Name: George Joseph Antoine Boucher Service Number: R143151 Rank: Leading Aircraftman Service: No. 3 Radio Detachment, Tusket, Yarmouth Co., NS Royal Canadian Air Force Date of Birth: November 13, 1923 Place of Birth: Vancouver, British Columbia Date of Enlistment: November 21, 1941 Place of Enlistment: Toronto, Ontario Previous Military: School Cadets 1940-1941 Address At Enlistment: Vancouver, BC Age at Enlistment: 18 Height: 5 feet, 7 inches Weight: 135 lbs. Complexion: Medium Eyes: Blue Hair: Fair Trade: Student/Warehouse Employee Marital Status: Single Religion: Roman Catholic Next of Kin: Oscar Boucher [Father] Vancouver, BC Date of Death: June 24, 1944 Age At Death: 20 Cemetery: Abray Park, Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, BC Grave Reference: Block 3, Plot 11, Lot 24 Commemorated on Page 254 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on May 28 George Joseph Antoine Boucher was the son of Joseph Oscar Boucher (1884-1985) and Jeanne Marie (Guillemaud) Boucher (1889-1974). He had 3 brothers, Joseph Aimé Boucher (1916-1987) and André ‘Andy’ Anthony Boucher (1920-2008), and Antoine Jean-Marie Boucher, and four sisters, Angeline Jeanne Boucher (b. 1915), Rose Marguerite (Boucher) McLaren (1919-2005), Madeline Boucher, and Joan Marie Boucher. George’s father was born in Quebec, and his mother was born in Dijon, France. Although almost all the family lived in Vancouver, George’s sister Rose lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia in the 1940’s. George enjoyed basketball, rugby and baseball and played the trumpet. Prior to his enlistment, George was a member of the Cadet Corps in 1940-1941. He enlisted in the Canadian Militia at the age of 17 on July 9, 1941. He served as a gunner with the 15th Coast Brigade of the Royal Canadian Artillery in Vancouver until November of 1941 when he transferred to the RCAF. From July 20 to August 3, 1941, while stationed with the RCA Brigade, George served as Bandsman. His training included time at the No. 13 Service Flying Training School (13 SFTS) in St. Hubert, Quebec. George enlisted as a standard tradesman with the RCAF before serving as an armorer (guns), and then remustering to general duties in September 1942. On September 8, 1942, George was formally assigned to No. 3 Radio Detachment Station in Tusket, Yarmouth County, NS, where he took on general duties. The No. 3 Radio Detachment Station operated as a self-contained extension of the Yarmouth air base, positioned on a scenic overlook above the Tusket River, approximately 7 miles from Yarmouth and 2 miles from the village of Tusket. The detachment functioned independently, complete with its own cooks, security personnel, a male nurse, and radar specialists. In mid-August 1942, Canadian-made radar equipment was installed. On January 15, 1944, George discharged a bullet while on duty in the Guard Room at No. 3 Station, damaging two windows. As a result, Flying Officer R.G. Allen ordered him confined to barracks for four days. On June 24, 1944, Leading Aircraftman Boucher tragically drowned in a boating accident on Vaughn Lake in Yarmouth Co., while off duty on a 48-hour pass. After the 22-foot sailboat capsized, he attempted to swim to shore but was unsuccessful. Boucher had been on the lake with Leading Aircraftman Harold Edward Flaro (Service No. R254932) of No. 3 Station and Leading Aircraftman Reginald John Long (Service No. R180361), a Radio Mechanic (Ground) from No. 21 Detachment in Plymouth in Yarmouth Co. The sailboat, owned by RCAF Petty Officer James Arthur Long (1921-2008), brother of LAC Reginald Long, which the three had launched just adjacent to the Tusket dam. The body of George Boucher was returned to Vancouver, BC for burial, and he was interred at Abray Park section of the Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver.