65 www.on.legion.ca BOWERS, Floyd Merritt Floyd was born on April 14, 1918 and grew up in Wallaceburg, Ontario. He was a star athlete, being particularly adept at softball and baseball. Family lore suggests that he was scouted by and had a try-out with the New York Yankees. Floyd also had a keen eye for photography, that he put to good use in his job in the graphic arts department at the Dominion Glass Company where he worked until he was accepted into the war in 1942. He enlisted in the Army (Regular Force) with the Royal Canadian Regiment in January 1942. While at “the Glass” he met Kay Cowley in 1942. He was deployed only four months later and they would never see each other again. Floyd was killed in the Battle of Ortona on December 19, 1943. All five of his nieces have made the pilgrimage to Ortona to pay respects. The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 18 flies his banner every fall and his family lays a wreath at the annual Remembrance Day services. Although he has been gone more than eighty years, he still looms large in the lives of the family he never met. He was beloved by his brother Bill and later mourned by his nieces and nephew. BOYD, David David was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 25, 1941. He joined the Canadian Army in 1957 as a member of the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR). After basic training at regimental depot, he was posted to 1RCR at Camp Ipperwash, Ontario. He was later posted to Soest, West Germany from 1962 to 1965. During that period, he met and married his wife Louise. Back to Canada in 1965, Dave was posted to London, Ontario, still with the RCR. He qualified as parachutist in Rivers, Manitoba in 1966 and served two six-month peacekeeping tours in Cyprus (1966-67 and 1970). He was posted to CFB Borden in 1976 as Mobile Support Equipment Operator (MSE Op) until 1983 when he took on a civilian job as heavy equipment operator in Borden. Dave rejoined the Canadian Forces in 2001 as a member of the RCR, but serving as a reservist as quarter-master at the Regional Cadet Instructor School at CFB Borden. He took his final release in 2008. Now retired and living in Barrie, Ontario, Dave is involved in various Veterans organizations such as the Canadian Airborne Forces Association. He has been a member of The Royal Canadian Legion for fifty years, currently with Branch 147 in Barrie. BRADBURY, John Leslie John was born on July 29, 1911, in Aurora, Ontario where he attended school and served in the Canadian Militia with the 12th York Rangers. He worked at Sisman Shoe Company as a heel builder, leaving to study Science at Queen’s University. While in Toronto, John served in the militia with the 48th Highlanders of Canada and joined the Toronto Police Service, sworn in as Police Constable No. 100. In October 1941, Bradbury was Commissioned Pilot officer at Dunville then proceeded to the United Kingdom where he was assigned to Bomber Command and rose to the rank of Pilot Officer. Bradbury was then posted to No. 20 Operational Training Unit at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. On the night of March 31, 1942, John was the pilot in command of Wellington R1760, on a training mission for night-flying and bombing practice. Suddenly, the aircraft’s engines failed, and the propeller hub caught fire. R1760 crashed into the North Sea one mile off of Cruden Bay, Scotland and sank within five seconds. John Bradbury was killed along with three of his crew. Due to Bradbury’s leadership and swift actions, two of his crew were rescued from their dinghy with slight injuries. We Will Remember Them Ontario Command
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