Glenview Avenue; Stephen Dominic Fassino, 874 Queen Street West; John Arthur Rae, 22 Madison Avenue; Robert Dulmage Phillip, 207 Strathmore Boulevard; T. F. Watt, 45 Montray Avenue and Clarance Lyall Shaver.

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Ontario Airmen Commissioned

Ottawa, 19 May 1942 - (CP) - Air Force headquarters announced today that more than 40 members of R.C.A.F, air crew serving overseas have been commissioned in the field for efficiency, meritorious service, and the display of qualities of leadership. All are graduates of the Combined Training Organization. Ontario fliers commissioned are:
Flt. Sgt. Harvey James Powell, Frankford; Flt. Sgt. Wesley Guard Tomkins, Pickering; Sgt. Robert John Sherrett, Goderich; Flt. Sgt. Clarence Lyall Shaver, Avonmore; Sgt. Stuart Frederick Bunt, WO. Conway Ernest Parsons, London; Flt. Sgt. James Warren O’Hara, Flt. Sgt. John Bertram Baker, D.F.M., Toronto; Flt. Sgt. John Archibald Chapin, Brantford; Flt. Sgt. Hugh Pierce Cronk, Port Rowan; Sgt. Joseph F.E.G. Berthiaume, Hawkesbury; Flt. Sgt. Jean P.H. Carrere, Cochrane; WO. John William Patterson, Bobcaygeon; Sgt. Lorne Clifford Pattison, Fergus; Flt. Sgt, James Earl Sauve, Ottawa; Sgt. Nicholas Alexander Christopher, St. Catharines.

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R.C.A.F. Squadron Helping To Decimate fleeing Army of Axis on African Front
So Many Bombers Taking Part, Loads Released in Shifts on Foe

Cairo, November 5, 1942 - (CP Cable) - Endless relays of Canadian aerial scrappers joined in mass formations of allied airmen and pounded relentlessly at axis forces fleeing in disorder on the Egyptian desert before the victorious British 8th army.
F/S C. L. Shaver, of Cornwall, Ont., said there were "so many bombers operating we were dropping our loads in shifts."
"On our third trip of the day we had to wait until other bombers had completed their work before we could make a run at the target," he said.
Similar stories were told by other Canadians who described the aerial onslaught on the tattered forces of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel as an amazing sight."
The condition of one road along which the axis soldiers were fleeing was a "shambles," said F/L R. R. Smith, of London, Ont.
These airmen are members of the R.A.F. One complete Royal Canadian Air Force squadron also is operating on the desert front.
The famous desert "Shark" squadron of fighter-bombers has played a brilliant role since the offensive started. The squadron includes many Canadians who have engaged in bombing axis landing grounds and transports and fought hundreds of dog-fights.

Inflict Heavy Losses
During one 48-hour period, the squadron destroyed 13 axis planes and suffered in exchange only two wounded pilots.
During recent heavy fighting R.C.A.F. members of the squadron, accounted for at least eight Stukas and one ME-109. F/S Brown of Virden, Man., destroyed two Stukas, while F/S Dick De Bourke of Boston, Mass., also knocked off a pair.
Sgt. R. C. C. Smith, of Windsor, Ont., bagged one Stuka and also got credit for a probable. P/O Joe Crichton, of Chapleau, Ont., destroyed a Stuka and P/O L. H. Curphey, of Ottawa, got the Messerschmitt.
Most of the dive-bombers were destroyed when the squadron intercepted a formation of 30 escorted by 15 Messerschmitt fighters. The allies tore in and forced the Germans to jettison their bomb cargoes over their own lines.

