• First World War Commemorative Project
• Introduction
• The Memorial Service
• About the Project

Died	July 22, 1918
Force	Air Force
Division	103rd Sqdn., Royal Air Force
Home Address	8 Elmsley Place [Map]

Cyril Houston entered UTS in 1910, one of the school’s few Roman Catholic students, and was a member of the Junior School Rugby Champions in 1914. He was still at UTS when he enlisted, receiving an infantry commission in the 36th Peel Regiment in September 1916. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in January 1917, training in England at Oxford, Turnberry, and Uphaven, and became an instructor in October, joining the 103rd Squadron at the Old Sarum Aerodrome in Salisbury. He led the squadron’s flight to the front across the English Channel in May 1918. On the morning of 22 July, his formation was returning from a bombing raid when they were attacked by ten German planes. He and his observer crashed behind enemy lines and were both killed. Houston is buried in Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery in Souchez, France - the cemetery from which the remains of Canada’s Unknown Soldier were repatriated - along with fellow UTS student Thomas Dewson Edmanson. His two brothers also served, but both survived the war.

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