52 Ancestors #10: Bachelor Uncle

Turns out I don't have a lot of bachelor uncles in my family tree lol.  Well, none that I could find, so I decided to tell the story of a young man who was a cousin of mine, who has no family left to tell his story.
Alexander Shearer Hall was born on April 1, 1922 to Robert and Helen (Smith) Hall.  Helen was my maternal grandmother's sister (Agnes Smith) and was one of 11 children born to Isabella Raitt and Dempster Hector Smith.
When World War II broke out, Lex (as he was commonly known) signed up with the Royal Air Force.  He flew in the Battle of Britain and survived, and was then transferred to participate in the Commonwealth Flight Training program where pilots from the RAF trained new recruits.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Commonwealth_Air_Training_Plan

Lex was sent as a trainer to Weyburn, Saskatoon, a far cry from his home in Grangemouth, Scotland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCAF_Station_Weyburn

Before arriving in Saskatchewan, Lex was able to stop in Montreal, Quebec to visit with his Aunt Agnes and her daughter, Doreen (pictured here).  They were able to attend church together, but Agnes had to leave suddenly after having premonition about her young nephew.  According to my mother, my grandmother frequently had visions or premonitions and took them seriously.  In this case, she had a sense that this would be the last time she saw her nephew.

Sadly, her senses were correct, as during a night flying training session, Alexander Shearer Hall, was killed on July 30, 1942.  He is buried in the Soldiers Plot in Weyburn, SK.   His parents were devasted and never quite recovered from the loss of their only child.  

The Harvard was the training plane of choice and this picture shows what they looked like.  I had the pleasure of seeing one at the Air Force Museum in Trenton, ON.  It made Lex's story all the more real.  He will live forever in our hearts.