| Died |
October 5, 1918, Age 22
|
| Force |
Air Force
|
| Division |
Central Flying School, Royal Air Force
|
| Home Address |
90 Spadina Avenue
[Map]
|
Donald Osborne attended Upper Canada College, the Huron Street Public School, and Saint Andrew’s College before entering UTS in 1910. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1917, training in Deseronto, Ontario and in Everman, Texas as well as Leaside Airfield. He went overseas in 1918, the year in which his older brother, Eric, won the Military Cross. Osborne finished his training at Upavon, England, and was about to leave for France when his plane crashed at Zeebrugge, Belgium. He died of his wounds at the Military Hospital at Tidworth, and is buried in Upavon Church Cemetery in Wiltshire, England; he is also commemorated in the Anglican Church of the Redeemer at Avenue Road and Bloor Street. When UTS held its first service to commemorate the men who had died in the war, Osborne’s name was inexplicably omitted from the list of the fallen, and he appears first on the memorial plaque, even though the rest of the names are in alphabetical order. This suggests that his name was added belatedly, likely due to a lack of information. “For Canada and the Empire; for God, for King, for Country.”
Commemoration
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