Victor Brown McIntosh was born in Toronto on September 2, 1899 to William and Selina McIntosh. He was the youngest of four children; the three others being Ernest, Harold and Pearl. He grew up on Shaw Street and attended Givens Public School. Before enlisting in the forces, he was working as a bookkeeper for Puddy Bros. wholesale butchers. The Puddys were maternal relatives. On September 20, 1917, Victor enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps. On March 18, 1918, Victor graduated 2nd Lieutenant and was qualified for service in the Royal Air Force. It is interesting to note that it was in March/April of 1918 that the Royal Flying Corps became known as the Royal Air Force. Victor had been with the 3rd Squadron since July 13, 1918 and was “rapidly becoming a fine pilot…who was very popular with his brother officers”. In a letter sent to his parents, his commanding officer described Victor’s last hours: “He went up with his patrol on the 10-8-18 at 9:50 a.m. and at 10:40 a.m. about 20 Enemy Machines were sighted and attacked on the German side of the lines. After a fight lasting about 15 minutes, 7 of the Enemy Machines were shot down …On our patrol returning to the Aerodrome it was discovered that your son was missing. He was last seen at the beginning of the fight and none of the members of our patrol have any idea what happened to him as they were themselves so busily engaged.” The number of the airplane he was flying was Camel B.7399. We can only imagine the horror of receiving the much-dreaded telegram stating that a son has been wounded, killed or gone missing. William and Selina McIntosh would have received two such messages, one for their son Harold who was wounded, and one for Victor who was missing and presumed dead. A newspaper clipping from the Toronto Star dated September 10, 1918, stated: The names of the two sons of Mr. and Mrs. W.D. McIntosh, 194 Shaw Street, appear in today’s casualty list. Pte. Harold E. McIntosh, age 23, received gunshot wounds in the left arm, and Lieut. Victor B. McIntosh, age 19, has been missing since August 10… Victor was only 18 years old at the time of his death, about 3 weeks before his 19th birthday. He was listed as missing until a letter dated September 3, 1920 was received from the Privy Purse Office of Buckingham Palace officially declaring him dead. He never had a chance to experience marriage or children of his own. He never knew any of his brothers’ or sister’s children. He was lost far too soon. Today, however, almost 94 years after his death, I have the honour to pay tribute to him on behalf of the 4 generations of family who have followed. It is important that he not be forgotten. He is commemorated on p. 560 of the First World War Book of Remembrance. His name also appears on the Arras Flying Services Memorial. This commemorates nearly 1,000 airmen of the Royal Naval Air Service, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force who were killed on the whole Western Front and who have no known grave.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 22:45:18 +0000
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