A RCAF Memorial Group

A RCAF Memorial Group - Defence Medal; Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with Overseas Clasp; War Medal 1939-1945; and Memorial Cross (R.94476 T/SGT. H.W. HANSON). Naming is officially engraved on the MC. Court-mounted, very crisp detail, original ribbons, light contact, better than very fine. Accompanied by eighteen pages of copies of his Index Cards, Attestation Paper, Service Records and correspondence from Ottawa. Footnote: Henry Walter Hanson was born in Coaticook, Quebec on August 21, 1900. He signed his Attestation Paper with the Royal Canadian Air Force, on April 28, 1941, listing his next-of-kin as his wife, Violet Elizabeth Hanson (nee Johnston), whom he married at Winnipeg on April 17, 1924. He stated that his father, Albert Curtis Hanson (born May 26, 1870) was a World War I veteran, having signed his Officer's Declaration Paper on January 4, 1916 at Sherbrooke, Quebec with the 117th Infantry Battalion. Henry Hanson stated that he had previous military service with the Canadian Officers' Training Corps at McGill University and the 72nd Field Battery, Royal Canadian Artillery, and that he was employed in the Public Service with the Department of Agriculture. He also said that he was a "good pistol & rifle shot", that he was "mechanically inclined & willing to learn" and that he was "eager" to follow his father's example and serve his country. Although he had only four hours flight experience as a passenger, he was accepted for service on May 3, 1941 at Montreal, Quebec and thought suitable as a Radio Mechanic. He was placed with the McGill University Detachment and after two months of courses that Fall, he scored 32/100 in Fundamental Radio Theory and 63/100 in Applied Radio Theory, for an overalll score of 48%. His instructor then recommended him for a trade test. In addition to his training at McGill, he also saw postings at Montreal, St. Hubert, Toronto and Moncton, before embarking for overseas service on February 27, 1942. Once in England, he was stationed at Farmborough that August and also attended the No. 61 Receiver Course at RAF Watchfield and obtained a score of 59%, earning a position as a Radar Mechanic. Three years, he returned to Canada, and was posted to Lachine, Quebec on August 21, 1945. Hanson was Honourably Released from active service on September 29, 1945 at the age of 45. He died at Coaticook, Quebec on January 10, 1952, from a combination of two factors: Angina Pectoris (chest pain due to ischemia, a restriction in blood supply to tissues of the heart muscle, generally due to obstruction or spasm of the coronary arteries, the main cause being Coronary Artery Disease) and Bright's Disease (an historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis). Although it is not clear from his paperwork, the RCAF acknowledged that his death was related to his World War II military service and therefore, his widow, Violet of Coaticook, received his Memorial Cross. Only the one Memorial Cross was issued, as his mother, Estella, predeceased him. He also left behind two daughters, Muriel and Marjorie.