ATKINSON, Jean Burgess
Age at Death: 30
Rank Section Officer
Unit Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division
Service Number V30047
Place of Burial Embro Cemetery, Embro ON
Date of Birth 1913.12.17
Place of Birth Embro ON
Enlistment October 23, 1941, Hamilton ON
Date of Death 1944.11.23
Daughter of Dr. Howard B. Atkinson and Annie J. Atkinson, of Thamesford ON
Jean Burgess Atkinson grew up in Embro, Ontario and attended the University of Toronto from 1932 to 1939, receiving a Bachelor of Arts and a diploma in Physiotherapy. At the time of enlistment, she was a laboratory technician at the Ontario Hospital in Woodstock, specializing in diagnostic and TB work. While Jean consistently received high marks and praise on evaluations and earned several promotions, it is worth noting the interview panel for her induction negatively commented on her appearance, because she was a large woman. Unfortunately, these kind of comments on appearance are commonplace in the files.
On November 23, 1944, Jean was a passenger aboard Beechcraft Expeditor 1410, Communications Flight, travelling from Regina to Calgary. The plane crashed and burned 4.5 miles from the Calgary Municipal Airport. It was determined in the Court of Inquiry that the cause of the accident was weather related, but also “failure to maintain or recover equilibrium by instruments at night.” Among her personal effects was a toy polar bear Jean had kept through her service.