Griffin Young murdered by an unknown SS Gestapo officer whilst a POW

Name: YOUNG, GRIFFIN JAMES
Initials: G J
Nationality: Canadian
Rank: Pilot Officer (Pilot)
Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Air Force
Unit Text: 412 Sqdn.
Age: 29
Date of Death: 25/08/1944
Service No: J/88753
Additional information: Son of James Lewis Young and Annie Elizabeth Young, of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Coll. grave 439 C.
Cemetery: LES HOGUES COMMUNAL CEMETERY

Flight Lieutenant T. H. Floyd, RCAF chaplain at Trenton, delivered a card to Mr. and Mrs. James Lewis Young from the Minister of National Defence for Air, the Hon. John Gibson. The nicely printed card said, "This commemorates the gratitude of the Government and people of Canada for the life of a brave man freely given in the service of his Country: Pilot Officer Griffin James Young, RCAF. His name will ever be held in proud remembrance."

The signature was dated Aug. 25, 1944, and according to the annotation was delivered on Feb. 9, 1945. A letter from Air Commodore D. E. MacKell dated the next day confirmed what Floyd had reported and noted that "statements and evidence appear to definitely establish that the death of your son was caused by atrocities of the German Gestapo." MacKell concluded, "May the same spirit which prompted your son to offer his life give you courage."

The family had received a telegram from the RCAF Casualties Officer, Aug. 18, which read: "M9805 REGRET TO ADVISE THAT YOUR SON R EIGHT FIVE EIGHT FIVE FIVE WARRANT OFFICER FIRST CLASS GRIFFIN JAMES YOUNG IS REPORTED MISSING AFTER AIR OPERATIONS OVERSEAS AUGUST THIRTEENTH STOP LETTER FOLLOWS."

In that letter, dated Aug. 26, the RCAF reported that Young was "the sole occupant of an aircraft which took off on an armed reconnaissance flight." He radioed that he had been hit by anti-aircraft fire and he "baled out safely approximately two miles south west of Vassey, France." The Squadron Leader for No. 412 Squadron, RCAF Overseas, added some details on Aug. 25. He noted that "'Griff' was very popular among his fellow pilots and admired for his keenness and ability as a fighter pilot." A pilot flying in the same mission had seen Griffin Young safely land on the ground. The family was notified in November 1944 that their son had been promoted to Pilot Officer effective Aug. 12, 1944; at that time he was still considered missing and the officer extended sympathy "in this trying time." Air Marshall Robert Leckie, Chief of the Air Staff, signed a certificate, 8 May 1945, posthumously awarding Pilot Officer Griffin James Young the Operational Wings of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

The Examiner, on Feb. 15, 1945, had a neat collage on Griffin Young with pictures of him singing in the choir, of him sitting on a rock at a picnic on the shore of Lake Erie, of him and his sister in the summer of 1940, and of him in England with Sgt. Pilot John Arundel, a Peterborough friend who also died in the war.

The family has an exceptionally fine photo album scrapbook, with handcrafted wooden covers, which was lent to the rector of St. John's Church, Archdeacon Gordon Finney. The photographs trace the life of Griffin Young from a babe in arms to a proud pilot. He is seen with his parents, his cousins, his friends, his brother, Gordon, and his three sisters, Isabel, Enid and Violet. The Youngs lived at 141 Rubidge Street, in the block south of Knox United Church, and some pictures are from that neighborhood.

An undated news clipping, headlined "Only the Brave Can Join" resonated with Griffin's parents. It was a letter from FO Alfred Hall to his mother, Mrs C. A. Hall, written after Alfred's brother had been reported missing in action. A quote gives the spirit of the letter. "We are proud and very glad that we had a mother and a father who taught us unselfishly to risk our lives to maintain what we were always taught to believe...We know it (the risk), but we still fly and always will."

