C/l21348 Lance Corporal Albert “Red” Tilson was a former Oshawa Generals hockey player killed in service in World War II.

Tilson was born on 13 January 1924 in Regina, Saskatchewan, the son of  William and Mary Tilson, the youngest of six children. One brother served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and one with the Canadian Army.

He was nicknamed “red” for his hair colour.  Tilson completed grade 11 leaving school at 15 and was working as a hockey player and an electrician’s apprentice at Genera Motors when he enlisted.

He played two seasons for the Generals beginning with the 1941–42 Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) season, and won the J. Ross Robertson Cup both seasons. Tilson won the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy in the 1942–43 OHA season as the top scorer in the league with 19 goals, and 38 assists.

Tilson enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces on May 27, 1943, in Kingston, Ontario.  He trained in Cornwall, Camp Borden and Debert, New Brunswick and was promoted to Lance Corporal before arriving in the United Kingdom on 24 June 1944, A month later he arrived in France and was posted to The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada as a reinforcement.

Lance Corporal Tilson was killed in action in the Netherlands, on 27 October 1944, aged 20, and is buried in the Adegem Canadian War Cemetery, near Maldegem, Belgium, grave reference II. D. 12.

The Oshawa Generals hockey team retired his uniform #9 on November 12, 2006.

The Red Tilson Trophy is awarded annually by the Ontario Hockey League to the most outstanding player (MVP) as voted by OHL writers and broadcasters. It was donated by The Globe and Mail, and first awarded in the 1944–45 OHA season by the Ontario Hockey Association. The Red Tilson Trophy winners are nominated for the CHL Player of the Year award.

The trophy resides in the Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame, in the Tribute Communities Centre.