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Canadian Fliers Played Leading Role in Desert

Ottawa, November 26, 1942 - (CP) - Men of the R.C.A.F., flying with the R.A.F.’s famous Shark Squadron in the British offensive which routed Rommel's Africa Corps, "accounted for" nine enemy planes in two days, R.C.A.F. headquarters said today.
The squadron's total bag in that period at the start of the 8th Army's westward surge was thirteen enemy aircraft.
The activities of the Canadian airmen - one and perhaps two of them citizens of the United States - were cited as an instance of the leading part R.C.A.F. fliers are playing in the current African operations.
These are the R.C.A.F. men flying fighter-bombers with the Shark Squadron, oldest air force unit in point of service on the desert front, who accounted for the Nazi machines:
Flight Sergeant D. Brown, Virden, Man., two Stukas destroyed.
Flight Sergeant Dick DeBourke, Boston, two Stukas destroyed, one probably destroyed.
Flight Sergeant, E.C.C. Smith, Windsor and Detroit, one Stuka confirmed, one probable.
Pilot Officer L.H. Curphey, Ottawa, one plane destroyed.
Flying Officer Joe Crichton, Chapleau, Ont., one plane destroyed.
The basis for the Air Force statement was a report from an R.C.A.F. public relations officer with the Canadians in the Middle East. The statement said Canadian airmen were "well to the fore" and "accounted for eight Stukas and one Messerschmitt 109.
While the statement did not list a Messerschmitt specifically in the bag of the Canadians named, an Air Force spokesman said possibly Curphey or Crichton got it.
The Shark Squadron gets its name from the jagged shark’s teeth painted on the noses of its aircraft, which became the "nemesis of the Germans both in the air and on the land."
"One of the great battles (of the squadron) was on a day when they encountered a group of thirty Stukas with an escort of fifteen ME 109's," the R.C.A.F. officer said in his report.
"This was while they were returning to base after bombing an enemy airfield. Out numbered as they were they did not hesitate. They tore into the Germans with such speed that they forced the Nazi dive bombers to jettison their cargoes of bombs on their own troop lines.”
Mass formations of aircraft roared through the skies carrying tons of destruction in the early stages of the offensive, the report said, comparing the air traffic in some sectors to rush hour at the corner of King and Yonge Streets in Toronto.
It quoted Flight Lieutenant C.L. Shaver of Cornwall as saying; "There were so many bombers operating that we were dropping our loads in shifts. On our third trip we had to wait around until other bombers had completed their bombing before we could make a run at the target."
F/L R.R. Smith of London, Ont., who was on his second tour of operations after a layoff, described conditions in some enemy sectors as a "shambles."

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Hamilton Airman Plays Part In Aerial Attack on Rommel

(By Ross Munro, Canadian Press War Correspondent) Somewhere In North Africa, March 4, 1943 — (CP) — Canadian members of R.A.F. squadrons played a prominent part in the intensive bombing and ground strafing preceding the fall of Zuara, near the Libya-Tunisia border. Hits were scored on shipping and important buildings.
Flt. Sgt. John MacAulay, of Scotstown, Que., scored a direct hit on an axis tanker he sighted near the harbor mouth at Zuara. The vessel was hit twice by R.A.F. bombers during the attack.
During the engagement, Flt. Sgts. Lyall Shaver, of Avonmore, Ont., and Herbert Snelgrove, of Toronto, made bombing attacks on Rommel's retreating forces. They added to the confusion in the Nazi ranks by strafing them with cannon and machine-gun fire.
R.C.A.F. personnel active in the almost ceaseless harassing of the enemy in the advanced area were P/O's John Wright of Ottawa, and C. C. Smith, of Detroit, and Flt. Sgt. Albert Shaw, of Riverside, Ont.
A French-speaking pilot from Montreal spotted a moored Axis seaplane in Pidida harbor, farther up the coast from Zuara and gave it a rain of fire from his guns.
Coming in on Rommel's rear-guard installations with guns blazing, one sortie, in which Canadian participants included Sgt. Pilot John P. Maloney, 31 Cope street, Hamilton, Ont., and Sgt. Jack Nichols, of Digby, N.S., left several barges and a moored seaplane in sinking condition.

