mc:e_mcwilliams
Ernest Vern McWilliams (1921 – 1948)
Ernest McWilliams as born in Holdfast, Saskatchewan to parents Beulah Vera and Ernest Bernard McWilliams. He served with the Royal Canadian Air Force (Special Reserve) during the Second World War having enlisted in August 1941. His citations include the War Medal 1939-1945 and the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp. He was the husband of Elsie Elizabeth (Gerlock) and they had one daughter. McWilliam reenlisted with the RCAF Regular Force in December 1946 and served with the Winter Experimental Establishment division.1)
The Watson Lake Airport was used by the Canadian military for two important programs during and after the Second World War: the Northwest Staging Route (1941-1945) and the Winter Experimental Establishment (1947-1951). A memorial cairn at the airport is dedicated to the pilots and ground crews involved in these programs. Lieutenant Gerald Quarton, Leading Aircraftsman Ernest McWilliams, and Flying Officer Walton Mollon all died when their planes crashed near or in the lake near the airport.2) The propeller on the cairn is from McWilliam’s Avro Lincoln.3)
1)
“Leading Aircraftman Ernest Very McWilliams.” Canadian Virtual War Museum, Veterans Affairs Canada, 2020 website: https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/80001768.
2)
Watson Lake Walking Tour, Yukon Government, Historic Sites, 2018: 10.
3)
Bruce Forsyth, “Royal Canadian Air Force Station Watson Lake.” Canadian Military History, 2020 website: https://militarybruce.com/abandoned-canadian-military-bases/abandoned-bases/yukon/.
mc/e_mcwilliams.txt · Last modified: 2024/11/30 15:30 by sallyr