Albert McCallum was born in Parry Sound, Ontario, on January 29, 1919, the son of Gordon McCallum and Johanna Catherine (nee Morrison, born in Orville, Ontario) McCallum, of Palmerston, Ontario, later 555 Confederation street, Sarnia. Albert had one sister, Margaret Dorothy, born in 1921. Albert attended public school in Sarnia and then moved back to Parry Sound with his parents. After high school in Parry Sound, he entered the employ of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, being on the staff at Parry Sound and Seaforth. Albert, single at the time, enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force on November 14, 1940, recording his home address as 555 Confederation Street, Sarnia. He received training at Uplands, Ontario; Victoriaville, Quebec; Malton and Brantford, Ontario; Charlottetown, P.E.I.; and Debert, Nova Scotia. Sergeant-Pilot Albert McCallum would be awarded his wings as a member of the R.C.A.F. in early September of 1941, along with two other Sarnians, Sergeant-Pilot Wesley K. McDermid and Sergeant-Observer Howard Fraser Thompson (included in this project).
Albert McCallum would be one of the first group of Canadians to ferry Hudson aircraft to England. He continued training in the summer of 1942 at Loch Erne, Northern Ireland, on Catalina flying boats. Albert returned to Canada in August of 1942. He would spend a two-week furlough at his home in Sarnia to be with his family and friends. Afterwards, he departed for a post in Eastern Canada, temporarily attached to the Eastern Ferry Command of the R.C.A.F. He would return overseas and serve with RCAF #119 squadron “By night and by day”, attaining the rank of Flight Lieutenant-Pilot. In October of 1942, his parents Gordon and Johanna McCallum in Sarnia would receive news of their son Robert’s promotion from pilot office to flying officer.
On December 14, 1942, Albert McCallum was promoted to flight lieutenant. On December 15, 1942, Albert was part of a crew aboard a Sunderland aircraft that did not return from an anti-sub patrol over the Atlantic Ocean. Its SOS was received giving their position as south-west of the Scilly Islands (an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain). In late December of 1942, Albert’s parents Gordon and Johanna McCallum in Sarnia, would receive a letter from their son, dated December 14, 1942 in which he stated, “The weather has been bad but we expect to be out tomorrow to see some action.” On December 15, 1942, Albert McCallum would be listed as, missing after air operations overseas. Perishing with Flight Lieutenant-Pilot Albert McCallum were P/O.s R.I. Law, B.D. King, and W.G. Milne. One RNZAF, and six RAF members of the crew were reported missing and believed killed.
In September of 1943, Albert McCallum would officially be listed as, Previously reported missing after air operations, now for official purposes, presumed dead, overseas. Twenty-three year old Albert McCallum has no known grave. His name is inscribed on the Runnymede War Memorial, Surrey, United Kingdom, Panel 99.
SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, L, M, N, 2C, 2D