Holmes in Uniform - LAC Donald M Moore

LAC Donald Malcolm Moore

(1922 - 2005)

RCAF
1941-1945

Donald Malcolm Moore was born in Moncton, New Brunswick in 1922 to Miles J and Alice Hovey Moore. He lived in Moncton for his entire life, and is buried in the Fair Haven Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Moncton. He married Margaret Holmes of Hillgrove, New Brunswick, in 1949.

According to Donald's Record of Service from the Department of Veterans Affairs, he served with the Royal Canadian Air Force from his enlistment in Moncton, New Brunswick on June 30, 1941 until his Honorable Discharge in Halifax, Nova Scotia on September 19, 1945. Margaret remembers that he served in Dartmouth and Sydney in Nova Scotia, and St. Johns and Tor Bay in Newfoundland. Newfoundland, at that time, was not part of Canada.

Paul Moore, his son, remembers him discussing the aircraft he worked on, and the issues he had with them: the Harvard (T-6), Lancaster, Halifax, Spitfire, Hurricane and he thinks the Liberator (B-24). He also talked about the Mitchell, Bolingbroke, and Lysander like he was familiar with them. 

He attended the Dominion Youth Training at Moncton Aero-Engine School and took further training at St. Thomas in Ontario. "The No. 1 Technical Training School . . . offered six-month courses for aircraft electricians and aero-engineers, airframe and instrument mechanics and specialized training . . ."

In the April edition of  "The Sydney Patrol" newspaper, Don Moore's photo is there with three other fellow in the Rifle Club, where he earned a silver spoon in "practically every weekly shoot." 

What little I know about Donald's WWII service is written in an Applicant's Statement for Disability with Veterans Affairs, Canada. He was applying for a pension due to hearing loss.

"As an aero engine mechanic working on the flight line, I was in contact with aircraft engines. When an aircraft was started, a battery cart was required. The battery plug on most aircraft was close to the exhaust stacks as it was on Hurricane aircraft with the Merlin engine. when the engine started, being close to the exhaust stacks was very noisy.

When in the cockpit and starting the aircraft and running them up to 2200 RPM to check the magnetos or sitting on the tail to hold the aircraft down was noisy. I would say two-thirds of my time was spent on the flight line.

When working in the maintenance hanger, at times it was very noisy. When an engine charge was made on a radial engine, it was required to run the new engine for two hours or so; one's hearing was affected for some time after, as we were required to sit in the cockpit. While stationed in Sydney, Nova Scotia, I was in the vicinity of an aircraft crash. The aircraft was loaded with Depth Charges which exploded. I was close enough to be in the range of falling debris. On the second, I was about 500 feet from the explosion."

Donald M Moore - married to M Margaret Holmes - Floyd O Holmes - Charles R and Phoebe McMonagle Holmes - Daniel and Charlotte Holmes


The first photo is of Miles Moore and his son, Donald Moore, both of whom served in Canada during WWII. 

Sources: Margaret Moore; Department of Veterans Affairs Record of Service, RCAF; http://www.elgin.ca/ElginCounty/CulturalServices/Archives/sww/RCAF.html