This propeller blade is the sole surviving part of the WWII Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft flown by Sgt. George ‘Geordie’ Stevenson, a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot, parishioner of Christ Church, Meaford, and a Meaford resident.
Born in Scotland in 1915, Stevenson immigrated to Canada with his family in 1928. Before enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Stevenson worked at the Meaford Creamery and was an active member of Christ Church, Meaford. Amid the ongoing conflict of the Second World War, he became the first person from Meaford to earn his pilot’s wings, having joined the RCAF in 1940. Tragically, he would also become the first person from Meaford and the first parishioner of Christ Church to lose his life during the war.
After earning his wings, Sgt. Stevenson was posted overseas to England for advanced fighter training. Three weeks after his arrival, on 21 July 1941, while serving with No. 59 Operational Training Unit, he was killed when, in heavy fog, his Hawker Hurricane crashed into Lowther Hill near Leadhills, Lanarkshire, Scotland, during a training flight. It is understood that his engine had cut out. He was twenty-six years old. Stevenson is buried in Carlisle (Dalston Road) Cemetery, Westmoreland, England.
This propeller blade is a remarkable survivor of that aircraft. After the crash, the blade remained in Scotland, recovered and brought to the Hopetoun Arms hotel a, serving as an umbrella stand. The local landowner, the Earl of Hopetoun, then adopted it, ultimately gifting the blade to Leadhills Miners’ Library, where it had been on public display for more than 25 years in remembrance of Sgt. Stevenson.
After a decade of efforts by Sgt. Stevenson’s nephew, Cpl. (Ret'd) Andy Smart, also an RCAF veteran, the propeller blade was repatriated from Scotland to Canada and entrusted by the family to the care of Christ Church, Meaford as a memorial to Sgt. Stevenson. It was dedicated at Christ Church as a memorial at a service on August 15, 2026, also marking the 80th anniversary of the unveiling and dedication of the WWII Memorial Windows.
George Stevenson’s death in 1941 had deeply affected the Christ Church congregation with then Rector of Christ Church, the Rev. Harold Appleyard – creator of the parish’s WWII Memorial Windows, recalling in a 1946 CBC Radio interview that George’s death brought him to realize the need for a permanent memorial in the church to honour those who served and did not return.
That sense of necessity ultimately led to the creation of Christ Church’s WWII Memorial Windows, which stand beside this propeller blade. Together, the blade and the windows preserve the memory of George Stevenson and so many others whose lives were lost to war.
This propeller blade is more than a piece of an aircraft. It is a tangible connection to a young parishioner who answered the call to serve, of a community that mourned his loss, and of a promise made to ensure that his sacrifice would never be forgotten.