The Montreal Gazette
OBITUARY Page
Wed., July 2, 1980

McGill, Frank S., Air Vice-Marshal, CB. On Saturday, June 28, 1980 at the Montreal general Hospital, aged eighty-six years, beloved husband of Margaret Williamson and father of Isabel, Cameron, Nancy Sutherland and John.  Memorial service to be held at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, in Montreal on Wednesday, July 2 at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers, if desired, donations may be made to the Montreal General Hospital Foundation.

The Montreal Gazette
Editorial Page
Wed., July 2, 1980

Frank McGill
1894-1980

Canada has lost one of its most brilliant military men and in that sense one of its most dedicated public servants.

To recount the military career of Air Vice Marshal Frank S. McGill is to tell the story of the Royal Canadian Air Force. They grew up together.

The air vice marshal, whom Canadian Press once referred to as a “hazel-eyed superman,” died last weekend at the age of 86. Born and raised in Montreal, he led a life of action worthy of the most honorable and courageous characters in an Ernest Hemingway novel.

He graduated from McGill in 1913 and two years later – inspired by the Wright brothers and other early flyers – joined the Royal Naval Air Service. During the First World War he served in combat and as a test pilot. He was decorated for his Royal Flying Corps work.

He survived two brushes with death: a 1915 plane crash into the Thames estuary and a 1926 collision with a Montreal tram which hospitalized him for 7 ½ months.

During the inter-war period, Air Vice Marshal McGill organized and led an RCAF squadron which eventually became the country’s primary fighter unit and participated in the Battle of Britain.

He enlisted for full-time service with the RCAF during the Second World War, playing a pivotal role in the creation of the Commonwealth Air training Program which turned out almost 200,000 pilot navigators and other aircrew.

Before his military career, as after, Air Vice Marshal McGill lived a dynamic life. In his youth he was a gifted athlete, acclaimed for his skills as a hockey player, swimmer, yachtsman and particularly as quarterback and captain of a local football team which won the 1919 interprovincial Big Four title. He is a member of both the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

In his later years, he continued his more than 40 years involvement with Montreal’s business community, and actively participated in several charitable organizations.

In the two World Wars this century has known, many Canadians served with honour and courage. Only a small portion of those have continued to man our defences in peacetime. To these few, of whom Air vice Marshal McGill was an outstanding example, we owe a profound debt of gratitude.  No one has more faithfully and more stalwartly stood on guard for Canada.