Lionel Cherry Gilmour

Lionel Cherry Gilmour served with the Royal Air Force during World War I. 

Lionel Cherry Gilmour was born January 11, 1891 in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1912 he graduated from the Ontario College of Pharmacy in Toronto, Canada. Gilmour enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on December 1, 1915 and was assigned to the 229th Battalion, Infantry. He made it known he was willing to serve overseas and was then seconded to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) on August 5, 1917. Gilmour attended ground school and pilot school in England, earning Flying Certificate #10746 on February 19, 1918. Gilmour was then posted to the Royal Air Force (RAF), 2018 Squadron on April 16, 1918, in  Serny, France.

On July 31, 1918 Gilmour took off from Tramecourt, France and was shot down sometime after that. He landed in Estevelles, France and was captured as a prisoner of war. Gilmour kept a written diary of his being shot down and the first few weeks of capture. He was a POW in prisons in Lille, France (The Citadel), Karlsruhe and Landshut, Germany, (Pillue, Prussia?). He was repatriated from Germany on December 13, 1918 and returned to Canada on January 17, 1919. Gilmour left service as a Lieutenant on February 5, 1919. 

Not much is known of his post-service life, although he did marry and have a son. Lieutenant Lionel C. Gilmour died on December 2, 1973 in Bellevue, Washington.