Remembering World War II

Samuel Driffield Woodman Flying Officer J/29198 Royal Canadian Air Force 353 (RAF) Squadron December 5, 1922 Conway, Digby Co., NS June 24, 1942 Yarmouth, NS (No. 16 RCAF Recruiting Centre) 19 6 feet, 1 inch Medium Brown Brown Single Drug Clerk Church of England Samuel Woodman (Father) Digby, NS August 17, 1945 22 Kirkee War Cemetery, India 2. K. 16. Commemorated on Page 577 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on December 2 Flying Officer Woodman was the son of Samuel Eveleth Woodman (1875-1949) and Constance Beatrice (VanTassell) Woodman (1879-1962), of Conway, Digby Co., NS. He was the second youngest of eleven children. He completed his grade twelve at the age of seventeen and was then employed as a certified drug clerk at a pharmacy in Digby for the two years prior to his enlistment. He enjoyed building model planes and was active in basketball, badminton and swimming. Flying Officer Woodman served in Canada until October of 1943 and went overseas to the United Kingdom embarking New York on October 13, 1943 and disembarking in England on October 19, 1943 where he served until July, 1944. He joined 353 RAF Squadron in India on July 16, 1944. The Squadron was part of No. 229 Group, Air Command South-East Asia and served as a transport unit. On August 17, 1945 Flying Officer Woodman was the pilot of an aircraft (Dakota Mark III F.L.603) on a scheduled transport flight with a crew of three and six passengers. The aircraft crashed at 8:00 am near Raitali Village in North Dahanu, sixty miles north of Bombay, India. All on the aircraft were killed. While the cause of the crash was undetermined it appeared that a break-up of the plane occurred in the air.

Samuel Driffield Woodman

Source: Canadian Virtual War Memorial