Born in Ridgetown, ON., 3/ 02/1921 son of the late Ralph Charles and Eupheme Dauphin, of Ridgetown, Ontario, Canada, brother of Flt. Sgt. Charles Elfred. Ralph was a grocer in Ridgetown in the 1930’s but died young leaving Eupheme to raise Bill and Charlie he being the older of the boys.

Prior to enlisting Bill was a bank clerk in the Royal Bank in Ridgetown and Port Dover between 1938 and 1942. Bill was a good looking fellow and was the snare drummer in a local band and had attracted the attention of a local girl Doris O’Neil.

Bill’s brother Charles had enlisted in the RCAF in 1939 or early 1940 and was commissioned a Pilot Officer in bombers flying many raid on German targets. This would end in 1941 when his plane was shot down and he was made a POW until the end of the war.

Bill enlisted in the RCAF 18 May,1942 and trained in Saskatchewan, it was reported in the Ridgetown Dominion that he received his wings in June of 1943 at Uplands RCAF station and went overseas later in June of 1943. He was reported as MIA in the CDN 9/01/1945. The CDN 9/01/45 reported that P). Dauphin was reported “missing in operations” while serving in Italy. He was piloting a Spitfire and had seen action in Italy, Corsica and southern France. He was 23 years old in February of 1944.   F/O(P) Dauphin was killed while bombing enemy gun positions near Massa, Lombardi, Italy. His Spitfire # PV 137 was hit by flak while flying at 8’000 feet.

Age: 23, KIA –  Date of Death: 01/01/1945, in Spitfire.

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead, Grave/Memorial Reference: VIII. D. 22. Cemetery: FAENZA WAR CEMETERY. Cenotaph Ridgetown, ON. Index of Overseas Deaths, TSGNO.

His dog tags were found in the remains of the plane. “The family always thought he went down just off Greece.” His story was written up in the Ridgetown newspaper.

The details of P/O Daupin’s death came from Franco Dapporto an Italian citizen who researched the incident as reported in the RIN 6/11/2002 as follows:

“Guiseppe Bentini and Pirazzini saw the aircraft crash. Mr. Bentini was the owner of the place where the aircraft crashed. After the war he sold all of the aircraft in cluding the engine. He recovered only the original clock of the aircraft.

Mr. Bentini remembered that the aircraft was hit by flak from a German 20mm gun. The pilot jumped out of the aircraft but the parachute was entangled in the wing of the aircraft. The pilot tried to remove the parachute from the wing but the aircraft speed was increasing and he was dragged attached to the wing. The aircraft crashed and the body of the the pilot was found near the wreckage. The body had sunk into the ground 20cm. near the wreck.

The place was under the control of the German troops. Some Russian prisoners saw the aircraft crash and they ran to the pilot’s body. They removed a gold ring and watch. To remove the personal effect’s from a dead body was usual during the war.

Later the German troops arrived at the crash site and searched for personal effects. They acted cruelly on the body of the pilot, undressed it and buried the body in the field.”

 

The body was found after the war and removed for reburial at Faenza.

 

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Sources

CDN (09-01-1945), Ann Leatherdale, IODE (IODE Information Sheet.), RC (243-RH), TSGNO. (CVWM(P)), CWGC (RCL Br), RIN 15/06/11, 9/01/13, 5/11/14,18/06/14, IODE-IS, RHS-RH

Age	23
Birthplace	Ridgetown, Ontario

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