Raymond Francis Pelrine was born at Port Felix, Guysborough County, on July 30, 1922, the oldest of Charles Martin and Clarice “Clara” (Fougere) Pelrine’s 11 children. Raymond’s father Martin was also a native of Port Felix, the son of Charles Vincent and Margaret (Bellefontaine) Pelrine, and grandson of Charles (1826 - 1901) and Magdalene (Mannette) Pelrine. The majority of available documents spell the family surname “Pelrine,” although it was recorded as “Pellerin” in several instances.
The Pelrine/Pellerin surname originates from the French “pelèrin,” which means “pilgrim.” It is believed to have originated from the large number of French pilgrims who completed the annual Way of St. James/St. Jacques/Santiago pilgrimage that began at various locations in France and ended in Santiago, Spain, close to the French border, a route often described as “Camino de Santiago.” The term was used to describe individuals who had completed the journey and over time became a surname.
Étienne Pellerin was the first of his family lineage to arrive in North America. A native of Bacilly, Normandie, Étienne was one of the French settlers who emigrated to the settlement of Port Royal, l’Acadie, established by Pierre Dugua and Samuel de Champlain in 1605. His grandson Paul was the first Acadian to settle at Tor Bay. All of today’s Guysborough and Antigonish County Pellerins trace their lineage to Paul and his wife, Marie-Louise Petitpas [Pettipas], a native of Port Toulouse (St. Peters). Marie-Louise’s grandfather, Claude Petitpas, was the first of his lineage to settle at Port Royal, and is the progenitor of today’s Tor Bay and Tracadie Pettipas families.
Paul Pellerin’s son Hubert was born at Chezzetook around 1777. He married Anne “Nancy” David, and later settled at Port Felix. Paul and Nancy’s son, Simon (1803 - 1877), married Angelic “Jane” Lavandier at Guysborough, and passed away at Port Felix. Their son Charles (1826 - 1901) married Magdalene Mannette, a native of Havre Boucher. The couple later became Raymond’s great-grandparents.
On the Fougere side of the family, Clara was the great-great-grand-daughter of Jacques Fougere, one of three brothers who initially settled at Havre Boucher, Antigonish County, in the 1790s. Jacques subsequently relocated to Molasses Harbour, Guysborough County, the original name for today’s Port Felix.
Jacques’ grandfather, Jean Fougere (1684 - 1749), was a native of Poupry-en-Bouce, Orleans, France, who emigrated to Port Royal. Jean married Marie Bourg and the couple eventually settled at Port Toulouse (St. Peters). The couple raised a family of eight children, three of whom were born at Port Toulouse. Following Marie’s passing, Jean married Marie-Madeleine Belliveau, a union that produced another 10 children.
Joseph Fougere (1720 - 1790), one of Jean’s sons by his first wife, married Marie Marguerite Coste, a Port Toulouse native. Joseph is a common ancestor of all Havre Boucher and Guysborough area Fougeres. The couple initially resided at Port Toulouse, where seven of their 12 children were born, and later relocated to Arichat.
Joseph and Marie’s son Jacques (1759 - 1836) was born at Port Toulouse around 1759, and married Marie Madeline Petitpas (1768 - 1836), a Chezzetcook native. In the 1790s, Jacques and two of his brothers relocated to Tracadie, where he and Marie Madeline raised a family of six children. Their fourth child, Joseph, was born around 1795, and married Marguerite Charpentier in 1819. The couple settled at Havre Boucher, where most of their eight children joined the family.
At least one of Joseph and Marguerite’s children was born at Molasses Harbour, where most of their offspring eventually settled. Originally named for a keg of molasses that washed ashore after a nearby shipwreck, the Guysborough County settlement was later renamed Port Felix, in honour of a Belgian missionary, Father Felix, who tended to the community’s spiritual needs for many years.
Joseph Jr. (1825 - 1920), one of Joseph and Marguerite’s sons, was born at Havre Boucher and married Felicité Boudrot at Molasses Harbour in 1850. Their son Joseph was born at Port Felix around 1869 and fathered three children by his first wife, Maria Costa. A second marriage to Marie Arsenault, a native of Saint Joseph du Moine, Victoria County, resulted in three more children, the oldest of whom was Raymond’s mother, Clarice “Clara.”
During the First World War, Raymond’s father Martin was conscripted into military service at Halifax, NS, on March 6, 1918, and departed for the United Kingdom one month later. Upon arriving overseas, Martin was attached to the 17th Reserve Battalion (Nova Scotia), Bramshott, UK. The unit provided reinforcements for Nova Scotia’s two front-line infantry units—the 25th (Nova Scotia Rifles) and 85th (Nova Scotia Highlanders) Battalions.
Unfortunately, health issues delayed Martin’s transfer to an active unit. Hospitalized with diphtheria in late July 1918, he spent more than two months in hospital. By the time that Martin had made a full recovery, the November 11, 1918 Armistice had ended fighting on the continent. He remained in England until late June 1919, when he returned to Canada aboard HMT Mauritania. Martin was formally discharged from military service at Halifax on July 13, 1919, and returned to Port Felix.
Shortly after his return to civilian life, Martin and Clara married and established residence at Port Felix, where Martin worked in the local fishery. Sometime during the 1930s, the family relocated to Havre Boucher, where Martin assumed responsibility for his father-in-law’s local mail delivery route.
Raymond attended public school from 1929 to 1940, during which time he completed Grade 9 and “studied Grade 10.” He left school in the spring of 1940 and moved to Halifax, where he worked as a “handyman” at the Halifax Infirmary from May to August. By that time, Raymond had taken an interest in serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and submitted an application on August 1, 1940, requesting consideration for a “General Duties” position.
