Piecing together a life from a flight jacket

Kyt · Jan 28, 2008

Piecing together a life from a flight jacket

The flight jacket shows the effects of more than 65 years of use and abuse -- the leather is worn, cracked and faded and an arm seam has ripped -- but this Second World War relic has set an Ottawa man on a quest.

Dave O'Malley, a graphic designer and manager, marketing and communications at Vintage Wings of Canada, is piecing together the life of the man who first wore it, Ottawa native David Francis Gaston Rouleau.

Pilot Officer Rouleau, 24, of the Royal Canadian Air Force, disappeared on June 3, 1942, while flying a Spitfire to the Island of Malta to join in the desperate battle against the German air force.

The air force-issue leather jacket with shearling lining was left behind in England.

"He probably was told he wouldn't need a heavy jacket in the warm Mediterranean weather, even at altitude," Mr. O'Malley said.

A total of 32 disassembled Spitfires were shipped from England to Gibraltar aboard the freighter Empire Conrad.

At Britain's fortress at the entrance to the Mediterranean, the aircraft were reassembled aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, which took them to within flying range of Malta.

Four of the aircraft that took off from the carrier on June 3, 1942, including No. BR358, flown by P/O Rouleau, disappeared.

His name appears on the Malta Memorial, built to commemorate those who lost their lives in the Mediterranean theatre of war and who have no known grave.

His name is also in the Second World War Book of Remembrance in Ottawa.

The flight jacket, with "Rouleau" and a service number written on the manufacturer's label, was bought in 1945 as surplus by Jim Cobley's father, who wore it for six years before giving it to his son in 1951.

Jim Cobley wore it daily for more than 25 years, then later decided the jacket should go to its first owner's family.

Mr. Cobley wrote to 17 Rouleaus in the Ottawa area, but found no one related to the dead pilot.

Eventually, he and friend, Pat Hall, who had helped him in his search were put in touch with Mr. O'Malley and decided Vintage Wings of Canada at the Gatineau airport was the best place for the jacket.

Despite his death half a world away, "David Rouleau's story is an Ottawa story," Mr. O'Malley said this week.

"He lived at 114 Driveway, attended the Ottawa Model School, Lisgar, and graduated from Trinity College with a BA and joined the air force."

His father was Honoré Gaston Rouleau, who died before his son enlisted. His mother was Henrietta Gertrude Rouleau, née Gisborne. She apparently remarried after the war, her surname changed to Harris, and she lived at 595 King Edward Ave.

David Rouleau had no siblings.

In a way, it's the tale of an average man who became a pilot who did his job, Mr. O'Malley said, showing computerized pages of the young man's military records from the national archives.

When he graduated from flight training, Sgt. Rouleau was one of 29 men recommended for promotion to officer -- he was fifth from the bottom of the list, ranked by merit.

Comments in his records label him as an "average pilot," lacking in initiative, but who tried hard when shown what to do. He was "keen, hardworking and reliable," the records show.

"He wasn't very big," Mr. O'Malley said, holding up the jacket, then reading that P/O Rouleau stood five feet, seven and a half inches tall and weighed 130 pounds.

He had grey-blue eyes, with 20/20 vision, and brown hair.

P/O Rouleau did his initial flight training on Fleet Finch biplanes at St. Eugene, about 100 kilometres east of Ottawa, and his service training on Harvards in

Ottawa at the Uplands base.

"He was probably able to go home on weekends when he was at Uplands," Mr. O'Malley said.

His training completed, the new pilot was shipped to Britain for operational training on Spitfires, then assigned to the Royal Air Force's 131 Squadron.

He served with that unit until he was detached to go to Malta. According to the records, he damaged two Spitfires in his time at 131.

His personal kit was in the mid-east for several years after his death and it took until 1946 for some of his effects to be sent to his mother.

P/O Rouleau listed photography as one of his interests, causing Mr. O'Malley to hope that some of his wartime photographs may still exist.

His pilot's wings, two log books and diary were returned to his mother. These would be excellent accompaniments to the jacket if they could be found, Mr. O'Malley said. They could be vital to developing the pilot's history, including whether he saw combat, he said.

He has not found a photo of P/O Rouleau, Mr. O'Malley said, and he's almost reluctant to see one because he's built up a mental image of the young man since the flight jacket arrived at Vintage Wings last November.
Click to expand...

Kyt · Jan 28, 2008

Name: ROULEAU, DAVID FRANCIS
Initials: D F
Nationality: Canadian
Rank: Pilot Officer
Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Air Force
Unit Text: 131 Sqdn.
Age: 24
Date of Death: 03/06/1942
Service No: J/15348
Additional information: Son of Honore G. Rouleau, and of Gertrude H. Rouleau, of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. B.A. (Toronto): Trinity College.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 4, Column 2.
Memorial: MALTA MEMORIAL

spidge · Jan 28, 2008

He would have been stationed at either of these depending on the date they left for Malta.

[SIZE=-1]9[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]131[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Llanbedr[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Merioneth[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]16/04/42[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]11[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]131[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Merston[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]Sussex[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]14/05/42[/SIZE]

Nostalgair · Jan 28, 2008

Stories like this are moving and also remind us that not every pilot was an 'Ace'. Just average men doing a job to their utmost and ultimately paying the supreme sacrifice..

It's another case of "If walls could speak". Only this time it's an item of clothing.

History can sneak up on you from so many angles.

Cheers

Owen

Antipodean Andy · Jan 29, 2008

Let's hope what items still remain of this man's life are collected together and shared with all as a reminder of what he did and what he sacrificed.

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Piecing together a life from a flight jacket

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