Alexander was born on 1 September 1916 at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. His father was a lawyer, born in Scotland and his mother born in Winnipeg. The family emigrated in about 1910. Very sadly between 1929 and 1931 both his parents had died. He was one of three children: a sister Frances Elizabeth and also a brother Ronald Tait. Alexander attended Rouleau Public school in Rouleau, Saskatchewan 1923-1929 and Rouleau High School 1929-1931. He then went to Scotland and studied at the George Herriot in Edinburgh, 1932-1933. His sport interests were swimming, badminton and golf. He had various employers and worked as a clerk between 1935-1938 at three different firms and then as an attendant at Shell Oil and at Imperial Station during 1938-1940. |
He enlisted on 11 October 1940. The only record I can find shows him arriving at 3 PRC on 17 July 1941 followed by 19 OTU on 20 July 1941. He sadly lost his life on 12 September 1941 in a training exercise in a Whitley Bomber. |
His brother, born in 1921, Sgt. Ronald Tait Batchen 1365683 was in 115 Squadron stationed at RAF Marham, Norfolk, after enlisting in 1940. On 11 May 1942 on a local flying exercise, they became lost in poor visibility and collided with a wooden radio mast. Sadly, on impact their Wellington bomber caught fire and was completely destroyed and the three crew on board all perished. They were all pilots and are buried near Sherringham in Norfolk. Their younger sister Frances became a concert pianist in New York. |