Victor McKeown was born in Co Armagh, Northern Ireland on May 7, 1911, the son of John McKeown and Mary Ellen (nee Hewitt) McKeown, of 355 George Street, Sarnia. Both parents were originally from Ireland. Victor had three brothers: Doug, a sergeant in the same unit as Victor in R.C.A.F.; and Joseph and Bill who would both later reside in Toronto. Victor also had three sisters who at the time of his death were Mrs. Alice Burr in Toronto, Mrs. James Struthers and Mrs. Ray Chalmers, both in Sarnia. Victor attended Sarnia Collegiate Institute and was a well-known athlete, active in lacrosse and hockey. Prior to enlisting, Victor was employed at the Dominion Salt Company in Sarnia and then moved on to De Haviland Aircraft, Toronto. Single at the time and residing at 11 Clarendon Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Victor enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force in October of 1942. He received his wings in June of 1943, in MacDonald, Manitoba. He became a member of RCAF #434 Bluenose squadron “In Excelsis Vincimus” (We conquer in the heights), attaining the rank of Pilot Officer-Air Gunner. He would arrive overseas in July of 1943.
Early in January of 1944, Pilot Officer Victor McKeown was one of a group of R.C.A.F. men who bombarded Mannheim, Germany. For more than eight hours, they withstood a temperature that fell to more than 35 degrees below zero but it didn’t stop them from carrying out their part of the smashing attack on the important city. On January 29, 1944, Victor McKeown was a member of a crew aboard Halifax aircraft LK916 that was on a night bombing operation over Germany. It was the third day of a heavy aerial offensive on Germany. On that fateful night, their Halifax aircraft was blown up over their target of Berlin, Germany. Several days later, parents John and Mary Ellen McKeown in Sarnia would receive a telegram from the R.C.A.F. Casualty office in Ottawa informing them that their son, Sergeant Victor Herbert McKeown, has been reported missing after air operations overseas. Victor’s brother Doug, a member of the same unit, sent their parents an encouraging word. Doug McKeown cabled parents John and Mary Ellen not to worry about Vic – His chances of being safe are very good. Another set of Sarnia parents, Howard and Margaret Thompson, would receive the same information on the same day about their son, Arthur Cameron Thompson, who was also listed as missing in the same bombing raid over Berlin (included in this project).
Victor’s brother Doug McKeown, who was a Sergeant-Air Gunner with the R.C.A.F., would arrive home in Sarnia in April of 1944 to spend a leave with parents John and Mary Ellen McKeown. He had been overseas for two years and three months. He had been injured in a crash in England a year and a half prior, spent six weeks in hospital and had been assigned to ground duty since. At the time of Doug’s visit, he and the McKeown parents had received no further news of Victor’s status, other than he had been reported missing on an operational flight over Berlin in late January of 1944.
In July of 1944, parents John and Mary Ellen McKeown in Sarnia would receive a letter from Flight Lieutenant J.L. Westman of the R.C.A.F. casualty office at Ottawa informing them that their son, Sergeant Victor Herbert McKeown had been advanced to pilot officer on January 23, 1944, but regretted no further information had been received as to his fate.
Victor Herbert McKeown would later be officially listed as, Previously reported missing after air operations, now for official purposes, presumed dead, overseas (Germany). Perishing with Pilot Officer-Air Gunner Victor McKeown were P/O.s W.K. Maxwell, C.T. Lee, and E.P. Devaney. Two of the crew, not Canadians, were reported missing and presumed killed. Thirty-two year old Victor McKeown has no known grave. His name is inscribed on the Runnymede War Memorial, Surrey, United Kingdom, Panel 251.
SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J, L, M, N, 2C, 2D