Name: Harold Elburn Isles Rank: Flight Sergeant Service Number: R/176528 Service: 90 (RAF) Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force Date of Birth: April 23, 1923 Place of Birth: Bear River, Digby County, Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: June 26, 1942 Place of Enlistment: No. 16 RCAF Recruitment Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia Address at Enlistment: Bear River, Digby County, Nova Scotia Age at Enlistment: 19 Height: 5 feet, 6 ½ inches Complexion: Fair Hair Colour: Blonde Eye Colour: Blue Occupation: Farmer Marital Status: Single Religion: Baptist Next of Kin: Mary Myrtle Isles (Mother) Date of Death: May 9, 1944 Age: 21 Cemetery: Viroflay New Communal Cemetery, Yvelines, France Grave: Row B, Grave 4 Commemorated on Page 343 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on July 24 Harold Elburn Isles was the son of Arthur Max Isles (1899-1961) and Mary Myrtle (Claes) Isles (1898-1983), of Bear River, Digby Co., Nova Scotia. His father was born in West Dalhousie, Annapolis Co., NS, and his mother was born in Dartmouth, Halifax Co., NS. Harold’s siblings were Robert Arthur Isles (1920-2017), Clarence Edward Isles (1921-1995), Andrew Boyd Isles (1924-2001), Robert John Isles (1926-2004), Margaret Myrtle Isles (1928-1928), Gerald Lawrence Isles (1931- 2004), Frances Myrtle (Isles) Gordon (1934-2013), and Fred Augustus Isles (1936-2009). Harold enjoyed swimming, skating, skiing, and baseball. He attended the Bear River Road school between 1931 and 1938 completing the 8th grade, and the Oakdene High School from 1938 and 1941 completing the 10th grade. During his school years he helped his father on the farm. After high school, he attended the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Truro, NS, taking a pre-enlistment course from March to June of 1942. After enlisting in June of 1942, Harold trained at Halifax, NS, until July 12, 1942, transferred to the Military Depot in Lachine, Quebec until August 19, 1942, and then attended the No. 9 Service Flight Training School (9 SFTS) at RCAF Station Centralia, Ontario from August 20 to October 24, 1942. From October 25, 1942, to January 23, 1943, he was training at No. 1 Initial Training School (1 ITS) in Toronto, ON. Then, he began training at the No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery School in Jarvis, ON from January 24 to May 1, 1943, and the No. 9 Air Observer School (9 AOS) near St Jean, Quebec until June 25, 1943. Transferring to Halifax, he embarked a ship on June 30, 1943, for the United Kingdom, disembarking July 7, 1943. After training with No. 6 Advanced Flying Unit (6 (O) AFU) from August 3 to 31, 1943, he transferred to No .82 Operational Training Unit (82 OTU) with which he trained until November 5, 1943. Harold was next assigned to 1665 and 1653 Conversion Units. With the introduction of new heavy bombers, like the 4-engined Short Stirling, Avro Lancaster, and Handley Page Halifax, the RAF introduced heavy conversion units (HCU). Having formed in late 1941, these HCUs were used to uptrain, or qualify crews trained on medium bombers, to operate heavy bombers before final posting to operational squadrons. Harold was assigned to the Royal Air Force No. 90 Squadron on May 15, 1944. His Stirling III aircraft BF524 took off at 9:54 pm on the evening of May 8, 1944, from RAF Tuddendam, 5.1 km southeast of Mildenhall, Suffolk, England. The aircraft never returned from France. All four crew were initially reported missing in action. It was determined they were shot down by an enemy Luftwaffe night- fighter over Saint-Jean-de-Braye, France at an altitude of 500m at 1:02 am May 9, 1944 and crashed at St. Aignant-le-Jaillard. The three other crew lost were: Sergeant Derek Malcolm Brandrick, Radio Operator (Service No. 1578489) Sergeant Edward Raymond Bray, Flight Engineer (Service No. 1582655) Pilot Officer Leslie William Higgins, Navigator (Service No. 169454) The four are interred at the Viroflay New Communal Cemetery Grave in Row B in graves, 4, 5, 6, and 7. Viroflay is a small town 4 kilometers east of Versailles. The cemetery is situated in the wooded area, south of the town, and about 880 meters from the church and town hall.

Source: Canadian Virtual War Memorial findagrave