Frank Chad's service tag was found last May near Wiltshire, England. (Submitted/Joe Chad)

By Nigel Maxwell

Precious heirlooms

Service tag belonging to former P.A. man recovered hundreds of miles away in England

Nov 3, 2023 | 5:00 PM

Joe Chad says he is shocked and surprised, in the best way possible, to learn a piece of his father’s service uniform, was found and recovered hundreds of miles away.

The service tag belonging to Frank Chad, a former pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during World War II, was discovered earlier this year on a farm property near Wiltshire, England. The property was once a wartime RCAF station.

“We’re happy, it’s a neat surprise and it brings back some memories,” Joe told paNOW, adding he’s now doing some research to figure out where the tag was actually adorned.

During his time with the RCAF, Frank Chad was stationed overseas and flew several airplanes but mostly a flew a Mosquito airplane. It was a wooden frame plane with two De Havilland engines. It was the fastest plane in its time, capable of reaching speeds up to 430mph.

(Submitted photo/ Joe Chad)

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After returning home from the war, Frank went on to raise a family of 13 children. He also opened a successful Sporting Goods business and was a strong community supporter belonging to many organizations. In addition to being inducted into Prince Albert’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2004, he also was a longtime chairperson for the Prince Albert Catholic School System.

“So he was quite an active man,” Joe said proudly.

And while the tag has since been returned to the family, Joe explained a coat of arms that had initially been a part of it, had somehow become detached and so the family has now reached out to a jeweler for help.

The RCAF Zeals station was only in operation from 1942 to 19At. In that time it was successively occupied by the Royal Air Force, the United States Army Air Force, and the Royal Navy. From opening, until August 1943, the site was used by the RAF as an airfield for Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighters.

(Submitted/ Joe Chad)

In April 1945, the station was taken over by the Royal Navy (as HMS Hummingbird or RNAS Zeals) which used the airfield for aircraft carrier training. The airfield was closed down in January 1946 and in June it was returned to farmland. As of 2006, the control tower, now a private house, remains on Bells Lane in Zeals.

Darren Rigby, who has been doing some restoration work at Zeals house, was the one who found the tag whilst metal detecting. Rigby told paNOW he has found so many bullets and badges and buttons from that era.

“When I find artifacts with personal names etc. on I always like to try and find the owner or family as I like to find the history of found items and believe it belongs to said owner/families,” he explained. “I was shocked to find the family of the item so quickly as usually I don’t find the right family or don’t get a response back.”

Frank Chad passed away in 2007 at the age of 87.

nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell