Ian McKenzie Hamilton was born in Orangeville, Ontario in 1921. He graduated from Orangeville High School in 1935, and then moved to Toronto. Hamilton enlisted in the RCAF in 1942 and received the following assessment during his interview: “Aggressive, determined, should do well in Air Crew when Educational Standard acquired. Recommend.” Pilot Officer George Ponech was LAC Hamilton’s main instructor at Centralia. G/C Fullerton assessed Hamilton as: “Hard worker, showed improvement throughout. Good capable pilot and should make a capable T.E. instructor. This pupil is recommended for a Commission.” While at No. 20 Operational Training Unit, Hamilton received the following assessment: “This N.C.O. made good steady progress throughout the course and is now an above average pilot. He has quite a good crew, controls them efficiently and is recommended as captain of aircraft. Can be relied upon conscientiously to complete any instruction that he may be given and is strongly recommended for a commission. Should be considered for P.F.F. duties after further experience.” After completing OTU training, Hamilton was posted to 1663 Conversion Unit where he and his crew received the following assessment from the Chief Instructor: “Has coped very well on course, is above average pilot and captain but does not seem to receive full support from his mid-upper gunner. An above-average crew.” Pilot Hamilton I.M. P/O J19966 Above Average Very keen Navigator Bastable H.D. F/O J27478 Above average Air Bomber Noble A.C. Sgt 1575695 Average works hard Flight Engineer Rowe A. Sgt. 1673459 Average Wireless Op Horler Ivan L. Sgt 1316267 Above average Mid A/G De Vetter L.L. 1814893 Average This gunner has given no cause for complaint yet I cannot feel happy regarding his relation with the rest of the crew. Suggest you watch him. Tail A/G Lane J. William Sgt 1609246 Average On May 9, 1944, P/O Hamilton and his crew commenced flying with 640 Squadron RAF. The target for May 24/5 were the railway yards in Aachen. P/O Hamilton’s crew faced six individual combats and two head-on attacks by a JU-88. One enemy aircraft was claimed shot down. When they arrived over the target the bombs hung up. P/O Hamilton flew two operations during D-Day. The first was a 4:20 trip bombing Normandy coastal batteries at Maisy. The second op involved bombing railway and road centres at Chateaudun. On June 8, 1944, Halifax aircraft LK 866 with P/O Hamilton as skipper, failed to return from an operational attack on Versailles Matelont, France. It left base at 00.24 hours carrying 16X500 G.P., 2 X 500 L.D., 37 pistol and 7,600 rounds of .303 ammunition. P/O Hamilton and Sgt. Lane killed. F/O Bastable was hidden in June for two weeks when he left to attempt to reach Spain. Sgt. De Vetter (M.U. Gunner) wrote the following report: “On our way back we were attacked by fighters. The fighters came up from beneath us. All the bottom of the fuselage caught fire. The engines were still working. The intercom was u.s. The pilot gave orders to jump out. The navigator, F/O H. Bastable – missing, bomb aimer Sgt. A. Noble – POW, wireless operator Sgt. I. Horler – POW, baled out by the first escape hatch. The rear gunner, Sgt. J. Lane - killed, bailed out by a hole in the fuselage as the main escape door could not be opened. “I was going to bale out by the same way as the rear gunner, but on turning round I saw that the fire was not so bad. I went back and with the help of the engineer Sgt. A Rowe – POW, we managed to put the fire out. “The fire was nearly out and we were hoping to get – if not back to base – into allied occupied territory, when fighters suddenly attacked us from underneath. The fire developed. A petrol tank was on fire. Nothing could be done, so we baled out. I baled out first, the engineer second. As for the pilot, I do not know if he managed to escape.” The navigator, F/O H. Bastable reported on May 17, 1945: “Believe all my crew bailed out safely. Rowe and Noble I have seen since. Rowe reports having seen the WOP in Thennes Prison. Also informed by now known traitorous French Resistance in Paris that all but DeVetter had been through their hands. DeVetter, being Belgian, escaped to Brussels I believe as the Belgian Recruiting Mission reports having seen him in Brussels last week. “Bill Lane, tail gunner and the pilot were buried in the little cemetery of the village. Although it was forbidden by the Germans, a crowd of people went to the burial and sang the first strains of ‘Marseillaise’ as the tombs disappeared under a load of flowers.” Mrs. Emily Hamilton wrote the following letter to the RCAF Casualties Officer: “Because of the poor state of my health, and the uncertainty of the future owing to my son’s death, I have no permanent address. Will you please address all mail in connection with my sons estate to the following address c/o Mrs Lang Trinity Avenue Toronto.”