1912 (Approximate) - November 20, 1990
George Leslie Dakin was a pilot with 245 Squadron RAF during the Second World War.
From Hugh Halliday's book, Typhoon and Tempest, pages 34, 35, and 40: "On August 7, 1944, No. 245 Typhoon Squadron (a rocket-firing unit) mounted five separate operations; the unit diaries wrote of a 'major defeat of tank forces by rocket-firing Typhoons.' This unit alone claimed the following: Tanks: flamers 15, smokers 7, damaged 4; motor vehicles: flamers 9, damaged 13;, armoured fighting vehicles (other than tanks): flamers 4, smokers 4, and damaged 3.' At least three members of the RCAF F/Os George Leslie Dakin (J17855) and George Grant Wharry (J21994) plus WO C.E. West took part in these strikes. The flak varied with every trip -- meagre on one, intense on another. All the RCAF participants came through that day unscathed, but on the 8th Dakin was wounded in the face by shrapnel. Although blinded by blood, he managed to land on an advanced air strip."
The George Leslie Dakin Memorial Bursary is awarded annually, on the recommendation of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, to a superior third or fourth year and needy student who is registered for a mathematics major. It is provided for by his wife Evelyn R. Dakin (B.Sc. (H.Ec.) Acadia, '33). George Dakin was a lifelong associate of the Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defense.