“Local Flier Bags His First Nazi With Montreal Spitfire Squadron”

“Pilot Officer Thomas W. Dowbiggin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Dowbiggin, 5556 Decelles Avenue,
celebrated his recent promotion to that rank by bagging one of two Messerschmitt 110s
shot down by members of the Montreal Spitfire Squadron over northern France yesterday.”

If you had read the Montreal Gazette newspaper on April 25, 1944, this would have been one of the headlines. Like many young men at the time, Thomas Dowbiggin joined the fight and went to war for his country.

Born in Montreal on December 3, 1919, Mr. Dowbiggin enlisted with the RCAF in 1941, after two years at McGill University in Montreal. In less than a year, he completed his military training, gained his pilot’s wings, and shipped overseas to combat the Nazi aggression. Read the rest of the article . . .