True and Fascinating Canadian History
Old Chapel Roman Catholic Cemetery
Newry, County Louth
In Memory of:
Louis Romeo Dubuc
Sergeant Dubuc was killed in action in 1941 while flying an R.C.A.F. bomber from Newfoundland with the intended destination of England. But, due to poor weather, he crashed while attempting to land in Ireland.
After serving as a regular police constable for two years Louis Romeo Dubuc accepted a transfer to the Preventive Service patrols as an air observer in Atlantic Canada in 1933.
When the RCMP created its own Aviation Section in 1937 Dubuc jumped at the chance to become one of its first members and as a pilot he worked all across the country. When war was declared in 1939, Sergeant Dubec along with the rest of the RCMP Air Division was transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force.
In the RCAF he was given the rank of Flight Lieutenant and in September 1941 he was assigned to Atlantic Ferry Command. On September 26, 1941 Dubuc was flying a bomber to England from Newfoundland.
The flight was plagued with severe weather that deteriorated further upon reaching Ireland where he encountered heavy fog. As he attempted to circle the landing strip at Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland he hit an obstruction and crashed.
All three men aboard were killed. Sergeant Dubec was buried with full military honours at the Old Chapel Roman Catholic Cemetery in Newry, County Louth.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=314882255190114&story_fbid=673424536002549
The RCMP 'Aviation' Section was born in 1937 and by 1938, it had grown to ten members. They were; O.297 Michelson, Reg.#11780 M. P. Fraser, Reg.#11296 P. B. Cox, Reg.#10982 L. R. Dubec, Reg.#11830 P. A. J. Grant, Reg.#12099, C. E. Gray, Reg.#10927 A. S. McNeil, Reg.#11169 G. B. Swaney, Reg.#12835 H. F. McClellan & Radio Operator W. Elliott.
In July, 1945 Reg.#11169, G. B. Swaney, was the Senior Engineer on an RAF transport plane which disappeared at sea enroute from Montréal to England.
He was part of a special crew assembled to fly a Liberator load of VIP's from Dorval to RAF Northolt, an Royal Air Force station in South Ruislip, 2 nautical miles from Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London.
His passengers were mostly diplomats returning from the San Francisco Conference which established the United Nations.
The crew set out on the evening of March 3, 1945 but radio contact was lost early the next morning.
It was Gayle Swaney's 190th transatlantic flight.
