Charles D. B. Green

Lieutenant Charles Duncan Bremner Green was a Canadian-born World War I flying ace credited with 11 aerial victories. Postwar, he went on to success in business until World War II. After rejoining military life, he again served until his untimely accidental death.

Early life

Charles Duncan Bremner Green was the son of Charles and Annie Henderson Green. He was born at sea while his parents were en route to Australia.^[1]

World War I

Green began his military service with the 164th (Halton and Dufferin) Battalion, CEF, with whom he enlisted. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps,^[2] and was rated as a Flying Officer while still a lieutenant, on 22 December 1917.^[3]

He was stationed in Salonika, Greece with B Flight of 47 Squadron as a pilot of Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5as. On 13 April 1918, he and fellow Canadian Gerald Gordon Bell destroyed an enemy Albatros D.III.^[4]

When 47 Squadron's fighter flights were incorporated into forming the newly 150 Squadron, Green went with them. On 6 May, he began a string of ten triumphs with his new squadron by driving down a DFW reconnaissance foe. He would accrue victories one or two at a time until 18 July 1918. By then, he had destroyed six enemy planes, including the one shared with Bell and another shared with Acheson Goulding. He had also driven down five other opponents out of control.^[5]

Post World War I

Green was finally awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross on 1 January 1919.^[6]

After his return to Toronto, he married Marion Wilton Baillie, age 22, on 9 June 1923.^[7] They would have three children: Bremner, Donald, and Elizabeth. He began work as a broker for Amelius Jarvis and Company, and would continue with this company until 1939.^[8]

World War II

Although he was married with three children when World War II broke out, he re-enlisted, this time in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He served near his home at Camp Borden as an instructor, with the rank of Squadron Leader. His service in this post saw him rewarded with the General Service Medal and the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal.^[9]

In the autumn of 1941, he had to go to hospital for treatment of an old wound. While being treated, he toppled off the hospital's balcony to his death on 3 October 1941. He died without a will, and was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto.^[10][11][12]

Endnotes