While awaiting a response, Raymond worked as a “messenger” at the Canadian National Railway Post Office, Halifax. On February 3, 1941, he formally attested for service with the RCAF at Halifax. At that time, he received an initial rank of Aircraftman 2nd Class (AC2) and was assigned to the “General Duties” trade. One week later, Raymond commenced training at Eastern Air Command, Halifax.
After completing the first phase of his training, Raymond was promoted to the rank of Aircraftman 1st Class (AC1), General Duties, on May 3. His courses continued into the summer months, with Raymond receiving a promotion to the rank of Leading Aircraftman (LAC), General Duties Standard, on August 3. After a two-week leave, he returned to Halifax, where he completed the training for the “General Clerk (Standard)” trade before month’s end.
On August 28, Raymond commenced the second phase of his training with the rank of AC2 (Clerk Stenographer). For unspecified reasons, he was admitted to Stationary Hospital, Dartmouth, on November 1 and remained at the facility until December 25. Upon discharge, he completed the requirements for the trade of “General Clerk (Group C),” and advanced to the rank of AC1 (Clerk Stenographer) on March 4, 1942.
Raymond completed the final stage of his Clerk Stenographer training during the spring of 1942 and was promoted to the rank of LAC (Clerk General B) on July 1. One month later, he advanced to the rank of Acting Corporal with pay. For the remainder of the year, Raymond served in the Halifax area, receiving embarkation leave from January 1 to 25, 1943.
After returning to duty, Raymond departed for the United Kingdom on February 3 and arrived overseas 10 days later. On February 27, he was assigned to No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre (PRC), Bournemouth, UK. Raymond received an annual week’s leave on March 27. Upon returning to duty, he was promoted to the rank of Temporary Sergeant with pay.
No. 3 PRC was the depot to which all overseas RCAF personnel reported, prior to dispersal to their respective units. The volume of documents in a typical RCAF service file—most consist of 150 to 200 items, many of which contain hand-written entries—is testimony to the vital work that clerks at such locations completed.
Bournemouth was also home to No. 11 Australian Personnel Dispatch and Receiving Centre. As a result, its streets were teeming with military personnel throughout the war, a fact that soon drew the enemy’s attention. The city’s two largest hotels—the Metropole and Central—accommodated hundreds of Canadian and Australian personnel respectively. On any given day, thousands of Allied air personnel were stationed at various locations across the city, making it a tempting target for German air raids.
Prior to Raymond’s overseas arrival, Bournemouth had endured 47 air raids, directly targeting air force personnel. The strategy was horrifically simple—given the extensive amount of training required, it was more difficult for the Allies to replace air crew than the aircraft they operated. While the previous raids had inflicted casualties and property damage, none had a notable impact. When the air raid sirens sounded at 12:45 pm Sunday, May 23, 1943, nobody anticipated the immense devastation and loss about to occur.
About 30 minutes prior to the sirens sounding, a total of 46 Focke-Wulf 190 single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft departed from Caen, France, each carrying one bomb beneath its fuselage. The planes headed northward toward the southern coast of England. As they crossed the English Channel, 20 aircraft veered eastward toward Hastings, approximately 200 kilometres east of Bournemouth.
The remaining Focke-Wulf 190s continued northward and were soon detected by radar installations on the Isle of Wight. While the sirens sounded as the planes passed over Hengistbury Head, near Bournemouth, at an altitude of approximately 50 feet, there was insufficient time to scramble Royal Air Force fighters at two nearby bases before the attackers reached their target. By the time the Spitfires were in the air, the German aircraft were already heading back across the Channel.
Just before 1:00 pm, the planes dropped their first bombs. In the span of one minute, a total of 25 bombs struck targets across Bournemouth, an estimated 21 or 22 detonating upon impact. At the time of the raid, the Metropole Hotel contained hundreds of Allied servicemen, most of whom were having lunch at the time. The majority were Canadians, but Australian and American personnel were also in the building.
One bomb entered the Metropole’s second storey, struck a steel and concrete stairway, and detonated. The explosion almost completely destroyed the entire facade facing Holdenhurst Road. The hotel’s stoker, on lunch break at the time, made his way into the damaged building, turned off the electricity and dampened the fires, thus averting additional explosions that would have resulted in further casualties.
Direct hits on the Metropole and Central Hotels claimed the largest number of lives. An estimated 37 individuals were killed at the Metropole, although it is almost impossible to determine the exact number, as some of the wounded died over subsequent days. Fortunately, firemen were able to rescue 34 airmen trapped on the upper floors after the blast.
The greatest loss of life occurred at the Central Hotel, where a single bomb resulted in 54 fatalities, including seven Australian airmen and six US Army personnel who were in the city on leave. A total of 59 buildings were destroyed in the raid, while another 3,422 suffered damage. At least 130 fatalities were attributed to the attack. The death toll included 81 civilians, 11 RCAF personnel, seven members of the Royal Australian Air Force, and six United States infantrymen.
As for the attacking aircraft, one was shot down over Bournemouth, its pilot killed upon impact. A second plane was damaged and crashed as it attempted to land at Caen, killing the pilot. The remaining Focke-Wolf 190s returned safely to base.
Sergeant Raymond Francis Pelrine was inside the Metropole Hotel at the time of the raid and was one of the day’s 11 RCAF fatalities. According to a subsequent hospital report, he was “trapped in building which was bombed by the enemy” and suffered “multiple injuries” in the explosion, resulting in his death. Sgt. Pelrine was laid to rest in North Cemetery, Bournemouth, UK, on May 29, 1943, following a large funeral ceremony and procession.
