Craik, Elizabeth G.

Description

Elizabeth Craik was born March 8, 1921 in Canada to Sarah Ethel Welsh, age 32, and Gerald Laurence Craik, age 25. She had two brothers Ronald and Paul. In Rye her family lived at 9 Charlotte Street and were members of the Church of the Resurrection. Elizabeth was a Rye High School graduate class of 1939 where she was active in a variety of clubs.

Elizabeth enlisted and served in the Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division during World War II.

The Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division (RCAF-WD) was a non-combatant branch of the Royal Canadian Air Force active during the Second World War. Established to address manpower shortages, its members’commonly known as WDs’took on service and technical roles to release men for overseas combat.

Authorized on July 2, 1941, it was originally named the Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (CWAAF). On February 3, 1942, it became an integral part of the RCAF and was renamed the RCAF Women’s Division.

Elizabeth Craik Joins Canadians
Miss Elizabeth Craik, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. Laurence Craik of Charlotte Street, has been accepted for service with the Royal Canadian Air Force, Women’s Division. She leaves for Ottawa to begin her training on August 25.
Friday, August 20, 1943 THE RYE CHRONICLE PAGE Five

Though barred from combat and most flying duties, WDs served in 69 different trades by the war’s end. Initial roles included clerks, cooks, drivers, telephone operators, and fabric workers.
Technical roles were parachute riggers, weather observers, laboratory assistants, instrument mechanics, and photographers.

Elizabeth Craik, Air Woman I of the Royal Canadian Air Force,
Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Craik of Charlotte Street, has been home on a five-day leave from Mont Joli, Quebec. Cadet Ronald Craik is at San Antonio, Texas, at the Cadet Center there.
Friday, January 7, 1944 THE RYE CHRONICLE PAGE Seven

Approximately 1,500 WDs served in Great Britain, primarily with the RCAF Overseas Headquarters and No. 6 (Bomber) Group.

After the war, Elizabeth worked with the Queen’s Dress Designer’ in London. She married Raphael Kelly in New York City in 1956. We know from her mother’s 1966 obituary that she was living in Phoenix, AZ

Unfortunately as of 2-15-2026 we can not find any further information on this veteran.

Gerald L. Craik 1956 Obituary The funeral of Gerald Laur ence Craik of Meach Lake Road, Old Chelsea, Que., took place this afternoon at St Stephen’s Church, Old Chelsea. . Mr. Craik. died on Friday at his residence, Rockhaven. ‘ A native of London, England, Mr. Craik came permanently to Canada in 1949. He served in the First World War for four years with the Canadian Infantry. Mr. Craik worked with the George A. McDermitt Co., Newspaper Advertising representatives, New York City, N.Y., as a statistician and selling advertising space. ‘ In 1920 Mr. Craik married Ethel Welsh of Edmonton, Alta., who survives. Besides his wife, Mr. Craik leaves one-daughter, Elizabeth of New York, . formerly with the Queen’s Dress Designer’ in London; two sons, Ronald of Phoenix, Arizona, and Paul of San Francisco; one brother, Ronald of Chicago; three sisters, Mrs. Marjorie Spencer-Smith of East Bourne, England, Miss Vera Craik and Mrs. Cecile Davies, both of London, England. Interment was In the parish cemetery of St Stephen’s Church, Old Chelsea.