Edwin Myles was born in Sarnia on August 31, 1920, the only son of Edwin William Myles (born in Dorset Cranbourne, Surrey, England) and Emily Edith Myles (born in England), of 103 Rose Street, Sarnia. Edwin had one sister, Edith. When Edwin was eight years old, he and his mother Edith visited England together, returning to Canada on September 10, 1928 aboard the passenger ship Ausonia. Upon return, the family returned to 213 Tecumseh Street and then to 103 Rose Street, Sarnia. Edwin attended public school in Sarnia and was a graduate of Sarnia Collegiate Institute. While attending high school, he was a member of the signal corps and was captain for a time. Edwin was a member of St. John’s Anglican Church. He was an active worker in the local Boy Scout Association for ten years. He was Scoutmaster of the 2nd Kinsman Troop for a time. In recognition of his efforts, he was made a King Scout in 1937, an honour which permitted his name to be entered in a souvenir book of permanent record at Dominion headquarters of the Boy Scout Association.

Edwin would marry Marjorie Lorraine Drinkwater, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E.W. Drinkwater, on June 20, 1941 at St. John’s Anglican Church in Sarnia. At the wedding ceremony, Miss Millicent Miller served as bridesmaid and the flower girl was Miss Edith Myles, the sister of the groom. Serving as best man was Bill Drinkwater, a brother of the bride. A reception was held at the YMCA for forty-six guests and, following that, the newlywed couple left on a motor trip to northern points. On their return, the couple resided at 223 Devine Street, Sarnia.

Edwin joined the Royal Canadian Air Force at Toronto on February 16, 1942. From a Toronto manning pool he went to the Initial Training School at the former Eglinton Hunt Club, and later he was posted to the Elementary Flying School at St. Catharines. He was then transferred to the Service Flying School at Hagersville, where he received his commission as pilot officer graduating from Hagersville on March 5th of 1943. At the ceremony, he was presented with an R.C.A.F. identification bracelet for graduating from the St. Catharines school with the highest marks on ground school work. After graduation, he returned to Sarnia on leave to visit his parents Edwin William and Emily Myles and his wife Marjorie. He would leave Sarnia on March 19, 1943 to take an instructor’s course at Arnprior. While there, he was a member of RCAF #3 Flying Instructor School, Arnprior, Ontario, with the rank of Pilot Officer-Pilot. He would be with his unit only a short time.

Less than one month later, on April 3, 1943, Edwin Myles and another officer, Pilot Officer R.W. Moeller, were flying in a Cornell aircraft FH740. They were engaged in a routine mutual instruction instrument cross-country training flight. On that date, Edwin would lose his life when the aircraft flew into the ground in dense bushland about 95 miles west of Ottawa. The other officer in the aircraft was uninjured although the plane was completely destroyed. Just one day after the crash, Edwin’s parents and his wife Marjorie, who were all residing on Rose Street, would receive news from R.C.A.F. headquarters in Ottawa that Edwin was instantly killed when in an R.C.A.F. training plane crash near Ottawa. The name of the other occupant of the plane was withheld by air force authorities. Edwin Myles remains arrived in Sarnia two days later.

A military funeral was held in Sarnia for Pilot Officer Edwin Myles under R.C.A.F. auspices. The funeral was held at the Robb Funeral Home, with a service conducted by Rev. J.A.E. Blackwell, rector of St. John’s Anglican Church. From the funeral home, the cortege proceeded to St. John’s Church where a public service was held. A party of R.C.A.F. officers and men from the Technical Training School at St. Thomas attended the funeral. Honorary pallbearers included five fellow Flying Officers and active pallbearers included six fellow Flight Sergeants. Accompanying the funeral party to internment at Lakeview cemetery was the R.C.A.F. band. At the graveside, a firing party fired a volley while the band played “Abide With Me” and “The Last Post” was sounded. Rev. Blackwell speaking from the text read, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith, we are met here once again to pay a last respect to one whom Almighty God has been fit to take. …..” He then said, “Is there any text more fitting to describe Pilot Officer Myles’ life than the words which I have chosen; his faith which he kept to the end, cultivated and developed among you who knew him so well; his devotion to any task assumed; his steadfastness in his purpose and dependability in any task must serve as an inspiration to strengthen us to follow his example. Intermingled with the natural sorrow of our hearts will be the pride and joy in the memory of one who fought a good fight and kept the faith as a son, a husband or a companion.”

Some time after the funeral, his parents would receive the circumstances of casualty report that stated, At the time of the accident, in which deceased lost his life, he was engaged in a mutual instruction instrument cross-country flight with Pilot Officer R.W. Moeller. Deceased was in front cockpit acting as pilot when aircraft crashed into the ground in swamp bush country four miles northwest of Cormack near Eganville, Ontario. Death was instantaneous, but second pilot was uninjured. Twenty-two year old Edwin Myles is buried at Sarnia (Lakeview) Cemetery, Sarnia Ontario, Canada, Section E. Lot 122. On Edwin Myles’ headstone are inscribed the words, There is comfort in the thought that a loving God knows best.

SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J, L, M, N, 2C