Fonds GFH - Gordon F. Hoffos fonds

Gordon Francis Hoffos was born near Assiniboia, Saskatchewan on 15 April 1920. His parents, Otto Hoffos and Anna Olive Sivertson, were farmers and had ten children. Gordon Hoffos graduated high school in 1938 and played junior hockey for the Moosejaw Canucks. He also worked as a thresher and a film projectionist until he enlisted in the Special Reserve of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as Aircraftman 2nd Class in 1942. Hoffos attended the No. 7 Initial Training School in Saskatoon before moving on to No. 6 Elementary Flying Training School in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, where he learned to fly on de Havilland Tiger Moths. He moved on to No. 10 Service Flying Training School in Dauphin, Manitoba, where he learned to fly Cessna Cranes. He graduated in December 1942 and was training to be a flight instructor in April 1943. He worked at No. 12 Service Flying Training School in Brandon, Manitoba, until November 1944 when he was transferred to the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm. He joined 803 Squadron and trained on Mark 3 Spitfires in England, Scotland, and Ireland, before being discharged in 1945. Returning to Saskatoon, he started pre-med studies at university before deciding to fly as a bush pilot for a company owned by his future wife’s brother, Tom Lamb, in Le Pas, Manitoba. He married Carol Lamb, a nurse, in 1947. Hoffos reenlisted in the RCAF in 1951 as a Flight Officer first serving as an Instructor at No. 1 Officers’ School in London, Ontario. In 1953, he was posted to No.3 Operational Training Unit in North Bay, Ontario, as an Instructor and was promoted to Flight Lieutenant. In 1955, he was posted to Operational Training Unit in Cold Lake, Alberta. The following year he was named Operations Officer for the Weapons Proving Unit. In 1957, he was posted to the Canadian Joint Staff as an Exchange/Liaison Officer at 4750th Air Defence Squadron, United States Air Force, in Yuma, Arizona. He was posted to Air Force Headquarters as Staff Officer, Strike Operations, in July 1959. When working at Headquarters, he flew practice flights at RCAF Station Uplands on Lockheed T-33s and Avro CF-100s. In May 1963, he was named Acting Squadron Leader and then Squadron Leader as Commanding Officer of Dew Line DYE Sector from Iceland to Foxe Basin, Nunavut. He returned to Ottawa in 1964, posted to Air Force Headquarters as Staff Officer, Nuclear Safety - a role that had him inspect nuclear weapon facilities for NATO. He was honourably released in September 1967. During his time in Ottawa, he took night courses at Carleton University, earning his Bachelor of Arts in 1968. After his retirement with the RCAF, he spent another ten years as an employee at Canada Post. For his service gin the RCAF, Hoffos was awarded the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, the War Medal 1939-45, and the Canadian Forces’ Decoration. Hoffos died on 26 January 2009.