County of Brant Public Library Digital Collections

John "Jack" Chapple Tate Military Procession and Funeral

Description

Media Type

Image

Item Type

Photographs

Description

A series of black and white photographs of the Royal Canadian Air Force military procession and funeral of John “Jack” Chapple Tate. 2017EG001.006 and 2017EG001.007 depict the beginning of the military procession starting from St. James Anglican Church located at 8 Burwell Street, Paris, Ontario. 2017EG001.008 was taken at the corner of Burwell and Grant River Street South. With the military march procession leading down Grant River Street South toward Grant River Street North, 2017EG001.009 was taken near the intersection of Grand River Street South and Dumfries Street – the houses and buildings depicted are still there today. 2017EG001.010 was taken near Grand River Street North and Mechanic Street featuring the RCAF band with a “Buy Victory Bonds Now!” banner hung between the telephone poles. The funeral march continues along Grand River Street North as depicted in 2017EG001.011; notice the store fronts such as John W. Hall’s which still exists today. 2017EG001.012 illustrates the funeral march turning east onto William Street to cross the William Street Bridge, going towards the St. James Anglican Church Cemetery located at Nimmo Street. 2017EG001.013 to 2017EG001.017 depicts the military funeral service held at the cemetery, and his casket covered with flowers. It is presumably the Tate family headstone that is featured in the foreground of 2017EG001.014 and 2017EG001.015, where his mother, and later his father, were buried as well.

Notes

John “Jack” Chapple Tate was the youngest of three children of George R. and Gertrude Louise [Chapple] Tate, born in Paris, Ontario on 19 January 1911. He grew up at 79 Walnut Street, and attended Paris Central Public School, Paris District High School, and St. James Anglican Church. His sister Lucy Margaret Tate was a teacher at Paris Central School, and his brother George R. Tate was a foreman at the Gypsum, Lime & Alabaster plant in Caledonia.

Jack served as a Corporal in the 10th Brant Dragoons from 1925 to 1928 and in the Royal Canadian Dragoons for a month in 1925. He attended Brantford Business College from 1927 to 1928 taking book keeping, and worked as a grocery clerk for the following two years. He began working at Gypsum, Lime & Alabaster in 1930 and became a foreman a year later, working over the next ten years at the Paris and Caledonia branches.

In July 1940, he married Mary Kathleen Welsh of Ayr, Ontario. The couple lived at 78 Sheridan Street in Brantford. On 22 July 1940, Jack enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in Hamilton. In the “Special Qualifications, Hobbies, etc., useful to the R.C.A.F.” section of his attestation papers, he writes: “I have no fear in the air and delight in aerobatics, tail spins etc. I have several times frightened the instructor as he will testify.” World War II Service Records reveal that he had applied to enlist in the RCAF in Hamilton September 1939, but the application was lost.

He trained at Camp Borden, Regina, Montreal, Debert, and Jarvis, receiving his Wireless Air Gunner’s wings and promotion to a Sergeant on 25 April 1941. In June 1941, he served overseas in the No. 407 “Demon” Long Range Patrol Squadron under the Royal Air Force Coastal Command. Based around England, the Demons’ used the Lockheed Hudson, operating as a “strike” squadron, attacking enemy shipping from September 1941 to January 1943. Jack took part in 43 operational flights, and his immediate crew was credited with destroying four ships in six attacks. Of the 54 Canadian members of the 407 Squadron to serve overseas during the Second World War, Tate was one of seventeen to return home.

On 28 April 1942, Jack received his commission as a Pilot Officer, and returned to Canada on 16 June 1942. He was posted to Yarmouth where he trained as a radio officer, and carried out flight operations along the St Lawrence Valley. During this positing, Mary moved to Yarmouth to join Jack, and assisted the local war effort by driving a military ambulance.

While temporarily stationed at Mont-Joli, Jack along with three crewmembers performed an anti-submarine patrol off the coast of Labrador during the early hours of 14 October 1942. Around 5:30 am, their Hudson aircraft fatally crashed near Chandler, Quebec. A lumberjack working in the area heard the explosion, and the site was discovered after three days of searching. The cause of the accident was unknown, although the investigation records suggest the port motor caught fire while in flight, and the aircraft was at too low of an altitude to bail out. Thirteen days prior to his death, Jack was promoted to the rank of Flying Officer.

Tate was buried with full military honours by the Royal Canadian Air Force in his home town of Paris, Ontario. A military funeral procession was led from St. James Anglican Church, down Grand River Street, along William Street, to the St. James Anglican Church Cemetery. John Chapple Tate’s name appears on the Second World War Memorial Plaque displayed at the Paris District High School.

For more information, visit the External Links.

Date Of Event

October 1942

Subject(s)

Military
Royal Canadian Air Force
Second World War

Personal Name(s)

Tate, John "Jack" Chapple

Local identifier

2017EG001.006 - 2017EG001.017

Language of Item

English

Geographic Coverage

Paris

Ontario, Canada

Latitude: 43.2 Longitude: -80.38333

Donor

M. Eleanor (Tate) Gloster

Creative Commons licence

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Copyright Statement

Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.

Recommended Citation

John "Jack" Chapple Tate Military Procession and Funeral. M. Eleanor Gloster, 2017EG001.006-2017EG001.017.

Terms of Use

The information and images provided are for personal research only and are not to be used for commercial purposes. Use of this information should include the credit "County of Brant Public Library".

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