Waterloo Region Generations
A record of the people of Waterloo Region, Ontario.

Hope Laurice Wilfrid "Jerry" Flynn

Male 1894 - 1918  (23 years)


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    Event Map    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Hope Laurice Wilfrid "Jerry" Flynn 
    Born 18 Dec 1894  Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    Gender Male 
    Interesting military, war, misfortune, life story 
    Residence 1911  Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Methodist 
    Military 1914  WW1 Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    WW1, Captain, 32nd Battalion 
    Military 1914  WW1 Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    WW1, Service #2779665 
    Misfortune 1918 
    killed in war 
    Name H. L. W. (Jerry) Flynn 
    Name Jerry Laurice Flynn 
    Eby ID Number Waterloo-355209 
    Died 3 Sep 1918  , France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Sin-le-Noble Communal Cemetery, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Frances Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I355209  Generations
    Last Modified 6 Apr 2024 

    Father John Irwin Flynn,   b. 1864, , Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Mother Lilly Ann Catherine Hilliard,   b. 13 Dec 1869, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1952  (Age 82 years) 
    Family ID F5723  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Jerry H.L.W. Flynn

      It was morning on September 12, 1918 when a Waterloo mother received two pieces of mail '96 a letter from her son, a pilot fighting overseas in the Great War, and a telegram from the secretary of the Canadian Air Force. One can only wonder which letter Mrs. Lilly Flynn opened first. The letter from her 19-year-old son, Captain Jerry Flynn, was dated August 13 and he wrote of being in good health. The telegram from Ottawa told Mrs. Flynn that her son was reported missing on September 3.

      The story of Jerry Flynn is but one story of the losses that Waterloo families suffered in the Great War between 1914 and 1918. Jerry Flynn was one of sixteen Waterloo soldiers who died.....


      It would be much later that newsreaders in Waterloo would learn of the agony "Little Jerry's" squadron would express the day he went tumbling down in flames after being shot by one of a dozen Fokkers. In 1967, the Waterloo Chronicle published an account by Captain Bogart Rogers of the moment Flynn's comrades learned the "pet of the squadron" had lost his life:

      On that day the whole outfit blew up like a toy balloon. A kid
      named John Trussler, grabbed his champagne glass, hurled it the
      length of the mess, leaped to his feet and started a vivid impression
      of a lunatic . . . he swore and cursed and cried. He cursed God
      and the Germans. He cursed the war and the army. He cursed his
      parents because he was born.

      He told Little Jerry Flynn who he knew was sitting in the room
      listening to him, who was sitting right there in that chair that he
      didn't have to worry. They couldn't get away with it.
      His comrades tried to stop his cursing and raving and finally
      pulled him down into a chair. He hid his head in his hands and
      sobbed horribly. Half of the others were sobbing. The rest were
      trying to quieten things down but feeling no better themselves.


      Waterloo Public Library https://www.wpl.ca/sites/default/files/waterloo_150/flynn_jerry.pdf

  • Sources 
    1. [S366] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo City - 1911, Div. 44 Pg. 15.

    2. [S157] Military - Canada - World War I - Attestation papers.

    3. [S1890] Military - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Kitchener Public Library WW1 Soldiers Card Index Soldier Information Cards - World War One.

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 18 Dec 1894 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - Methodist - 1911 - Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - 3 Sep 1918 - , France Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth