F/O John Murdoch Ross DFM.
Royal Canadian Air Force 424 Squadron
from:Bainsville, Ont.
John Murdock Ross was a member of 424 Squadron. He was born in Bainsville, Ontario, and worked as a Mechanic before joining the RCAF. He trained at No. 3 Bombing and Gunnery School at MacDonald Manitoba and was commissioned in 1944. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal on the 6th of January 1945, which appeared in the London Gazette of the 19th of January 1945:
"Ross, Flight Sergeant (now Pilot Officer) John Murdock has completed numerous operations against the enemy in the course of which (he has ) invariably displayed the utmost fortitude, courage and devotion to duty" The recommendation for the DFM is dated 23rd of October 1944 when he had completed 35 sorties, totaling 168 hours 20 minutes) between 22 May and 23 September 1944. "Flight Sergeant Ross has completed a tour of operations which have included many difficult sorties over heavily defended targets. Throughout his tour he has shown great coolness and confidence, two essential qualities that have made him a most valuable member of the aircraft crew. His duties in the gunnery section and ground work outside have been commented on by old and new members of the squadron as a gunner who has always displayed coolness and devotion to duty of the highest order." I would like to find out more about him.
Update: Second World War ID Bracelet returned home after 69 years.
I guess you can say this story starts in 1939 when the 2nd World War began, hundreds of young men joined the armed forces. With no end to the war in sight, in late 1942 John M. Ross, a young man who just turned 18, the age that was required to join the forces, entered the Royal Canadian Air Force, (R.C.A.F.).
The son of Thomas Ross of Bainsville and his wife Maud Young, he was the youngest and only boy in the family. John was very close to his sister Lita, 18 months older, while his other sisters, Zina and Mary, were a few years older. It was Lita who bought the ID bracelet for him before he went overseas in late 1943 and inscribed it "There'll never be another you, Lita "
This bracelet, at some point, was lost and the immediate family knew nothing about its existence until Bill Nurse, a researcher with the Trenton Air Force Museum, received an e-mail from Andrew Hlasko asking about a John M. Ross service # R207165/ J90151. Andrew, a keen student and collector of historic USAAF and RCAF WW II aviation related militaria and named bracelets in particular, had bought the bracelet from an antique dealer at an Antique show in Baltimore, Maryland, and wondered who the original owner of the bracelet might be and the story behind it.
Bill Nurse checked the information provided by the service number. While searching on the internet for a Ross family in Bainsville he found that Don and Jean Ross of Duncan were researching the Ross families of Glengarry. He wrote to them with particulars to see if they could provide some information on who John M. Ross was. As it happens they did know as they were distantly related, so the story continues. John passed away in 1976, they knew that I had married again, where my husband Alex W. Fraser and myself were located and informed Bill, who sent me an e-mail. Since I had married John after the war, I did not recall anything about a bracelet and Lita having died a few years ago there was no one alive whom we could get some answers from.
John had been stationed in Lachine, Que., Trenton, Ont., Kingston, Ont., Trenton, Ont., MacDonald, Manitoba, Halifax, N.S. and was shipped overseas from Myles Standish, Mass, US. I found a letter addressed to him at Camp Miles Standish, Taunton, Mass, USA so we know he was there. Did he possibly lose the bracelet while stationed there? Is that why it turned up in the US?
His mother kept all his letters and while rereading them recently, I found a mention of a lost bracelet and that Lita was replacing it with another with a better clasp but the insignia was not in the center as in the original. The bracelet that Andrew discovered has the insignia in the center so we know that this is the original one given to John by his younger sister Lita before hewent overseas.
Thanks to Andrew for his thoughtfulness in wanting to trace the owner of the bracelet, and to Bill for providing assistance in locating John's family. Subsequently,his bracelet has returned home after an absence of 69 years. John was decorated with a DFM (Distinguished Flying Medal) and along with his service medals we now have the bracelet and an amazing story as to how it was returned. Rhoda Ross, Courtenay, BC
Ross, Flight Sergeant ( Now Pilot Officer ) John Murdock. R207165/ J90151- DFM 424 Squadron. Award effective 6 January as per London Gazette dated 19 January 1945 and AFRO 508/45 dated 23 March 1945. Born in Bainsville, Ontario, home there ( Mechanic ). Trained at No. 3 Bombing and Gunnery School at MacDonald Manitoba. Commissioned 1944. No citation other than that he has 'completed numerous operations against the enemy in the course of which (he has ) invariably displayed the utmost fortitude, courage and devotion to duty'....D Hist File 181.009 D2609 (RG.24 Vol 20627) has recommendation dated 23 October 1944 when he had completed 35 sorties ( 168 hours 20 minutes ) from 22 May to 23 September 1944.
Flight Sergeant Ross has completed a tour of operations which have included many difficult sorties over heavily defended targets. Throughout his tour he has shown great coolness and confidence, two essential qualities that have made him a most valuable member of the aircraft crew. His duties in the gunnery section and ground work outside have been commented on by old and new members of the squadron as a gunner who has always displayed coolness and devotion to duty of the highest order....
The following from a small notebook in John M. Ross war memorabilia Places where I have been stationed, Lachine, Quebec. Trenton, Ont Kingston, Ont. Trenton, Ont MacDonald, Manitoba, Halifax, NovaScotia Myles Standish, Mass. US.
