Isobel Francis ‘Pat’ Cunningham

Full Name:

Isobel 
Francis 
Cunningham

Date of Birth:

February, 
, 
1924

Place of Birth:

Newfoundland

Antigonish District:

Lower South River

Service Rank or Number:

Date of Enlistment:

January, 
, 
1941

Location of Enlistment:

Theatres of Service:

Canada, North America

Conflicts:

Second World War
Date of Retirement of Discharge:
June, 
28, 
1945

Rank on Retirement or Discharge:

Private

Biography

Isobel Francis “Pat” (Patrick) Cunningham was born in February 1924 in Newfoundland. She studied art and, in 1942, received a scholarship to continue her studies but turned it down to enlist in the war effort. Although Newfoundland was still a British colony at the time, she chose to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force rather than the Royal Air Force.

In 1943, Pat travelled with 10 other women to Rockcliffe, Ontario, where she completed her training before volunteering for overseas service. She and 18 other airwomen departed the Y Depot in Halifax aboard a troop ship filled with soldiers, but after three days the ship encountered rudder trouble and was forced to return to Sydney.

A second attempt was made to depart, but they encountered trouble once again and returned to St. John’s, where a new combined headquarters for Canada, the United States, and Britain had been established. Pat was assigned to the communications room as a radio-telephone operator. She relayed and monitored communications between Torbay, Argentia, Gander, Halifax, and Ottawa, working six hours on and six hours off for 72 hours before receiving 24 to 48 hours off.

During her service, Pat experienced blackouts and witnessed ships returning with the bodies of those lost during the Battle of the Atlantic in 1943, which took place off the Newfoundland coast.

She met her husband, Gerald Cunningham, at Fort Williams in 1944, and the couple married the following year. They were both discharged in 1945 and moved to Lower South River, where they opened and operated a motel while raising two children.

Pat was heavily involved in the community and at St. James United Church. She was a member of many women’s groups and Arras Branch No. 59 of the Legion, where she became its first female president and held several executive positions over the years.

Pat passed away on March 3, 2008, in Antigonish.

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