Bruce Gordon was a recent arrival No. 9 after completing his Elementary Flying Training. He was the “baby” of the Course being one of the youngest trainees. Fellow course mates razzed him about his light beard and how he worked so hard on his shoes and buttons for parades. In a letter to his buddy, Gordon described his observation of the fairer sex at Centralia. “The WD’s around here are really easy to get along with and they are a good looking bunch. Remember at Arnprior and the other places where you had to have your wings to suit them? Here they almost overwhelmed me with their friendliness and I wondered why until yesterday. I was told of a F/Sgt. who was given hell for dancing too often with a WD and of a WD who was posted to the Coast for being too friendly with the Officers. Result – aircrew is strictly the business around here. Foo! I continue. I took one out a couple of times and thought I was getting along O.K. until one night she really gave me the old one, two – the run around, see? Well that’s O.K. because there are lots more and I’m still making pretty good time.” In another letter he described his flying experiences and, further comments about No. 9’s WD’s. “I find the Anson a very nice aircraft; much easier to handle because it is so stable and not affected by bumps. The only hard thing is to remember the lengthy procedure entailed with every move. I am still flying circuits and bumps. “When I got here I didn’t have much of an opinion of WD’s because when I was at Arnprior, which was an Instructor’s school, they wouldn’t look at us, even though we were carrying flying helmets around. You had to have the Wings to suit them. When I came here I find that aircrew is great stuff with the WD’s. That was O.K. but there is a catch in it. They are strictly prohibited from being too friendly with Officers and Senior NCO’s. There is nothing to do around here anyway and you can’t shoot a line because they know too much.” On February 24, 1944 Gordon flew a training exercise with his D Flight instructor, P/O Behan. In preparation for his solo flight in a multi-engine Anson, he was then given a check ride with F/O Robertson. Upon completion of this flight, Gordon boarded Anson 7269 and departed the field. On a parallel runway, fellow student pilot Donald Joseph Byrne took off, side by side to Gordon, in Anson 7314. A combination of pilot inexperience and the glare from the sun contributed to a collision between the Ansons Gordon and Byrne were piloting resulting in their deaths. The Accident Investigation Board concluded that aerodrome traffic control at the Station appeared to be weak. It was determined by the Board that improved supervision was required - especially when take-offs and landings were being practiced by pupils. Sadly, Bruce wasn’t the first Gordon boy to be killed during the War. Richard Gordon was killed April 29, 1942 while serving with 408 Squadron. Their parents were Rev. and Mrs. Simeon Moore Gordon of Hagersville, Ontario. The same day Bruce was killed at No. 9, the son of another Hagersville Minister was killed in a flying accident. On the evening of the accident, an unidentified member of the course wrote a poem about the tragic event that day and left the poem in the flight room. Bob Jackson, another member of the course, picked up the paper and, fifty years later, presented the original copy to David Gordon, brother of Bruce. The barrack room is very still tonight The boys are quiet, pensive, and restrained This thoughtful stillness all night long It isn’t fright – I know it isn’t fright. Today we lost the first of our flight The blinding sun condemned him ere it would And whiffed away the friendship we had gained So Red can sit and talk with us tonight. Last night while Red was here among the boys He stood for laughter, glee, and mirth; but yet Tonight the spirit is anything but noise And Red is in the midst of us. You get to hate the sun sometimes. It just decoys and coaxes you to fly where death is met.