Pilot-Officer Canard

is Killed

ADVICE was received in November that Pilot-Officer E. H. Canard, of the RAF, had been killed in a flying accident in South Africa on November 4.

Before his enlistment, Pilot-Officer Canard was with the Fiji Civil Service and went to Southern Rhodesia with the first lot of RAF boys from Fiji. He showed exceptional ability as a flier and was made a flying instructor —he was serving in this capacity when he was killed. He had also been recommended for a special navigation course in Eng land, and expected to proceed there shortly.

He leaves a wife and a 3 months’ old son. Mrs. Canard is the daughter of Mrs. and Mr. H. C. Monckton —Mr. Monckton was well-known in Fiji, where he was lately Adviser on Native Affairs.

This untimely end to a young life that was full of promise adds another to the tragically growing list of Islands men who have given everything in this struggle.

Pilot-Officer Canard was a man of an adventurous spirit. After qualifying as an electrician at the Suva power sta tion, he joined an English yacht which called at Suva, in the course of a world cruise. Eventually, he reached England in this yacht, and from there made other yachting cruises to Norway and the West Indies. He returned to New Zealand on the “Awatea,” as a member of the engine room crew on her maiden voyage. Back in Fiji, he tried journalism, serving as a reporter on the “Fiji Times.” He resigned to enter the Government service, as a clerk in the Audit Department—the posi tion he was holding when he enlisted in the RAF.

Mrs. Canard accompanied him to South Africa in May, 1941, and it is expected that she will return to join her parents in Australia.

The marriage of Miss Doris Lewis, to 2nd Lieut. John Rae, was celebrated at the Holy Trinity Pro-Cathedral, Suva, Fiji, on October 9. The bride is the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. W.

Lewis, of Suva, and the bridegroom is a New Zealander.

Pilot-Officer E. H. Canard.