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Wartime Heritage
ASSOCIATION
Remembering World War II
Name:
Harold Wilson Oldham
Rank:
Flying Officer
Service Number:
C/2397
Service:
11 Bomber Reconnaissance Squadron,
RCAF, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Date of Birth:
July 17, 1907
Place of Birth:
Southampton, York County, New Brunswick
Date of Enlistment:
August 13, 1940
Place of Enlistment:
Moncton, Westmorland Co. New Brunswick
Age at Enlistment:
33
Address at Enlistment:
Permanent: Woodstock, New Brunswick
Temporary: California
Marital Status:
Married
Occupation:
Building (drafting and construction)
Religion:
Church of England
Next of Kin:
Grace Mabel Oldham (Wife)
Height:
5 feet, 10 inches
Complexion:
Ruddy
Hair Colour:
Brown
Eye Colour:
Brown
Date of Death:
September 27, 1941
Age:
34
Memorial:
Ottawa Memorial, Ottawa, Ontario
Reference:
Panel 1, Column 2
Commemorated on Page 40 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance
displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on January 31
Harold Wilson Oldham was the son of William Kaye Oldham (1872-1919), and Jessie Henrietta (Steele)
Wilson (1882-1979), and the brother of William Oldham (b. 1893), Marguerite Bertha Oldham (1901-
2006), Harold W Oldham, Earl Ganong Oldham (1909-1959), Adrian A Oldham (b. 1913). His father was
a sculptor and owned Woodstock Granite and Marble Works.
Harold married Grace Mabel Monteith on September 20, 1930, in Perth, New Brunswick. For a time, he
lived and worked in California with Grace. His construction work in included working for the RKO Radio
Theatre Studios in Hollywood.
Harold was posted to No. 11 Bomber Reconnaissance (BR) Squadron on April 1, 1941, effective March
30, 1941. 11 BR Squadron was stationed in Dartmouth, Halifax County, Nova Scotia. Harold was living
and based in Dartmouth at the time of is death.
On September 27, 1941, Flying Officer Harold Wilson Oldham was lost at sea in Hudson aircraft AM940.
Also killed were Sergeant William Ronald Lance, RCAF (navigator, Hamilton, Ontario), and Cyril Harvey
Small (radio operator, St John's, Newfoundland) were lost at sea in Hudson AM940. The flight was
reported missing enroute from Gander, Newfoundland to RAF Prestwick on a transatlantic ferry flight.
An “XXX” signal from Small indicated that the crew had encountered a situation of urgency, but the
aircraft was not heard from again and vanished over the North Atlantic.
Flying Officer Oldham is remembered on the Ottawa Memorial in Ontario. He is also remembered on a
family grave marker at the Methodist Cemetery in Woodstock, Carleton County, New Brunswick.
Harold Wilson Oldham