Raymond Dutchburn

Leading Aircraftman Raymond Dutchburn, oldest of the Dutchborn brothers, who was born in Darlington, England. By his first birthday, his family had immigrated to Canada, settling initially in the village of Acton in Halton County. Ray’s wedding to Mildred Viola “Millie” Turnbull from St. George took place in Paris in 1942. In 1945 the couple had two daughters and lived on Main Street in St. George.

They became one of the first families to live in the Victoria Survey in Paris, at 6 Dundas Crescent. This neighbourhood came to be known as wartime housing. In a step meant to meet the growing demand for affordable housing, for both defence-related industry workers and returning veterans, the Federal Government jumped into the world of residential development for the first time in the 1940s and Victory Homes were born.

Constructed of prefabricated components (walls and roofs), the homes mimicked the mass production of the war effort. In all, over 30,000 homes were built across Canada under the direction of the Wartime Housing Corporation, later to become Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in 1947. Most homes were one storey, with steep pitched roofs and small sash windows. Although some homes had brick exteriors, the majority had clapboard wooden siding. Both centre and side-hall plans were available. The homes typically had an eat-in kitchen, living room, one bathroom and two bedrooms downstairs, with room to expand upstairs into the attic if required. Victory Homes were designed to be comfortable and large enough for a single family. Their unique and recognizable designs have become “classics” in the Canadian urban landscape.

The family lived there for some time, but Leading Aircraftman Ray Dutchburn died in a nursing home in Brampton at the age of 84 years. He is buried in the Paris Cemetery, just beside the Victoria Survey.