Mr. Speaker, Hamiltonian Byron Rawson was the youngest wing commander in the British Commonwealth during World War II. Barney, as he was known, was an 18-year-old McMaster student when he enlisted in the RCAF. By April 1945, he had piloted bombers in 51 missions and earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses. Until last week, however, his grave was not marked by a military headstone.
Three months after returning home in 1945, at only 23 years old, Barney Rawson took his own life, two days before Christmas. Did he die in the service of his country? According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he did. As a result of its inquiry, on September 22, with surviving family and RCAF members looking on, a war graves headstone was unveiled in memory of Wing Commander B.F.N. Rawson. Overhead was a flypast of an RCAF Globemaster and Hamilton's restored Lancaster bomber, the favourite aircraft of this great pilot and hero.
May Barney Rawson rest in peace.