Lest We Forget: The Shared Wings of Al & Arnold

When honoring those who answered the call to serve, our hearts know no distance between the family we are born into and the family we gain through marriage. Today’s tribute highlights two men whose lives ran on parallel tracks of technical precision and dedication to the skies: my great-uncle, Allan Franklin Coddington; younger brother to my grandfather and my Uncle Arnold (Arnold Frederick DeLong), who married my mother’s sister, Aunt Marg.

Though one served in the high-voltage atmosphere of Second World War aircrew training and the other safeguarded Cold War air communications, both Uncle Al and Uncle Arnold shared a quiet mastery of technical skill. When their service uniforms were laid aside, both returned to build steady, hardworking lives, grounding their craftsmanship, family devotion, and community fellowship right here in the heart of St. Marys.

Leading Aircraftman Allan Franklin Coddington (1922–1997)

No. 4 Bomber and Gunnery School, British Commonwealth Air Training Plan | Royal Canadian Air Force

Born right here in St. Marys, Ontario, on September 21, 1922, Allan Franklin Coddington; known affectionately to our family as Uncle Al, grew up during a pivotal era in Canadian history. During the dark, uncertain days of the early 1940s, Canada transformed into what Winston Churchill famously declared the "Aerodrome of Democracy." Answering his country's call as a young man, Uncle Al enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and joined this historic, high-stakes training effort.

Allan’s military world was shaped by the intense, fast-paced environment of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). Stationed at RCAF Station Fingal's No. 4 Bomber and Gunnery School near St. Thomas, Ontario, he stepped onto a bustling wartime airfield carved directly out of Southwestern Ontario farmland. The air at Fingal was thick with the smell of aviation fuel, exhaust, and lake breeze, filled with the constant roar of radial engines warming up on the tarmac.

Looking skyward, Allan saw relentless formations of Avro Ansons, Lysanders, and Fairey Battles filling the horizon. As a gunnery and bomber trainee, his daily routine demanded razor-sharp focus, precise calculation, and steady nerves. Out over the grey waters of Lake Erie, trainees practiced aerial marksmanship at sea-drogues and target barges, calculating wind vectors, airspeed, and deflection under high-vibration flight conditions. The work was demanding and unforgiving, forged under the knowledge that the young men passing through Fingal were heading directly into the perilous skies over occupied Europe. Allan's dedication formed a vital part of the shield that forged Canada's legendary contribution to Allied air power.

Upon completing his service with the Air Force, Uncle Al returned home to St. Marys to establish a steady, fulfilling civilian life. He married Hazel Ball, whose own family carried a proud military lineage, and together they raised a vibrant family of five children: two sons and three daughters. Allan brought his strong work ethic to the St. Marys Cement Company, serving as a reliable pillar of the local plant until his well-earned retirement.

Yet even as the years passed, his passion for aviation and mechanics never dimmed. Uncle Al set up a workshop right in his own backyard, transforming it into a haven of blueprints, aluminum sheets, hand tools, and endless ingenuity. There, spent over countless evenings and weekends, he meticulously hand-built a real, pilot-ready airplane from scratch, dreaming of the day he would take to the skies on his own terms. That backyard aircraft stood as a living testament to his extraordinary patience, craftsmanship, and lifelong love for flight.

Passing away on October 21, 1997, Great-Uncle Al left behind an inspiring footprint of wartime service, meticulous technical skill, and enduring love for his family and home.

Leading Aircraftman Arnold Frederick DeLong (1932–2021)

Royal Canadian Air Force

Born on November 15, 1932, in the quiet rural community of Glassville, New Brunswick, Arnold Frederick DeLong was raised with a strong, self-reliant Maritime work ethic that defined his entire life. On January 29, 1954, at twenty-one years old, Arnold enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force, stepping into uniform during the height of mid-20th-century Cold War expansion.

Serving as a Leading Aircraftman, Arnold occupied a vital post at the nerve centers of military aviation as an RCAF teletype operator. In an era before modern digital networks, computer screens, or instant messaging, teletype operators were the essential, invisible backbone keeping air bases, command posts, radar stations, and flight squadrons synchronized across vast distances.

Arnold’s world was defined by the steady, rhythmic clatter of heavy teleprinters, the smell of warm machine oil and paper tape, coded military transmissions, and high-stakes communication logs. Operating behind secure doors, operators had to maintain absolute speed and flawless accuracy; a single miskeyed character in a flight vector or weather report could compromise operations. Safeguarding Canadian airspace during a tense global standoff required sharp technical discipline and constant vigilance.

Following his honorable discharge from the Air Force on January 28, 1957, Arnold made the journey west to St. Marys, Ontario, to begin his post-military chapter. It was here that he met and married Margaret Coddington; my mother's sister, permanently weaving his story into our family tree.

Uncle Arnold quickly integrated into the local workforce, initialing working with coal and asphalt at Hammond Limited. However, his natural mechanical aptitude and problem-solving mind soon led him to specialize as a skilled oil burner mechanic. Armed with a steady hand, a deep understanding of heating systems, and a trademark honesty, he founded and operated Arnold DeLong's Furnace Service, keeping countless homes across St. Marys and the surrounding countryside warm through harsh Ontario winters.

Like the generations of family veterans before him, Uncle Arnold was deeply embedded in local community life, maintaining decades of fellowship with the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 236 in St. Marys. Passing away in 2021, Uncle Arnold left behind a lasting legacy of quiet service, technical pride, gentle warmth, and steady devotion to Aunt Marg, his children, grand children and great grand children and his adopted hometown.

Whether tracking aerial targets over the waters of Lake Erie or monitoring coded teletype frequencies during the Cold War, Uncle Al and Uncle Arnold understood that air power relies on focus, discipline, and flawless attention to detail.

When their military duties ended, both men brought those exact same values back to St. Marys, turning their technical minds to local industry and trades, raising their families with steady care, and pulling up a chair at the local Legion to honor the comradeship they helped build. Their lives remind us that service is more than a single chapter in uniform; it is a lifelong way of moving through the world with pride, craftsmanship, and devotion to home.

We will remember them.