79 Walnut Street

Flying Officer John Chapple Tate

Jack Tate was born in 1911 in Paris the son of George and Gertrude Tate. He also had two older siblings. His father was a municipal tax collector. His family of five lived at 79 Walnut Street. Jack attended Paris Central School, and he made the Honour Roll at Paris District High School. After graduating, he went to work at Gypsum, Lime and Alabastine Canada. He was an enthusiastic sportsman and a member of the Odd Fellows. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in July 1940. Before going overseas, he married Kathleen Welsh of Ayr. Jack got his Wings at No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery School in Jarvis. He trained in Regina and Montreal and graduated as a wireless air gunner in 1941.

Flying Officer John Chapple Tate of Paris was saluted in the Globe & Mail on June 15, 1942, for completing 43 air raids as a member of the “Demon Squad” of the Royal Canadian Air Force. “On one occasion, on a convoy raid, the plane he was in was torn fifty or sixty times by flak, but it got home safely,” the article said. Pilot Officer Tate paid tribute to fellow members of the squadron for their courage and daring.

He returned from Europe a hero later in 1942, only to lose his life months later. While performing an anti-submarine patrol off the coast of Newfoundland, the motor of his Lockheed Judson caught fire, causing a fatal crash. His body was found in a heavily wooded area near Chandler, Quebec, in the Gaspe-Iles-de-la-Madeleine Region. He had been promoted to Flying Officer one week before his death. He was buried with full RCAF honours beside his parents in the St. James Anglican Cemetery in Paris.