Major Hilton D. Proctor
1st Canadian Parachute Battalion

The training is very interesting now, and today I took my first jump from the 250-foot tower. It was a grand sensation and I landed very gently. Friday, we pack our own chutes and Monday we jump from the aircraft. I am looking forward to it and so are all the others.

I am taking an evening off and going into Columbus to see ‘Ship Ahoy.’ I believe it is a comedy and I need a laugh.

(Proctor letter 1 Sep 1942, quoted in Ottawa Citizen, 9 Sep 1942, 1)

Born in County Down, Ireland on 20 August 1911, Hilton David Proctor was a graduate of the University of Ottawa, a Bell Telephone engineer and member of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals since 1927. He mobilized as a captain in August 1940 and advanced to major in May 1942. In July, he assumed command of the nucleus for the newly formed 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion which was sent for training in Fort Benning, Georgia.

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