Roy Greaves, also known as “Dewey,” was the fourth son of Mabel and William Greaves, the founders of the Greaves Jam Company in Town. Roy and his four brothers all grew up helping with the family business. When the Second World War began, Roy was 19 and he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. He carried on extensive correspondence with family and friends, making special requests for them to send jam!

Roy’s final entry in his flight log is dated Oct. 8, 1943. He was reported missing in action on Oct. 9 when his plane did not return from an overnight bombing mission over Bremen, Germany. Roy was 23. That raid resulted in high casualties from anti-aircraft fire. Many of the Allied bombers being used were slow and had difficulty reaching higher altitudes. The family were never told what really happened to Roy’s plane when it was shot down. Investigating crash sites was difficult during the war for obvious reasons and local German records were often inaccurate.

The last time his brother Winston saw Roy was during a leave in England. Roy had to get back to camp and borrowed a bicycle from the local clergyman so he would not be late. Winston took his picture with the bicycle and it was the last photo taken of Roy before the crash.

 Roy is one of the men listed on the memorial clock tower on Queen Street and his name is recorded in the Book of Remembrance in the Peace Tower in Ottawa.

 A special thank you to Marnie Taylor of the Greaves family for providing this information and donating the Roy Greaves Collection to the museum.