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CANADIANS HAVE EDGE ON ENEMY
Flyers From Dominion Mark Up Many Successes Over Africa

Ottawa, April 9, 1943 — (CP) — Canadian flyers are scoring successes against enemy planes and shipping as they fly on daily operations with the famous R.A.F. Shark Squadron in the Middle East, the R.C.A.F.'s public relations officer in the Western Desert — F/L Kenneth MacGillivray — reported today.
"F/S Albert Shaw, of Riverside, Ont., shared a Messerschmitt 109 with another pilot a few weeks ago," he said. "In recent bombing attacks F/S John MacAuley, of Scotstown, Que.; F/S Lyall Shaver, of Avonmore, Ont., and F/S Herbert Snelgrove, of Toronto, scored possible hits on shipping."
MacAuley's combat score stands at one destroyed and Shaver's at one and one-half.
Other Canadians in the squadron include F/O John Garn Wright, of Ottawa; P/O Ray Guest, of Montreal, and F/S Wilfred Brown, of Virden, Man.

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AIR FORCE CASUALTIES

Ottawa, December 2, 1945 – The Department of National Defense for Air today issued Casualty List No.’s 1296, 1297, 1298 and 1299, of the Royal Canadian Air Force, showing next-of-kin of those named from Ontario includes:

List No 1296
OVERSEAS
Previously Missing, now Officially Presumed Dead:

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Letter to HIs Wife, 5 March 1945

Dear Mrs. Shaver,

It is my very sad duty at the present time to write to you respecting the circumstances surrounding the accident to your husband F/L L.C. Shaver who failed to return from an operation on the 2nd March 1945. You will have been informed through the Royal Canadian Air Force giving the bare details, by this time.
"Lyal" as he was known to all of our pilots, took off at 10:55 hours on the 2nd of March to lead the Squadron on an operation into Germany to dive bomb a railway and marshalling yards. The target was bombed but results were obscure due to cloud in the area, following this, he attacked a locomotive and numerous supply cars with good results. The Squadron then climbed through cloud and setting course for base and after about ten minutes flying, Lyal dove down through a hole in the dense cloud presumably to pin point his position. He and the rest of the Squadron pulled out at approximately five hundred feet and were immediately fired on by intense accurate light flak, Lyal’s aircraft was hit several times, turned over and dived into the ground, but Lyal was not seen to bale out.
To be frank with you Mrs. Shaver we hold out little hope for his safety. I realize this is a harsh statement but quite often the next-of-kin hope and are still holding out hope where those on the operation have seen evidence that should forbid this.
I feel that we have lost one of the best Flight Commanders the Squadron has ever had, certainly the most experienced. I am not exaggerating when I say that he was an exceptional flyer, an excellent leader both in the air and on the ground augmented by his forceful character and strong personality. I can say that the Airfield had plans for his advancement when the next vacancy would have presented itself. Lyal had recently taken over command of a Flight which post he richly deserved and during his period with our Squadron whilst on his second tour he has earned every one of his sixty six sorties which met with constant good results. The fact that other pilots followed him with every confidence when he led the Flight or Squadron, speaks for itself, but in addition to this he made certain that they observed some of the golden rules as he had found this necessary through hard experience. His clean living habits, many self sacrifices and superb sense of humour have been more than an inspiration not only to the pilots but also to the ground crews in whom he took a great interest.
I feel that Canada has lost a very fine citizen, you a wonderful husband and we one of the best pilots. He left a gap in our ranks that will be very difficult to replace and next to you and your families we feel his loss most and cannot have but the utmost admiration and pay only the highest tribute to a truly grand fellow, and yet there is little we can say that will relieve you of your very trying and anxious moments.
As regards your husband's personal effects, they are being gathered together and will be forwarded to R.A.F. Central Depository Slough, Bucks, where they will be held until further word of him is received, or in any case, for a period of six months before being forwarded to you. His Log Book has been sent to Air Ministry (Archives) Hayes, Middlessex, England the disposition of which we do not know, but this can be ascertained from the Administrator of Estates, Ottawa.
If there is anything I can do in the way of looking after Lyal's affairs or providing further information, do not hesitate to write to the Officer Commanding, 439 R.C.A.F. Squadron, R.C.A.F. Overseas.
Should any further news be received you will be notified by the R.C.A.F. In conclusion may I offer the sympathies on behalf of every pilot and airman in this Squadron, as well as myself.

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