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A poppy engraved road sign of Dolphin Avenue.
Screen grab from Google Maps
In honour of our soldiers: Gordon Meadows Dolphin
By Samuel Cheng
Published 12:27 PDT, Fri September 1, 2023
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In a series of Richmond’s ‘poppy’ street signs in memory of our fallen soldiers, we share the story of Dolphin Avenue and Dolphin Court.
Gordon Meadows Dolphin was born on March 12, 1919 in Meacham, Saskatchewan. Dolphin’s parents were farmers, they raised him and provided him with an education before he decided to move to British Columbia at the age of 20 years old.
Dolphin served as an air frame mechanic with the Royal Canadian Air Force. The job of an air frame mechanic in general is to perform maintenance and repairs on aircrafts, including the engines, landing gear, and brakes to ensure they are at top condition. An air frame mechanic can branch out to be specialized in repairing different parts of an aircraft.
Dolphin was stationed at No. 9 Repair Depot in St. Johns, Quebec. Dolphin, along with several other airmen, were coming back from a hockey practice in a truck when the vehicle suddenly overturned, killing Dolphin and two other individuals.
His remains were sent back to be buried at the Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver. He was survived by his parents, his brother Robert Neil, who was enrolled with the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, his sister Mrs. Phyllis Tangler, and fiancée Margaret Kennedy.
The decision to have Dolphin Avenue and Dolphin Court named after the brave soldier was decided by the Richmond City Council on February 4, 1946.
Today, Dolphin Avenue and Dolphin Court can be found to the east of Garden City Road and to the north of Francis Road.
Since the 1990’s the Friends of the Richmond Archives have been compiling information on the soldiers who loss their lives in military service during World War I and World War ll. The result of this work led to the publication We Will Remember Them: The Lives Behind the Richmond Cenotaph written by Mary Keen and published by the City of Richmond Archives in 1998. In 2016 the city installed new poppy-adorned street signs to commemorate these local soldiers who lost their lives in military service.
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