Hanna, William Edward

William Hanna was born on February 10, 1920 in Bow Island, Alberta to parents Murray and Bertha Hanna. He was raised in the area with siblings, Daisy, Muriel, Allan, Robert, Betty and George. In 1939, the Hanna family moved to Diamond City. William was an avid hockey player and also enjoyed playing baseball. Like many young men of the day, he was looking for work and decided to join the Canadian Forces. On May 9, 1941, William Hanna enlisted for service in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He spent the next thirty months training at bases in Claresholm, Toronto, Vulcan and Hamilton, and on December 23, 1943, he qualified as an air bomber and received a promotion to the rank of flying officer. On April 18, 1944, Flying Officer Hanna arrived in the United Kingdom and was posted to 431 Squadron RCAF. As a member of an all Canadian Lancaster crew, he flew several sorties over Europe during the next year. On April 25, 1944, a group of RCAF Lancasters embarked for a bombing raid over Europe. Shortly after takeoff, two Lancasters collided and crashed into the sea. The bodies of two crew members were recovered, but all others including that of Flying Officer Hanna were deemed to be lost at sea. He is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial to the missing. For his wartime service, Flying Officer Hanna was awarded the 1939-45 Star, France-Germany Star, Defence Medal, War Medal and Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with Clasp. His mother, Bertha received the Memorial Cross in honour of her son