RCAF Aviation History: Wing Commander Gordon Roy McGregor, CC, OBE, DFC, BSc, LLD (Hon)

Wing Commander Gordon Roy McGregor, CC, OBE, DFC, BSc, LLD (Hon)

(RCAF Photo)

Gordon Roy McGregor, CC, OBE, DFC, BSc, LLD.(Hon), was born in Montreal, Quebec, on 26 Sep 1901. He was educated there and at St. Andrew's College,Toronto, Ontario. He graduated from McGill University in Montreal, in 1923 witha B.Sc. degree in engineering. He then joined Bell Telephone Company inMontreal, and after serving several years in the engineering department, hebecame Division Engineer at Ottawa, Ontario, in 1929. He was promoted toDistrict Manager at Kingston, Ontario, in 1932, and moved back to Montreal in1938 as Central District Manager.

McGregor's flying career began at Kingston in 1932 and thefollowing year he obtained his Pilot's Licence at Ottawa. He entered pilotingcompetitions, and won the Webster Trophy in 1935, 1936 and again in 1938, asthe best amateur pilot in Canada. He then joined No. 115 Auxiliary Squadron of the RCAF as aFlying Officer and in 1939 he proceeded overseas with No. 1 RCAF FighterSquadron.

McGregor was a FlightCommander with this squadron when it arrived in the UK on 20 June 1940. Duringthe Battle of Britain he claimed a German Dornier Do 17 bomber destroyed on 26 August, another Do17 probably destroyed and another damaged on 1 Sep, a Messerschmitt Me 110damaged on the 4 Sep, a Heinkel He 111 destroyed on 11 Oct, another probably destroyedon the 15th, a Junkers Ju 88 destroyed and a Bf 109 and two Do 17's damaged onthe 27th, and Bf 109's destroyed on 30 Sep and 5 Oct 1940. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) (gazetted 25 Oct 1940). McGregor was promotedto Squadron Leader and commanded the squadron during November and December 1940. In January1941 he was given command of No. 2 Squadron RCAF at Digby, which was re-numbered No. 402Squadron on 1 March.

(RCAF Photo, PL 10627)

Veterans of No.1 (Fighter Squadron RCAF with a Supermarine Spitfire.

McGregor was promoted on 14 April to lead the Canadian Wing at Digby. He came off operations on 31 Aug 1941 and returned to Canada but was back in London by October. He was appointed Director of Air Staff at HQRCAF London on 5 December and did this job until 17 April 1942, when he again returned to Canada, to assist in the development of fighter operations in Western Air Command.

He formed and then commanded a Wing to give air support to the Americans in Alaska. McGregor was made an OBE (gazetted 1st January 1943),promoted to Group Captain and posted back to Canada in late February 1943. As Commanding Officer of X Wing he was appointed to head the force sent to Alaska, and served as the point of contact between the Alaska Defence Command and the RCAF. McGregor subsequently headed No. 14 Fighter Squadron in the Aleutians before taking command of the RCAF Station at Patricia Bay, British Columbia on 1 April, with the rank of Group Captain.

McGregor returned to England on 23 Feb 1944, and spent four months at HQ 83 Group.  In mid-July was given command of 126 (RCAF) Wing. He still flew occasional sorties, one ofhis last being on 28 March 1945, when he destroyed a locomotive. Said to be the oldest Canadian fighter pilot to see action in the war, McGregor left the Wing on 27 Sep. He returned to Canada and was released from the RCAF on 27 Nov 1945. He was awarded the C de G (Fr) in 1947, the Czech Military Cross and was made a Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau with Swords.

(RCAF Photo)

Wing Commander Gordon Roy McGregor and Squadron Leader A. Deane Nesbitt, 19 Sep 1941. Both were pilots during the Battle of Britain. McGregor became the first RCAF commander of a wing when he helped form the Digby Wing in April 1941; Nesbitt commanded 144 Wing from 1 May to 13 Jul 1944and 143 Wing from 1 Jan to 7 Sep 1945.

When the war ended in 1945, McGregor was hired by Trans-Canada Airlines at Montreal as General Traffic Manager. In 1948he was named President of the airline, taking over from TCA's second President, H.J. Symington. McGregor was the principal figure in guiding that airline through its difficult years of expansion, with the result that Air Canada, as it was renamed in 1965, became one of the world's leading carriers. He oversaw the move of TCA's head office from Winnipeg to Montreal in 1949, and the addition of several new, more comfortable passenger aircraft, including Lockheed Super Constellations in 1954, turboprop-powered Vickers Viscounts in 1955,Vanguards in 1960, Douglas DC-8 jet aircraft in 1960, and Douglas DC-9's in1966. McGregor retired in 1968after twenty years as President.

McGregor was active in community service and aviation-related organizations. He was named to the board of management of the Montreal General Hospital, the advisory council of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association, and the national council of Boy Scouts of Canada. After serving on the traffic committee of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), he was elected to the executive committee in 1949, and in 1953 was elected President of that organization.

McGregor's many honours included being named an Honorary Fellow in both the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute and the Royal Aeronautical Society. He was named a Commander Brother of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (C.St.J.) and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by McGill University. During Canada's centennial year, he was presented with CASI's 1967C.D. Howe Award for his services to the nation. In 1968 he was created a Companion of the Order of Canada (C.C.) and awarded the Pioneer Aviation Medal of the United States. He was appointed to a one-year term as Grand President of the Royal Canadian Flying Clubs Association. He died at Montreal, Quebec, on 3 March 1971.

Gordon McGregor was inducted as a member of the Quebec Air and Space Hall of Fame in 2002 and in 2004 he was inducted into Canada's Business Hall of Fame. Gordon Roy McGregor was inducted as a Member of Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1974 at a ceremony held in Edmonton, Alberta. (Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame)

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