Pilot Officer Donald Irwin Gage

Birth: January 20, 1920 in Bow Island, Alberta
Death: May 12, 1944 in Louvain, Belgium
Service: WWII
Service Number: J19996

Biography:
Donald Irwin Gage moved to Richmond with his family in 1932. He attended Mitchell School, later graduating from Richmond High School. He worked for his father, Ernest Carlton Gage, who owned a poultry farm. In January to May 1941, Donald worked for Buckerfields as a driver and labourer. He married Blanche Lorraine Lauder on June 14, 1941, and joined the Canadian Army June 19, 1941. 

On enlistment, Donald joined the 4th Fortress Company stationed in Vancouver, where he qualified as an engine hand. He was officially discharged from the 4th Fortress Company on May 31, 1942 in order to join the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Donald became a member of the R.C.A.F. on June 1, 1942, when he was posted to Edmonton as an airman. He became a lance corporal in 1942, and was a pilot officer by April 1944. After training in Manitoba he was posted overseas in April 1943, becoming part of the bombing action against Germany. Pilot Officer Bomb Aimer Gage and the crew of Lancaster Bomber #ND 919, part of the New Zealand Squadron, were lost whilst on night operations against Louvain, Belgium. Don Gage was buried in the General Cemetery, Aardenburg, Zeeland, Holland. He had completed 30 operational flights over Germany, and this flight, his 31st, was to have earned him a furlough home. He left to mourn his wife Lorraine and a daughter Vicky Lynn Gage.

History of the Road Name (Gage Road):

• More research needed.