Irving was my great-uncle. His death in theatre in April 1943 affected his family so badly, he was seldom spoken of afterwards, outside of Remembrance Day – it was too painful. He wanted out of a coal mining town in rural Nova Scotia, and he got out, but at great cost. He was an air gunner in 408 Squadron, and was shot down on his third operational mission, the disastrous raid on Skoda Works in Pilsen. He was so young. I was fortunate last fall to become the first family member to see where his plane came down in northern France and visit his grave. I took stones from NS where he grew up and placed them on his headstone. I took back stones from his grave, which were then placed on the graves of his mother and eldest brother, my grandfather, who helped raise him.
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2689475