Thomas Hazen was born in Forestville, Norfolk County, Ontario, on March 13, 1896, the son of John William (a farmer) and Lydia (nee Martin) Hazen, of 123 Proctor Street, Sarnia. His siblings included Elizabeth Marsh (born 1889); Frances Edith (born 1891); and Olive Ester Louise (born 1898). Thomas enlisted July 4, 1917 with the Divisional Signal Corps Canadian Engineers in Sudbury, Ontario. Single at the time of his enlistment, he was living in Matheson, Ontario, and recorded his occupation as a school teacher. Thomas was later transferred to the Air Force, Royal Flying Corps, 56th Squadron, with the rank of Lieutenant. He would receive his air force training in Texas.
On August 19, 1918, Thomas Hazen would lose his life while fighting in France during Canada’s final Hundred Days Campaign. He was killed in action at Bapaume, France. In late August 1918, his mother Lydia Hazen in Sarnia, would receive a brief telegram informing her that her son Thomas, had been reported missing on August 19th, and that a letter would follow later, and until then, the details would not be known. In early September 1918, several weeks after Thomas’ death, father John William Hazen would receive a telegram that his son, Flight Lieutenant Thomas Douglas Hazen, who had been reported missing some time ago, was now officially reported as a prisoner of war in Germany. Twenty-two year old Thomas Hazen has no known grave. He is memorialized on the Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. On the Sarnia cenotaph, his name is inscribed as G.D. Hazen.
SOURCES: A, B, D, E, F, L, N, 2D, 2G