Robert Anthony Carswell

Born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England Bob Carswell did not see any of WWII as the only bomb to land in the city of Harrogate was back in 1940 and did little damage. His parents, John McKinley Carswell, a Canadian, son of a corporate executive/accountant in Montreal and A. Patricia Leonard, daughter of a member of the London Stock Exchange living in Croydon, UK, met as officers in the RAF. His father joined the Non-Permanent Active Militia (NPAM) in Montreal as a motorcycle dispatch rider, was mobilized into the Canadian Army Signal Corps at Kingston, Ontario when war was declared and went overseas in January, 1940 as his company's Lorry driver as part of the First Contingent of the Canadian Armed Service Force to land in Britain. After travelling around the south of England setting up tent camps and doing various other jobs, his original application to the RCAF made back in Canada was turned over to the RAF in the UK as there was an urgent need for pilots in England. Qualified for both