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Wartime Heritage
ASSOCIATION
Remembering World War II
Yarmouth Connections
Name:
Malcolm Allen Canty
Rank:
Flight Sergeant
Service No:
R/62966
Service:
Royal Canadian Air Force
No. 250 Squadron (Royal Air Force)
Date of Birth:
August 1, 1921
Place of Birth:
St. John, New Brunswick
Date of Enlistment:
September 30, 1940
Place of Enlistment:
No.1 Mobile Depot Recruiting Station
(Yarmouth, NS)
Address at Enlistment:
Hebron, Yarmouth Co., NS
Age at Enlistment:
18
Height: 5 feet, 8 inches
Trade:
Student
Marital Status:
Single
Religion:
United Church
Next of Kin:
Isaac Leslie Canty (Father) Hebron, Yarmouth Co., NS
Date of Death:
December 11, 1941
Age at Death:
20
Memorial:
Alamein Memorial (Egypt)
Memorial Reference:
Column 246.
The 22nd name on the WWII list of the Yarmouth War Memorial
Commemorated on page 25 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance
Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on January 24
Malcolm was the son of Isaac Leslie Canty (1891-1959) and Gertrude Blanche (Allen) Canty (1894-
1993), of Hebron, Yarmouth Co., Nova Scotia. He was the brother of William Leslie and Caroline
Helen Canty. The family moved to Hebron, Yarmouth Co., NS when Malcolm was 13 years of age.
He attended the Yarmouth Academy in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia successfully completing the Grade 11
Provincial Examination in August, 1940. He joined the RCAF in September, 1940.
He completed his air training in Canada and the United Kingdom and was posted to the Middle East
on September 30, 1941. He joined 250 RAF Squadron on November 1, 1941.
On December 11, 1941, the Squadron was ordered to do a patrol over enemy territory, and during
this a number of enemy aircraft were encountered with the result that a combat took place. All
the pilots were fully engaged, but from enquiries Malcolm was last seen in a dog-fight with another
enemy aircraft. On returning to the landing ground, it was ascertained that one of the Tomahawk
aircraft of the Squadron was missing, the pilot of which was Flight Sergeant Malcolm Canty. His
aircraft, Tomahawk IIB AN344, went down approximately 30 miles from Tobruk.
As late as 1952, efforts to recover the body were still unsuccessful as the area of the crash was
strewn with unexploded mines and highly dangerous to cover. His name is inscribed on the
Alamein Memorial (Egypt).
Malcolm Allen Canty
Sources and Information:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Photo Credit: Sharon Davis (Niece of Malcolm Canty)
Newspaper Clipping: Argyle Township Court House & Archives
Memorial in Yarmouth Mountain Cemetery, Yarmouth NS