37 The Royal Canadian Legion MANITOBA & NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO COMMAND www.mbnwo.ca BLACK, Guilford N. WWII Guilford was born in 1918 in Ottumwa, Iowa, USA to Roy and Flora Mae Black. He enlisted in the Army and trained in Hondo, Texas and Billings, Montana. He was a pilot then a navigator. He flew many missions over Germany with 551 Bomber Squadron, 385 Bomber Group, Heavey. 2nd Lieutenant Guilford N. Black was killed on September 26, 1943 in England. He was buried at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Coton, South Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire, England. A memorial grave is located at Hillside Cemetery, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. His brother Lt. GN Black received the American medals: Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters and a Purple Heart. He is named on the US WWII Roll of Honor. BELL, T. Gordon WWII Gordon was born on October 21, 1912 in Desford, Manitoba. After receiving his schooling he moved to Killarney where he worked until joining the RCAF in August 1942. His training started in Brandon, MB then on to Bombing and Gunnery in Paulson, MB and later Mont-Joli, QC where he received his Air Gunner Wings. In August 1943, he was posted to Pennfield Ridge, NB where he joined a crew of four flying a Ventura aircraft. Later he was posted to Halifax, NS and then on to England in November 1943. In March 1944, the crew was converted to a B-25 Mitchell aircraft. After their Operational Training Unit they were posted to Dunsford, England doing daylight tactical bombing. On September 9, 1944 their aircraft was hit by flak over France. All of the crewmembers but one was able to bail out. Gordon injured his leg and broke his ankle. He was missing for eleven days. He spent the next five months in the hospital in England. He returned to Canada in February 1945 and received his discharge in May 1945. He returned to Killarney and received the 1939-1945 Star, the France and Germany Star, the 1939-1945 Defence Medal, the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and the 1939-1945 War Medal. Gordon married Helen Smith in April 1949 and they lived in Killarney with their three children. He was a member of The Royal Canadian Legion Killarney Branch 25 until he passed away in 1972.
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