Obituaries

In Memorium: William "Bill" Ireland, WWII radar veteran

William “Bill” Ireland, August 2014. Credit: Maya Hirschman for Secrets of Radar Museum

William “Bill” Ireland, August 2014. Credit: Maya Hirschman for Secrets of Radar Museum

It is with sadness we report the passing of Bill Ireland, one of the Secrets of Radar Museum’s veterans. Bill recorded an oral history in August 2013 with then curator, Maya Hirschman. Bill, born in Saskatchewan, graduated from the University of Manitoba with a degree in Chemistry. He joined the RCAF in 1940, serving as a Radar Mechanic and was, like many of the first 6,000, loaned to the Royal Air Force. Bill began his radar training on Chain Home early detection radar, but in June 1943 he was sent to RAF No. 8 Radio School in Cranwell, Lincolnshire, UK, for a course on Mk.8 Air Interception radar equipment. Eventually, this skill sent him to India to support the theatre in Burma. When asked what kind of specialised training he received for that posting, he said, “jungle training”, which was all the usual stuff, plus a machete and anti-malaria pills. The humidity and temperature caused no end of trouble for the airborne radar equipment, and thanks to his small stature, he often found himself lying down in the aircraft as it flew, adjusting the sensitive instruments—literally, on the fly. He was honourably discharged in 1945. We fondly remember Bill as a humble man with a wry sense of humour. He passed away at the age of 101 on October 9, 2019.

Read his obituary in the Ottawa Citizen.

In Memorium: Bill Bird

William Bill Bird.jpg

William "Bill" Bird was born in Sheffield, U.K. in 1917, and later moved with his parents to Manchester.  After working in his father's business, he joined the R.A.F. and became involved in the development and use of radar during the Second World War as a Flight Sergeant.  In 1953 Bill immigrated to Canada to work for A.V. Roe in Malton, Ontario, and then with his newly arrived family, moved to Clinton, Ontario as a civilian radar instructor for the R.C.A.F.  He and the family then moved to Peterborough, Ontario, where he was hired to set up and teach in a new electronics lab at Kenner Collegiate.

Click here to read the full obituary.