Angus Hamilton, a Second World War veteran who served as a radar technician in Southeast Asia, has died in Fredericton at the age of 100. Hamilton grew up on a farm in Listowel, Ont., during the Great Depression. He signed up for the Royal Canadian Air Force at the age of 18 and served on night fighter squadrons in Northern Ireland and India until the end of the war. Hamilton authored seven books chronicling his life, including “For King and Country,” where he wrote about the war years.
Hamilton passed away at his home last Saturday, three days shy of his 101st birthday. His funeral was held on Thursday in Fredericton. His daughter, Anne Hamilton, remembers growing up with Indian curry as a staple in their diet, as he had served in India during the war. Hamilton’s children learned that he was not a fan of the jungle and suffered from malaria, jaundice, and stomach problems during his years in India.
After returning from the war, Hamilton moved to Ottawa for a career of surveying and mapping positions in what is now the Department of Natural Resources. He eventually moved to Fredericton to become chairman of the department of surveying engineering at the University of New Brunswick. Hamilton’s colleague, John McLaughlin, described him as “the very end of that sort of generation” who were shaped by the world war and emerged tenacious, thoughtful, humble and resilient.
Hamilton’s passing marks the end of an era for the over one million Canadians who went to war, including fewer than 20,000 Canadian veterans of the Second World War still alive today, according to Tim Cook, research director at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. Hamilton’s “very clear sense of service” and obligation led him and his friends to sign up for the war, said his daughter Elizabeth Hamilton. She added that it changed his life, gave him an education, and allowed him to contribute to building a better country.