Melvin Ramsay was born in Sarnia on April 1, 1914, the son of Percival Earl Ramsay (born in Wanstead, Ontario) and Jean Frances (nee Burr, born in Wanstead, Ontario) Ramsay, of 147 Kathleen Street, and later 294 Mitton Street, Sarnia. His parents, Percy and Jean, were married on September 14, 1919, in Wyoming, Ontario. Father Percy Ramsay’s occupation was a C.N.R. locomotive fireman and when Melvin was three years old, his father was killed tragically in a railway collision east of Hamilton. Melvin had an older brother, Robert Drummond (see below), who was to become a major in the Canadian Army and who would lose his life while serving. He also had two sisters: Dorothy Jean (born 1915), who would become Mrs. Allan Douglas, of London, Ontario; and Marion Earline Ramsay (born 1918), who would become a teacher at Johnston Memorial School.
Melvin was a native of Sarnia, educated at Lochiel Street School and at Sarnia Collegiate. While at Sarnia Collegiate, he was president of the Debating Club shortly after its inception, which won the WOSSA Championship in 1933-34. When he graduated from high school in 1934, he was second in command of the Collegiate Cadet Corps. He later he became president of the Alexander MacKenzie Club, an organization of young liberals interested in politics. Prior to enlisting, Melvin was a promising young lawyer. He articled as a student-at-law with the firm Pardee, Gurd, Fuller and Taylor, and afterward, he attended Osgoode Hall, Toronto, for three years where he graduated with Honours in law in 1939. While at Osgoode, he was also the president of the Gladstone Liberal Club.
Melvin was called to the bar on September 21, 1939. He then joined the staff of the same law firm and continued with it until he enlisted.
Melvin enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force on February 18, 1940. He received training at various RCAF training centres including Toronto, Trenton, Dauphin, Manitoba, and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. He was sent to No. 5 AOS at Winnipeg, Manitoba, and in January 1942 he won the A.W.Starrett Memorial Award for Proficiency in Navigation, and won his Observer Wings and commission as Pilot Officer. Afterward, he took an advanced navigation course at Charlottetown, P.E.I. and Dorval, Quebec. Being attached to the R.A.F. Ferry Command at Dorval, he made his first trip to England in July 1942. In August of 1942, he had been flying new bombers across the Atlantic and had met up with his brother Robert in England. On October 10, 1943, Melvin attained the rank of Flying Officer-Navigator, as a member of RCAF #45 Delivery Group. He flew to many parts of the world as a member of the RAF transport command for two years.
In early November of 1942, Melvin would marry Dorothy Lorraine Ramsay (nee Britton, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Britton), of London, Ontario, formerly of Sarnia. Melvin and his wife Dorothy would live in Montreal while Melvin was attached to the Ferry Command in that city. Melvin was able to visit his family and friends in Sarnia only months before his death. Also just prior to Melvin’s death, his wife Dorothy had already joined her parents at their home in London, Ontario. She was there to celebrate Melvin’s upcoming homecoming.
On December 18, 1943, he was making his final trip in a Mitchell aircraft before taking his Christmas leave. At the end of the flight, Flying Officer-Navigator Melvin Ramsay’s Mitchell aircraft dove into marshy ground two miles north-west of the airfield at Reykjavik, Iceland. Several days later, mother Mrs. Jean Ramsay in Sarnia would receive an official telegram from Ottawa informing her that her son, Flying Officer Melvin H. Ramsay was reported missing while flying from Canada to England as a member of the R.A.F. ferry command. One day later, Melvin’s wife Dorothy Ramsay, residing in London, Ontario at the time, would receive a telegram from Ottawa informing her that her husband, Melvin Ramsay, has been officially reported killed, and that the bomber in which he was flying and the bodies of the crew, have been found where they crashed in Iceland on December 18.
Perishing with Melvin Ramsay was Captain W.V. Walker of Ingersoll and another occupant. Melvin Ramsay would later be officially listed as, Killed in flying accident, overseas (Iceland). Melvin died three years to the day he enlisted in the air force and twenty-five years to the day after the death of his father Percy in a tragic accident. Twenty-nine year old Melvin Ramsay is buried in Reykjavik (Fossvogur) Cemetery, Iceland, Grave C48.6.
At the time of Melvin’s death, his mother Jean was residing at 147 Kathleen Avenue, Sarnia. Eight months after Melvin’s death, Mrs. Jean Ramsay would lose her second son, Major Robert Ramsay, who was killed while serving with the Canadian Army in France. In November of 1944, Mrs. Jean Ramsay offered a Sarnia Collegiate Institute scholarship in memory of her two sons who lost their lives in the war. The Sarnia Board of Education gratefully accepted the gift of $50, to be an annual scholarship in memory Robert and Melvin Ramsay. Both young men had graduated from the Collegiate Institute and both had belonged to the Central United Church. Mrs. Ramsay expressed that she would like the annual gift to be awarded to the boy attaining the highest standing in any nine Sarnia Collegiate departmental exams.
SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J, L, M, N, S, 2C, 2D