In November 1942, Leonard Meere, 18, had much going for him and even more to look forward to.
The year before, he had met and fallen in love with Gwen Robinson, a young lady from Wallaceburg. Their relationship was not a short-lived, fleeting infatuation. Despite their young ages, Leonard and Gwen had made plans to get married.
And Leonard had found a trade that he liked, something he wanted to do to support Gwen when they got married. At SCITS in his senior year, he had taken a course in electricity that intrigued him. Although Leonard worked as a labourer and as a stockbroker at Union Gas in Sarnia after he graduated from high school in 1941, he was looking forward to working in the electrical field as soon as he returned to Sarnia.
What drew him away and what put his relationship and his career on hold was his desire to serve Canada during WWII.
Serving their country seemed to be a trend in the Meere family.
His family—parents, Thomas and Edith, and brothers, Arthur and Jonathan—immigrated from their native England in 1927 when Leonard was four. By 1928, they were in Sarnia where Thomas supported them by working as a welder and a bricklayer.
By 1943, all three sons were in the military: Arthur was a corporal with the RCAF; Jonathon was overseas with the 5th Armoured Troops of the Canadian Army; and Leonard was with the RCAF.
On November 12, 1942, after he had enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force in Sarnia, Leonard made an immediate and favourable impression on the recruiting officer. He recorded that Leonard was “an alert, keen, well-motivated airman, who has lots of youthful enthusiasm, good athletic and work history. Would imagine he is better than average pilot material. Has brother in RCAF, another overseas. Has the right idea as regards to the service. Should do well with training.”
Leonard’s pilot training was extensive. He trained out west, mostly at different training centres in Saskatchewan. Ten months after enlisting, he was stationed at No. 6 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. As part of his training, he was given 50 hours of basic flying instruction over eight weeks on simple trainer aircraft—the De Havilland Tiger Moth and Fairchild Cornell.
Early on Thursday, September 23, 1943, Leonard carried out a successful two-hour practice flight from Prince Albert. Later that day, he left the main aeodrome at 1540 hours for a second practice flight, a routine solo training exercise in Tiger Moth aircraft #1168. Leonard took the plane to a maximum altitude of 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) but flew mostly at 3,000 feet (915 meters).
No one still knows what caused the following to happen approximately 35 minutes into the flight. With no warning, the Tiger Moth inexplicably plummeted from the sky and slammed into the ground approximately 15 kilometres northwest of the main aerodome at Prince Albert.
The cause of the crash remains obscure, but not the result. Leonard died instantly from horrific injuries. Shortly after the crash, authorities let Thomas and Edith in Sarnia know by cable that their youngest son had been killed in a flying accident in Prince Albert.
What made the tragic news even worse was the birthday present Edith received on September 25, two days after Leonard’s death. Before his solo flight, Leonard had mailed his mother a green leather prayer book with a golden cross on the front cover. Printed on it were the words “Common Prayer Hymn Book of Canada”. Inside was his hand-written message: “Happy Birthday, Love Len.”
Later, his parents received his personal belongings that included some clothes, toiletries, tobacco, post cards, and his Sarnia Collegiate yearbook.
On Tuesday, September 28, Leonard and another Sarnian, Pilot Officer Hugo Farner, who had died on a training flight in Quebec, were buried in Lakeview Cemetery, barely a wingspan apart. It was the first double military funeral held in Sarnia.
Hundreds of relatives and friends attended both services, which drew thousands to the streets, around the churches, and along the walking routes to Lakeview Cemetery. Pallbearers, honorary pallbearers, and a firing party came from R.C.A.F. flying school at Centralia. The Sarnia Air Cadet No. 44 Squadron band played at both funerals, and they also provided an escort party. The funeral corteges left St. George’s Anglican Church and St. Andrew’s Presyterian Church at the conclusions of the respective services for Leonard and Hugo and walked slowly to Lakeview Cemetery. One of those in attendance was Gwen Robinson, Leonard’s fiancee.
Led by the firing party, the band, and the escort party, the procession arrived at Lakeview where the band began playing the hymn “Dead March in Saul.” After the ministers conducted graveside services, the firing party delivered three volleys with the band playing “Abide With Me” between them. Two buglers who accompanied the firing party from Centralia then stepped to the end of the graves and sounded the “Last Post”.
Nineteen-year-old Leonard Meere is buried in Section E. Lot 141. On his headstone are inscribed the words REST IN PEACE.
In Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, No. 6 EFTS closed in November 1944, 14 months after Leonard’s death. The aerodrome is now the Prince Albert Airport, and all that remains of the former No. 6 EFTS is one World War II era hanger. A monument was erected in front of the terminal building that commemorates No. 6 EFTS/AOS and pays tribute to the 17 airmen and one civilian who died in training accidents there in wartime. One of the names inscribed on the plaque is Leonard Meere.