Regiment: 168 (Heavy Transport) Squadron
Regimental Number: J/11098
Rank: Flight Lieutenant (Pilot)
Force: Royal Canadian Air Force
Born in 1913, Donald Caldwell was one of 9 children of parents Bert and Bessie May Caldwell from Valleyview. A teacher by profession, he taught in Rio Grande area, Itipaw, and Millerston AB. Donald was married to Margaret Isobel from Ottawa. During WW II he enlisted with the RCAF in 1941 in Edmonton, became a pilot, and served for 4 years. After the war Donald and 4 other pilots volunteered to fly penicillin from Canada to war-torn Warsaw, Poland. Tragically all five crew members of the RCAF Flying Fortress were killed when their plane crashed near Muenster, Germany, on November 4, 1945. Poland awarded these five service men the Golden Cross of Merit for “their outstanding heroism while on a mercy flight.” Donald was 32 years old, and he was buried in the Muenster Heath War Cemetery in Germany. The Grave Reference is 4.F.18
Source: Where the Red Willow Grew p. 303 (Name in Roll of Honour), pp. 63-64 (photo p. 64) – Note: this source states that there were 5 crew members killed.
Herald Tribune Nov. 15, 1945 p. 1 c. 7 – Note: this source states that there were 4 crew members killed.
Commonwealth War Graves Commision