Cpl Niels Møller Hansen

Niels Møller Hansen was one of the Danes who volunteered for the Royal Canadian Air Force. He served as Driver (Transport) in Canada and on the Continent.

Niels Møller Hansen was born on 25 March 1920 in Spenstrup, Denmark, the son of farmer Anton Martin Hansen and Kirsten Marie Hansen (née Andersen Møller).^[1] He was the sixth of seven siblings.

Hansen’s father left Denmark in March 1928 to settle in Sherbrooke, Eastern Townships in Quebec. His contact in Canada was the manager of the Eastern Townships Immigration Society, Mr. W. M. Hillhouse.^[2] However, when the family arrived to Canada in May 1929, he had moved to Toronto, Ontario.^[3]

Hansen enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force on 2 February 1943. He was posted to 1 Manning Depot, Toronto, with the trade of Driver (Transport) and the rank of Aircraftman 2nd Class (R.219740). On 29 May 1943 he was posted to 1 Service Flying Training School. He was appointed Aircraftman 1st Class on 2 September 1943 and to Leading Aircraftman on 2 December 1943.

On 22 December 1943 he was posted to No. 1 ‘Y’ Depot, Halifax, for overseas duties and only three days later, the records states, he was posted to No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre, Bournemouth.^[4]

Hansen’s initial posting in the United Kingdom is not known at this point, but it is likely that he served as a driver in one of the RCAF units in the United Kingdom and—possibly—on the continent from June 1944.

On 13 November 1945, six months after the end of the war in Europe, he was posted to 406 Air Stores Park (ASP) from RCAF ‘R’ Depot in Torquay, Devonshire. This unit was a mobile unit supplying all equipment, except rations, patrol, ammunition and M.T. spares to units of 83 Group, 2nd Tactical Air Force, including 126 and 127 (RCAF) Wing. By then, he had been appointed Corporal. He remained with this unit for four months before being posted to RCAF Personnel Depot, Topcliffe.^[5]

On 31 March 1946, he was repatriated via 1 Repatriation Centre, Lachine, and on 8 April 1946 he is posted to 2 Release Centre. He is discharged on 10 May 1946.^[6]

Hansen married Ellen Margrete Pedersen on 14 December 1943 in St. Ansgar Church in Toronto, before being posted overseas. He was naturalized on 26 November 1946 (210423 A).^[7]

Endnotes

[1] DNA: Parish register, Spenstrup parish.

[2] Ancestry: Canada, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1865-1935.

[3] Ancestry: Canada, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1865-1935.

[4] DHH: Fonds 76/10: Hansen, Niels.

[5] LAC: Royal Canadian Air Force operations record books : C-12429.

[6] DHH: Fonds 76/10: Hansen, Niels.

[7] The Canada Gazette, 10.01.1948.