George Leonard Wistow

This story and photo is shared by the Trust with kind permission from Pete Colley, Curator, Wickenby Museum. Photo source and additional information from the WWII Records and Service Files of War Dead, Libraries and Archives, Canada

Remembering George Leonard Wistow, Flying Officer, navigator, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), aged 25, the son of George & Katherine Wistow of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, husband of Carolyn Margaret Wistow, of Toronto whom he married in December 1942. George was born on the 27th February 1919 and had four sisters and one brother. He attended Pape Avenue Public School from 1926-1933 and Riverdale Collegiate Institute from 1933 -1937. In his spare time he enjoyed bowling, skating, reading and stamp collecting. On leaving school he first did a few months of seasonal work as a Stock Clerk for Rogers-Majestic radio before finding full time employment as a clerk at Smith Transport, Toronto from March 1939 to March 1941. He then worked as as an Inspector for the Dehaviland Aircraft Co. Ltd. from March 1941 until he joined up.

He enlisted on the 4th December 1941 and did his inital training in Canda. He was awarded his air navigators badge and promoted to Pilot Officer on the 14th May 1943. He embarked for the UK on the 23rd June 1943 and arrived there on the 1st July. He arrived at 3PRC on 02July, 18 OTU on 25 October 1943 and was then posted to 12 Squadron on the 9th May 1944.

He flew 24 missions but he was killed on the 11th August on his 25th mission. The squadron had been sent to lay mines at La Pallice in the mouth of the Gironde. According to one of the survivors of the crash, the aircraft suffered damage to a fuel tank during the mission which resulted in a shortage of fuel. It crashed at 03:30 near Aston Down airfield, Gloucestershire when attempting to land. Five of the crew were killed.

Wing Commander Nelson, commanding 12 Squadron, wrote to his wife on the 11th August, "Flying Officer Wistow was one of my keenest and most efficient Navigators, and I had every confidence in his courage and ability. He was very well liked by us all, and will be sadly mised by his many friends. Please accept the deepest sympathies of all Officers and Men of this Squadron in addition to my own."

His funeral took place on the 16th August 1944 at Brookwood Cemetery, Woking, Surrey.

His service record reveals some fascinating correspondence from his family, reflecting the impact that a death had on the families.  George's sister, Jean, wrote to the Casualty Officer on the 30th August 1944:

"I am writing on behalf of my mother who was informed by F/O Gage of the R.C.A.F. Toronto that if I write to you, you can give me information concerning the bringing home of my dear brother, Flying Officer G. L. Wistow who was buried 2 weeks ago to-day in Brookwood Cemetery, Woking, Surrey, England. His last wish to mother was that if he was killed on English soil and buried there that she would go to England and bring his body home to be buried in the family plot in Pine Hills cemetery, Scarboro, Toronto. His mother gave her faithful promise that she would do so. Mother would like now to carry out his wish. Could you kindly give us information as to how his mother's mission of mercy can be carried out as I have heard restrictions have been somewhat lifted on travel to England."

Her wish was not to be fulfilled. The Commonwealth War Graves Commision (CWGC) has always had a policy of not repatriating bodies to the families. Established during the First World War, this principle ensures that fallen service members are buried as close as possible to where they fell, regardless of rank, wealth, or the influence of their families.

In his will, he bequeathed his whole estate to his wife. However, his mother and sister wrote to state a claim for items they had given to him as gifts, good luck tokens and keep-sakes. They included a dark leather billfold which contained, amongst othe things, a lock of his mother's hair, his signet ring with the working 'George, Love, Mother, December 1942' and a gold Rolex wrist watch which was given to him when he was 11 years old. Unfortunately, whilst the ring was mentioned, the Rolex watch was not listed in his personal effects.

In 1946 his sister, Miss G. Wistow, wrote agin, this time to Wing Commander Nelson, commanding 12 Squadron, in 1946, seeking information about the next of kin of the other crew members who had been killed and of the two who had survived. Her request was passed to the Air Ministry Casualty section. and April 1946 she wrote to the CWGC expressing concern that, despite the fact he was a Protestant, the family thought he had been buried in a Roman Catholic section of the cemetery. The CWGC wrote back, reassuring her that the burial had been made in the Canadian section of the cemtery which was not divided into denomination plots.

We also discover that his wife married again to a Mr E. G. Harris of Bermuda in November 1945 and they had a son who was born in October 1946. His mother had written to the RCAF headquarters after George's Gold Wings were sent to his wife's address but as she had moved to Bermuda with her husband so they had been forwarded to her mother's home. His mother wrote: "I would like to know why anything concerning my dear son  is still being forwarded on to her mother's home as Carolyn Margaret Monie (Wistow) Harris has no connection concerning my dear son now....As I am his next of kin and his widowed mother I think it is only right anything concerning my dear son is rightfully his mother's."