Name: Charles Mohamed Slyman Awad Rank: Flight Lieutenant Service Number: J/15639 Service: 429 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force Date of Birth: July 24, 1920 Place of Birth: Truro, Colchester Co., Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: June 7, 1940 Place of Enlistment: Halifax, Nova Scotia Address at Enlistment: 23 Havelock Street, Truro, Colchester Co., NS Age at Enlistment: 19 Occupation: Clerk (clothing store) Marital Status: Single Next of Kin: Mary Awad (Mother), Truro, NS Religion: Church of England Date of Death: April 27, 1943 Age: 22 Cemetery: Bergen General Cemetery, Noord-Holland, Netherlands Grave: Plot 2, Row E, Grave 9 Commemorated on Page 133 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on March 21 Charles was the son of Mohamed ‘Charley’ Slayman Awad (1872-938) and Mary Helen Abraham (Haddad) Awad (1880-1951). Both his parents were from Qatana, in southern Syria. His siblings were Minnie Awad (1905-1988), Lillian Awad (1907-1992), Ruby Awad (1911-2005), Margaret Awad (1911-1998), Howard Slamin Awad (1913-1972), Rita Irene Awad (1915-2010), Abraham Awad (1917-1919), and Irene Awad (died in infancy). Charles, his father, and his brother Howard all used different spellings for their middle name, though they are all variations of Suleiman (also spelled Sleiman or Sulayman). This is the Arabic form of the Hebrew name Solomon, derived from the word salām (peace), translating roughly to "man of peace." Charles had two half-siblings, Moses Sorge (1898-1941) and Rose Sorge, from his mother’s first marriage to Kaleel Sorge. He attended Centre School from 1926-1935, and high school at the Colchester County Academy from 1935-1938. He enjoyed collecting stamps, reading, boxing, swimming, skating, fishing, softball, and football. He first applied to the RCAF on December 2, 1939, and officially enlisted in early June 1940. Following enlistment, he was sent to the military depot in Toronto, Ontario. On June 25, 1940, he was assigned to the No. 1 Initial Training School (ITS) at the Eglinton Hunt Club in Toronto. His training path continued through No. 1 Air Observer School (AOS) in Malton, Ontario, on July 20; No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery School in Camp Borden, Ontario, on October 14; and No. 1 Air Navigation School (ANS) in Rivers, Manitoba, on November 25. He was granted holiday leave from December 22 to 30, 1940, before proceeding overseas. After transfer to England for additional operational training and postings, he was assigned to 429 Squadron, part of No. 6 (RCAF) Group, at RAF East Moor, near Helmsley, 10 kilometers north of York in North Yorkshire, England. Serving as Wireless Air Gunner, Flight Lieutenant Awad was killed in action when his Vickers Wellington bomber HE737 was shot down by a German night fighter during an Allied attack on Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The aircraft crashed near the Kogendijk in Bergen. Charles is interred at the Bergen General Cemetery in Noord-Holland, Netherlands, and is also remembered on the RCAF Memorial at Old Holy Trinity Anglican Church Cemetery, in Middleton, Annapolis Co., Nova Scotia.