The Youngs attended St. John's Anglican Church, where Griffin Young was a member of the choir. In 1929, members of the choir competed at the Canadian National Exhibition, and Griffin Young, then 13, won a bronze medal. The scrapbook contains photos shot behind the vestry wing of St. John's Church, and the choir, led by the accomplished Fred Mann, had 16 boys, quite a respectable number. Some of the pictures show him on an outing in Stratford with his best friends from that choir, Roy Pitchford and Albert (last name not given). The choir won the shield for first prize in Stratford. These two shields are in the parish archives of St. John's Anglican Church. For one of the pictures of a trip to Stratford his mom noted "The five chums in back row. Griffin, Alf, Albert, Walter and Roy." Snapshots of the St. John's Bible class show the five chums and five ladies enjoying food events at the church.

St. John's Church had an active young people's group, the Anglican Young People's Association, that among other things put on plays. There is a delightful picture of the cast for the St. John's Annual Minstrels and One Act Play, Feb. 3, 1937. There are several photos in and around the collegiate. The 1935 COSSA champion rugby football team at the Peterborough Collegiate Institute had the popular half back Griffin Young wearing sweater No. 8. There are group pictures and other casual shots taken at PCI, from which he graduated in 1936. Griffin Young was a smoker, but in all the shots he seems very happy and outgoing, enjoying the friendship of boys and girls. Some pictures show outings along the Trent Canal.

The album scrapbook documents Griffin Young's military career. His parents went to the Air Training School at Dunnville in 1942 when then Sergeant Pilot Griffin Young won his wings. Before he enlisted, Young worked at E. L. Payne's drug store. Payne's drug store was on the northeast corner of Simcoe and George, in a splendid 1860s building built for George A. Cox. One photo was shot in front of Smith & Freeman's Barbers, at 144 Simcoe St., just a few doors east of the drug store. A news clipping reports that "the gang at Payne's corner where he used to work" gave Sgt. Pilot Griffin Young a sendoff as he left for active service. The event was staged in Smith and Freeman's barber shop. "Jack Smith presented the flier with a purse of money, along with a one dollar bill which all autographed. Those present were Police Sgt. Gordon Puffer, Jack Smith, Harold Freeman, Herb McCannan, Ernie Payne, Louis Loftus, Myer Levine and Stoney Stoneburg." There is a picture of the new air force recruits, probably at Dunnville, standing at ease on the parade square. In fact, there are several formal group pictures, both inside and out, showing the ability of the air force to recruit airmen at this time. The military and family photos are intermingled.

Griffin Young sent a cheery letter "from somewhere in North Africa." He suffered an attack of appendicitis and was pulled to an "airdrome in tents" to recover. He reports enjoying making his own meals and expected his own Christmas meal would be "either stewed meat or meat stew."

Young was shot down over France Aug. 13, 1944, and on Aug. 25, only 12 days later, the prison where he was kept was the scene of a massacre. As the Nazis retreated along the western front, they sent the Gestapo to shoot white prisoners, and abduct Arab and black prisoners for menial work. Griffin was the only Canadian in the prison, but the story of the atrocities was reported by an American prisoner who had managed to hide during the massacre. On Aug. 25, the Allies entered Paris.

Young's grave is in a cemetery at St. Honorine, near Les Hogues, France, in Normandy not too distant from the D-Day landing, June 6, 1944. A brass tablet commemorating the life of Griffin Young is on the wall at St John's Church. Canon Robertson, the rector at the church, remembered Young as well-liked and active in church activities. He also recounted how the pilot had been killed in a German POW camp.

Good scrapbooks and photo albums which carry useful identifications and dated news clippings are useful ways to preserve family history. However, this story is much better than that. We see Griffin Young as someone integrated into the local history of community, in his case defined by Rubidge Street, Payne's corner and St. John's Anglican Church. It is also fascinating to see how thoroughly the military and government officials expressed their gratitude and condolences for a grievous family loss in the face of a bigger picture.

I was struck even more by the diversity of personal experience in the context of a large war with large armies, navies and air forces. In war, people are more apt to die in action or in a hospital, and so it was shocking to see Young die in a massacre.