Notes:

Nova Scotia. OBITUARY - N.R. Bowlby
WILMOT — Neil Ross Bowlby, 82, of Wilmot, Annapolis, died Saturday in Colchester Hospital, Truro.
Born in Wilmot, he was the son of the late Arthur and Adelaide (Pierce) Bowlby. He is survived by a daughter, Marion (Mrs. A.G. Kennedy) Truro; two sons, Harold, Dartmouth, Arthur, Toronto; two sisters, Evelyn (Mrs. E.H. Fales), Melrose, Mass.; Jean (Mrs. H.P. Reagh), South Weymouth, Mass.; and 11 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife. The body is at the Warren T. Roop Funeral Home, Middleton, where funeral service will be held Monday at 3 P.M. with Rev. Milton Munn officiating. Burial will be in Pine Grove Cemetery, Middleton.

Bowlby — The family of the late Neil Bowlby wishes to express our sincere thanks to relatives and friends for flowers, donations, and expressions of sympathy at our time of sorrow. A special expression of thanks to neighbors for their many kindnesses. Your thoughtfulness was much appreciated. – Harold, Marie and family; Marion, Ken and family; Arthur, Betty and family.
The Application for Registration of Birth was signed by his mother, Adelaide Pierce Bowlby and declared before H. Ray Pierce, J.P., on September 1, 1943.
Copy of the registration of death in his estate records.

Neil married Jennie Raymond WOTTON on 27 Dec 1911. Jennie (daughter of George Ambrose WOTTON and Teressa Annie SKINNER) was born on 17 Mar 1890 in Brooklyn, Annapolis, Nova Scotia; died on 17 Dec 1959 in Wilmot, Annapolis, Nova Scotia; was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, Middleton, Annapolis, Nova Scotia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He saw action in France during the Second World War with the 1st Canadian Paratroop Battalion. He retired with rank of major and remained with the militia for many years. He was employed with the Royal Bank of Canada for thirty years, and then was a partner in Basin Insurance Agency until retiring in 1983. He was a member of St. Peter’s Parish, Dartmouth, NS. He was a life long member of Gyro Friendship Club, Windsor, Truro and Dartmouth.

Source: http://www.bowlbyfamily.org/ancestor/d4334.htm:
ALL SET FOR HIS FIRST LEAP is Canadian Paratrooper, Sgt H.R. Bowlby, Yarmouth, N.S. After five jumps he will get his wings. Major Harold R. Bowlby – World War II Veteran
Prologue — Rather than singling out one individual who has made a contribution to our Country, I have chosen to do this project on a group of individuals. This group is all the men and women who served in the Canadian Armed Forces during the Second World War. The person I have chosen to represent this group is Major Harold R. Bowlby, 1st Canadian Paratroop Battalion – Royal Canadian Army – my grandfather.
I was born on September 12, 1917 in the small village of Wilmot in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. Here, I grew up on our family farm with my parents, a younger brother and sister, Arthur and Marian, my grandmother and great grandmother. Life seemed great to me even though there were chores, long hikes to school, hand-me-down clothes, and none of the luxuries of life that we have today for work or play. The farm provided us with plenty of good food, including vegetables, fruit, eggs, meat, milk products and honey. This helped our family get through the depression years. School work was a cinch for me and I graduated with honours in 1934 to take up a career in banking with the Royal Bank of Canada.
The out break of World War II in 1939 changed all that. Shortly after this, I resigned from the bank and enlisted in the West Nova Regiment. After completing basic training, I awaited orders to go overseas to England. About this time, volunteers were requested to form Canada’s first ever paratroop battalion. I volunteered among the many and was the second man chosen in Canada to form this battalion. We did initial jump training with the American Army in Fort Benning, Georgia. We then were qualified as instructors and returned to Camp Shilo, Manitoba to instruct other Canadian soldiers.
Our unit arrived in England in July of 1943 and began a long series of advanced combat training. During a training jump in England in late 1943, I had a horrifying experience – my parachute did not open and I thought I was a goner. However, a short distance from the ground, my secondary chute partially opened enough to break my fall. I was laid up in hospital for awhile. After my release from the hospital, I jumped again and transferred to the British Intelligence Service and spent the next few months learning to become a spy.
In early June, 1944, shortly before the D-Day Invasion, in the dead of night, I parachuted into France. part of my mission was to make contact with the French Resistance to establish escape routes for troops of the invasion. With a cyanide capsule drilled and embedded into one of my teeth, I had orders to bite should I be caught by the enemy. It would serve no purpose to discuss any further details of my mission into France. I was merely doing my duty as were hundreds of thousands of other Canadian service men and women. I was luckier than many and was able to return home following the was.
But I did not return home to the same Canada that I left. What was a very young and immature country was now a place of hope and prosperity; it was a land of people who were proud to have stood on their own feet for the first time in history. We had declared war ourselves and fought with the Allies with distinction and honour for freedom. My comrades and I were proud to contribute to this change. We no longer took freedom for granted.

Harold married Marie Alma BOURQUE on 29 Nov 1941 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Marie was born on 20 Apr 1922 in Sluice Point, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia; died on 1 Dec 1997 in Dartmouth, Halifax, Nova Scotia; was buried in Memorial Gardens, Dartmouth, Halifax, Nova Scotia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Marion married Alexander Goldwyn KENNEDY on 27 Sep 1946 in Middleton, Annapolis, Nova Scotia. Alexander was born in 1920 in Glamis, Ontario; died on 30 Oct 1973 in VG Hospital, Halifax, Nova Scotia; was buried in Robie Str. Cemetery, Truro, Colchester, Nova Scotia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

After graduating from McDonald Consolidated School in Middleton, Arthur joined the RCAF and served overseas in the Second World War as a flight sergeant air gunner. He survived when his plane was shot down and escaped capture, eventually returning to Canada where he went into training as a pilot. In 1945, he retired from the RCAF. At a ceremony at Government House, Halifax, he was awarded the DFN by Lt.-Gov. J.A.D.McCurdy. He was a member of the Caterpillar Club, an organization formed by those whose planes were shot down during the Second World war and managed to elude the enemies. Following several years of employment with the Maritime Life Insurance Company, he re-enlisted in the RCAF, serving many years on various bases throughout Canada and retiring as a major. He then took employment with Canex as a buyer, and transferred to Lahr, West Germany, where he served as purchasing agent for almost four years. Prior to his death, he was a partner of Ottawa Travel. He was cremated in Capitol Memorial Gardens.

Arthur married Alice Elizabeth NEILY on 22 Jun 1944 in Port George, Annapolis, Nova Scotia. Alice was born on 21 Aug 1923 in Middleton, Annapolis, Nova Scotia; died on 16 Aug 2015 in Nepean, Ontario. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Judy. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: John SCHIPPER. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Chris HOWELL. Chris died before 2020. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 2013, North Vancouver, British Columbia

Family/Spouse: Vera ABCARIUS. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 2013, Windsor, Ontario

Family/Spouse: Lindsay. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: 2013, Ottawa, Ontario

Family/Spouse: Mr. BROOKE. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Mary. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Lesley. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Brian WHITEHEAD. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Jill COLLINS. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]