Hullo, today is Remembrance Day in Canada and I'd like to tell the story of Cadet John Scott Rowan of the Royal Flying Corps...
John Scott Rowan was born in Scotland on 26 October, 1895 (or 1894) to James Harvey Rowan and his wife Anne Rogan. The family immigrated to Canada and settled on the north end of Gabriola Island, just off the coast near Nanaimo.
After graduating high school in Nanaimo, John became a teacher and ended up as the principal in Powell River, just across the water on the mainland.
John joined the Royal Flying Corps (Canada) in late 1917 as a Cadet. He was attached to the 43rd Wing of the RFC.
In order to expedite the training of pilots, the RFC's school of aerial gunnery and several training squadrons (with 200 planes) moved to the milder climate of Fort Worth, Texas between November 1917 and April 1918. The RFC squadrons were based out of Camp Taliaferro near Fort Worth and flew the Curtiss JN4 (Jenny) aeroplane.
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| A Curtiss JN4 - Jenny aeroplane (from Wikipedia) |
There, the R.F.C. collaborated with the United States Signal Corps, in completing more than 67,000 flying hours and training more than 1,960 pilots. It was still a dangerous occupation, 39 men lost their lives due to training accidents, influenza and other illnesses.
During a training exercise in Fort Worth, John was killed when his plane crashed after going into a spinning nose dive at 200 feet. He was 23 years old when he died on 29 March, 1918. A memorial site at Greenwood Memorial Park in Fort Worth commemorates the RFC boys who lost their lives there.
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| Memorial at Greenwood - Cadet J.S. Rowan is second from the bottom. |
Cadet Rowan was the first Nanaimo boy to make the "supreme sacrifice" in the Royal Flying Corps. Even if he had survived his time at Fort Worth, the live-span of an RFC pilot was very short during the First World War.
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| April 3, 1918 - 80 Canadian Training Squadron RAF at Camp Taliaferro, Field No. 2, Fort Worth, Texas. The aircraft behind is a Curtiss JN4 “Jenny”. (From Airwar19141918 site) |
John's remains were returned to Nanaimo where his funeral took place on 9 April, 1918. He is interred at the Nanaimo Municipal Cemetery (Range 26, Plot 115) and is listed on the Nanaimo Cenotaph.
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| War Memorial Cenotaph in Nanaimo with John S. Rowan listed. |
More Information
NBC - commemoration of the RFC buried at Greenwood Memorial Park, Fort Worth, TX
Maritime Quest Site - pics of the RFC memorial at Greenwood.
Airwar19141918 - more info on RFC at Fort Worth
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