Son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles D. MacGregor of Victoria Ave, and his wife lived on Murray St., Chatham. Two sisters Carol and Ruth also served in the RCAF Carol, married RAF pilot R. B. Beeston and Ruth who was stationed in Sydney N.S. His sister Evelyn did not serve.  Donald enlisted in the RCAF (Photographic Dept.) in 1940 shortly after leaving high school at CCI. Appears on the “Muster Roll” of the 2^nd Bn., Kent Regiment (MG), N.P.A.N. (date unknown) as Pte. A470460.

In April of 1942 Donald in the RCAF with the rank of AC1 and his wife were reported spending a few days with his parents then living on Murray St., Chatham before departing to Halifax, likely on his way to England. CDN 1/04/42 Donald was reported to have arrived safely in England in the CDN 20/05/42.

In June of 1942 Don wrote home taking issue with the reports that the quality of the food being served was poor. An article in the CDN 15/06/42 contained Dons’ opinion of this very important part of an enlisted mans life. “The service men here eat the best and especially the members of the air force. The meals are every bit as good as at the Manning Pool, Torontoyou don’t get as much, but what you do get is real good. We have butter one meal a day. Sugar is absent. Bacon is served faily regularly. Greens and vegitables are plentiful”.

Curators Note: It should be noted that the English homemaker was on a strict ration for all of the items mentioned above so that the service men could be adequately fed.

Don also wrote on some of the military activities. “Every night the bigbombers fly over here on their way to make deliveries to ‘Heinie land’. And believe me, they’re beginning to get plentiful. The planes are usually up above the clouds where you can’t see them. We have plenty of Spitfires and Hurricanes around here. The fly sometimes so high, you can’t see them. But right after they go by, you will have more of them come over so low that a man seven feet tall would have his hat knocked off by the slipstream.

As far as billets he also had no complaints. “We have wonderful billets. We live in a new hotel and I have a room on the 12^th Floor. There are no elevators (lifts to the English) working in it . We save hydro power by using muscular power.”

He was impressed by the beauty of England. “England is just like one massive garden. There are lilacs out in bloom now and the wild daffodils cover the roadsides out in the country. The town we are in is fairly well evacuated of civilians. It is very dead, except in the pubs, where you find about a dozen men other tha service men drinking.

On the local war side Don writes. “There have been a dozen or so bombs dropped here since the beginning of the war. We get hit and run raids by German fighters. We have had a couple of warnings since I arrived but no aircraft have appeared as yet. The raiders fly very low, zipping up the main street and machine-gunning everything in sight, only to scram abck over the channel a short while later. One of the few bombs that hit here ‘gutted’ one of the most beautiful churches you have ever seen.” As Don was writing his letter a big flight of bombers were heading off on a bombing mission. “People here don’t stop and stae at the planes like they do in Canada. They just go on with whatever they are doing without even looking up.”

Finally Don brings up the dangers of being out at night. They had been told when challenged by the army guards what to do. We were advised to stop sharp, because all the guards here carry ‘tommy guns’. On the other end of the guns were members of some tough Canadian regiment. If the guards were the least bit in doubt about you , they shoot first. “Then, if there is enough of you left afterwards, they ask questions.” CDN 15/06/42 .

CURATORS Note: My father seldom talked about his war and even then it was on the lighter side. One story was much like Don’s story about night guards. Dad was a Sgt, at a Commando base and was out one foggy evening checking on the guards around the base. He arrived at one checkpoint to find the guards there with their weapons leveled looking down a foggy trail. The guards had issued two challenges to ‘halt and identify’. Dad raised his weapon a bit and sent a burst down the trail to find out it was a British officer out for a walk. When later question by his commanding officer with the British officer present and the report made. The CO said that if this would have been him he would a shot first and the Brit was just lucky he wasn’t killed.

He served overseas approximately three and a half years serving with RCAF 430 Squadron, 39^th Reconnaissance Group, photosection.Cpl. MacGregor saw service in England, France, Belgium and Germany. Donald landed back in Canada aboard the troopship Samaria and was to proceed to Quebec City to No. 1 Repatriation Depot to receive leave. His wife and daughter Margaret Anne, who he had never seen and his parents would meet him upon arrival. CDN 28/08/45(P)

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Sources

2KRMR,, , CDN 23/08/45, 1/09/45., IODE(P), CCI-RH, CDN (23/08/45, 1/09/45, 28/08/45), VR

Birthplace	Chatham, Ontario
Religion	Anglican
Marital Status	Married
When Enlisted	April 7th, 1941
Next of Kin	Wife- Mrs. Isabel MacGregor

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